It's obvious that I need to pay better attention to composing my fish photos. Maybe I had changed the camera setting as well as taking these pics without the proper regard for the bright sun. I will try to figure out my errors before the next outing. I've noticed that fish out of water prefer that I don't fiddle with the camera for too long.

 

Be that as it may, I decided to fish favorite spots some distance away from Gate 43 even though word was there had been increasingly good action in nearby water. I figured I'd still find a few hanging around my favorite Outside rock pile. Here's the first:

 

 

This smallie, about 3 lbs., gobbled a 5" hula grub rigged on a Shake It jig I was dragging in about 20 feet of water. When I visually located the hump I noticed neither cruisers nor evidence of nesting activity so I anchored in positions to work the deep edges where the rock meets the sand and some weed growth.

 

 

This 3+ lb. smallie liked a Shake It jig as well. This head was dressed slightly differently with a green pumpkin/black print rubber skirt with a complementary GYCB 5" twin tail trailer. I'm not sure that these fish would fuss too much about exact color if you put a slow moving jig in front of them at breakfast time.

 

Before Quabbin opened for the season I did some research on baits unfamiliar to me. In the 20 years I've fished Q's clear water I've never thrown a lipless crank. Why not? After studying magazine articles and threads on this fine forum - thank you all who contributed - I tied on a Strike King Red Eye Shad Silent. I cast and tight lined it to the bottom. I let it sit briefly and then pulled it off, not too hard, not too fast - just enough to make the bait "work." Then I let it settle on a semi-tight line. Lifting again I thought I was hung but it turned out what I had hung weighed 4.7 lbs.!

 

 

I immediately developed a liking for lipless crankbaits.

 

At 11:30 the wind came up, gusting to 20 mph. I headed back in and set up on a larger flat surrounded by deep water. It didn't take long before I got kinda crazy trying to make a proper presentation in this strong, variable wind. A second anchor would be helpful I know, but I'm lugging too much gear as is.

 

Well, there you have it, this weekend's Quabbin report from your low tech smallie chaser,

 

WW

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dang, those are some not so small smallies!!!!

Great looking fish. I like the 1st picture its not bad at all. A bit overexposed but in a good way. I'd print it.

Good looking fish!  I gotta find some water around here that holds smallies.

Good looking bass, they look healthy.

Those are beautiful...Id love to fish Quabbin sometime!

Lol, that first fish looks like it'd go over 5 pounds! My fish pics always make the fish look smaller

Lol, that first fish looks like it'd go over 5 pounds! My fish pics always make the fish look smaller

I wouldn't say this is completely true...

Very nice smallies

Awesome smallies!

Nice.

 

Yeah, lipless have a way of finding their way into the GoTo bin. A lot can be done with them too, so they can stay in the GoTo bin all year.

Very nice. Sometimes getting a good picture is actually more difficult than catching the smallie in the first place.

Awesome fish and description of the catches. Sounds like there's always a new presentation to try and things to learn great job!!