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Went to Jordanelle at the Rock Cliffs area last night from 5 until dark. I was in my tube, and stayed in the same general area on the south side of the bay.
Around 6, I got a 22" smallmouth that was a blast. It was in about 8 feet of water, maybe 50 yards from shore. It was a fun fish. It jumped high once immedietely after hookup, right after it took the Senko, it shot to the surface and jumped, then dove to the bottom and tried to stay there. It was a 4" Watermelon Senko, wacky rigged of course!Luck would have it that I forgot my camera, but a nice family nearby in a boat took a few pictures for me. It wasn't a digital camera, and they said they'd send them to me, so we'll see....
I need to get a small scale, so I can tell how much these ladies are weighing, instead of guessing. It was a fun fish. Caught 6 other smallies, the biggest was 16", all on the same Senko. 2 of the smallies had 1.5" half digested minnows in their gullets, one even had 2 minnows.
I didn't catch a single perch until I switched to a smoke/sparkle Senko. Weird.
Met up with Kastmaster again. He was getting his daughter into the fast perch action, and some smallies, too.
A great evening!! Hopefully I can post those pictures soon.
Senkonate
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[url "javascript: addTag('cool')"][cool][/url] Cool, Nate!
Can't wait to see the picture. That's an awesome smallmouth. Congratulations!
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Congrats on the 22 incher. I ended staying up till 12:15 am last night filleting the perch for fish tacos tonight. My daughter caught several 10"+ perch and a bunch of 8 inchers. She also hooked into a 14" smallie on a jig tipped with perch meat. It took her by surprise cause her rod just bent right over and almost tipped our canoe. I ended up with several smallies myself in the 8-13 inch range. I tried WaveWorms tonight in colors close to the Senko watermelon, did OK but not as effective as the real thing, maybe it's my technique. I found some 3" Senko watermelon double-tail grubs, used those and started getting into smallies. It was fun watching my daughter catch one perch after another. She's not into taking fish off the hook so I ended up doing that for her. She stopped counting after the 90th perch. Overall, it turned out to be a nice afternoon, after waiting out the rain and lightning for about ten minuters right after we got there.
kastmaster
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So after all those fish, is she more excited about going fishing? I wish I would've been over there to see the smallmouth almost tip your canoe.
I've taken my younger nephews fishing a few times, and helping them catch fish, and seeing their faces when they do is a lot funner than catching them myself.
See you next time,
Senkonate
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Sounds like a productive trip. A 22 inch smallie now that's a monster, I hope you get the pics, I would like to see that big girl.
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I too was at Jordanelle last night. My buddy and myself fished from our pontoon boats and in five hours managed to catch 15 smallies(biggest caught was 15", lost the monster fish of the day when he jumped!) and 60 or so perch. Using 1/16 smoke gitzits, a 1/4oz rocket shad(perch color), and 3" power craws texas rigged. I thought I heard you exclaim that the fish was 20 or 21 inches when you landed it last night?
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As I was netting it, and having them take the pics, I guessed it was 20" - that's the biggest SMB I've caught before! But when the fish actually settled down and was tired eneogh that I could stretch it out on my very scientific "tube ruler" painted into my tube - 22"!
I don't remember meeting you, did we meet? I met some guys in pantoon boats fly fishing.....
Senkonate
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First and foremost, congrats on the 22 incher. That is very impressive. (Maybe that guy that said he got a 25 incher was legit???) That had to be an incredible thrill.
I hit the Rock cliffs this A;M in the tube. I got out at 10:00 and headed to the "Kastmaster/doggone" hot spot from the tube party. The action today wasn't as fast as last week, but it was still pretty good. I caught 9, One 17 inches,2 at 15, and 2 at 14 and nothing under 10 inches. If my technique was better, I would have gotten even more. I lost one porker to a failed knot, and one to frayed line.[mad] I also must have had about another 10 get off as well before they were in hand. Oh well. The mighty pumpkin green 4" senko did the trick again. I left at 2 pm. I have caught fish all 3 times I have hit rock cliffs that have disgorged perch minnows on me. The perch may be a nuisance sometimes, but they sure fatten up the Smallies. Maybe we all need to give them more love.
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I think you're right about the perch. Those smallies are getting FAT, and they have to been eating something to get that big in such a short period of time.
Next time I catch a perch, I won't curse it, I'll just call it a "snack" and throw it back.
Actually, that fish didn't "fight" as much as an 18" - 20" smallie. It fought at first when it jumped, then it just got really heavy. Don't get me wrong, it still "fought" just not thrashing QUITE as much as some of the others I've gotten into lately. It was peeling off line like crazy though, especially as it got close to my net. It took off a few times right as soon as I was able to get a glimpse of it's shape and reflection of gold color a few feet down.
Oh ya - How big were those disgorged perch minnows?
Senkonate
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1-2 inches, similar to what you described in your fish. I think they go into the weeds there and pig out, but the lake drops off quickly nearby so they have the depth and cover they also like. It might be why we are still getting good sized fish in that area in relatively shallow water, while other reports have suggested that the bigger fish are deeper in other parts of Jordanelle. Just a guess on my part, I'm still kind of new at fishing the lake.
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No, you didn't meet us. We were on the other side of the bay, and headed in right after we heard you catch your monster.
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I'm glad that "K/D" hotspot is still productive and that you still had a decent day. I also believe that the weedlines is a good feeding spot for the smallies and the deeper water nearby makes an ideal resting spot after the gorging out. Let's get together again sometime soon.
kastmaster
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