The bite on pool 8 for the past month or so in my boat has been very spotty to say the least. One day you have a great day fighting the current on the main channel, the next, it can be extremely tough. The high water that we had also brought extremely high flow and made those areas unfishable for a while in my boat. With a couple weeks withought much precipitation, the water has finally come down and cleared up considerably, making these areas fishable, and the smallmouth bass are on a tear.

I hit the water around 10:30 yesterday to see if I could find some smallies that would be willing to bite for today's trip with Justin. Call it pre-fishing if you will. My goal was to cover many wingdams on the pool and locate the best ones so I didn't have to waste time when I had an extra person in the boat. The end result of that was 6 keepers early in the day and after I left that area, I never caught a bass again. My 5 fish limit was only a touch over 9 lbs with the biggest going about 3 lbs. I lost a solid 3-1/2 to 4 lber at the boat and I knew that this was the right area.

Arriving at the spot today right before the kickoff of the packer game was an incredible feeling. The first fish was boated by Justin at the same time the packers scored their first touchdown.

It turned out to be a day of amazment for us both, as we proceeded to catch some of the largest smallmouth I have ever seen in my boat. My first fish of the day was a 20" smallmouth that made some incredible runs at the boat. I took a long time to catch my second keeper of the day, however it was worth it when another 20" fish came to the boat, this one being much fatter than the first. The fish could hardly swim it was so fat, and I honestly thought I may have a smallmouth that would be close to 6 lbs when I first saw it. I won't talk my self up much more, this whole time Justin was whacking the smallmouth too. By 4:30, Justin had 8 keepers in the boat, and I had 7 keepers (not including a 14" snagged in the side) as well. Justin's best 5 were 13-1/2 lbs and mine were at 15-3/4. But it does not stop there. Just minutes before it was time to leave (due to darkness), i felt weight on my line. After a few minutes of fighting It finally set in what had just happened. I had boated a 19-1/2 inch smallie which secured the biggest limit of my life. At 19-1/4 lbs, I could hardly believe what I was doing. Thank goodness for a good friend that was with to share the experience and witness this magical day. We caught all of our fish on wingdams in 7-15 ft of water with little current on them. Not every wingdam is going to produce. You need a combination of light current, sand, and wintering water nearby. 2 of these monster smallies came off of the same dam, the other came off of a different one. Both of these dams have access to 30+ foot water.

1/4 oz hair jigs are the way to go, the water temperature is 40-42 degrees at this time. I tried some other stuff, including a swim bait, drop shot, and jigging spoon, with minimal success except for a 14" smallie on the drop shot, and a 30+" northern on the spoon.

Here's my friend Justin with a 3-1/4 lb smallie

Justin with a 2 lber..we caught many others in this size range.

here is a double that we had...they were the exact same size, the only difference was Justin's had red eyes..

Here is my first 20" smallmouth

My second 20" smallmouth. With the girth this thing had, it was certainly 5+ lbs.

same fish, this picture shows the girth a little better

19-1/2" fish that hit with 5 minutes left in the outing.

Fine brown fish right there!!  8-)

Holy Crap dude!! Was Al Lindner showing you the ropes?? Those were friggin footballs!! Nice

WOW!!!  Great catch guys.

How were you fishing the jigs?

SWEET SMALLIES!!  Give us the details on how you were fishing those jigs (color, bare or tipped)

Wow!

Those 20 inchers are some pigs!  

well it all started on Saturday..I was fishing a store bought hair jig that was black/purple...I'm using these jigs with nothing on them, fishing them extremely slow. I mentioned that I am fishing wingdams. For those un-familiar with river systems, wing dams are rock structures that are put in to control the current flow in the Main Channel. they help keep heavy flow in a concentrated spot which keeps the channel deep enough for the barges to navigate. As you might be able to guess, these wingdams are also very good places for bass to sit. The smallies for me seemed to have moved off the tops of the wingdams which come up to about 3'. now they are sitting on the sand drop coming off from the wingdam where there is less current. Each wingdam has its "sweet spot." the sweet spot of this one dam where I caught 2 of the big fish, is a break in the dam where the current runs through. You pitch the jig right in on the edge of that current and you get smoked.

enough of the wing dam talk, after I lost that purple/black jig, i quickly made some jigs at home using some decorative feather material that is very similar to maribou..It is red, and I used a sharpie to make it black. The end result is a dark blood red color that the smallies have been tearing up. and the sharpie gives it a heavy scent, which the fish also don't seem to mind. The fishing is slower than we are used to in the summer, you have to really pick things apart for each bite you recieve. But when you get bit, it is well worth it. We caught 17 keepers between us two in 4-1/2 hours, and only 4-5 dinks.

Hope this helps clarify things. Thanks everyone for the kind words! It was the greatest fishing day of my life. Although the fish aren't jumping 5 ft out of the water when you hook up, its still fun to watch a 5 lber try and get her fat self out of the water!

Awesome fish man, congrats! 8-)

Great smallies.  Those had to be a riot to cacth.   Fantastic  fish for Wisky.  Thanks for the details on your catches too.

;D ;D ;D ;D  OUTSTANDING!   ;D ;D ;D ;D

8-)

Wow I havent been on in like a week and have totally missed this great post. That is an azmazing day and amazing limit for both of you. I would be happy catching a largemouth limit that size. Heck id be happy to catch half the fish you caught. Great post and great pics....

Thanks Everyone!! I've been very sad the last two outings, as the water temperature is down to 37 degrees, and the wind is making it extremely hard to put my bait in front of these fish. Last sunday I caught 3 keepers and a short before the wind picked up and I had to head for backwaters..Today It was only 9:30 and the wind was already wippin at 20 mph..I couldn't even fish this stuff. I hope on Saturday its a little more calm. We are experiencing a cold snap sort of right now..Its been spitting some snow at us, and is going to probably change my tactics a bit for the weekend. I'm sure the water temp will read 35 degrees or so by then. My goal is to catch a bass (large or smallmouth) in open water in the Mississippi River (or any wisconsin lake that isn't power plant lake) in every month of the year in open water. That is going to be extremely tough to do considering we experience a hard freeze every year obviously. But with our good old "global warming," each Ice season has been more dynamic and I think I have a shot this year at getting out a couple times in Jan. and even Feb. and chasing these pigs some more. All I need to complete my goal is a fish in Dec., Jan., and Feb. Wish me luck!! ;D

Dont need luck