11-10-2013, 10:00 AM
Bent Rod has been telling me all year how good the Smallmouth bite is in the fall and winter. Today was the day that he finally had the chance to take me out and he wasn&#39;t lying either. <br /><br />We motor up the lake for a few minutes about 30 or 40 minutes after daylight in a light fog. I mean that we weren&#39;t in a fog, but the lake had a light fog over it. emoBig
We were fishing jigs and I don&#39;t know the make or model of them, only that they work pretty good. We were sitting in 30 to 40 feet of water and casting to 20&#43; feet of water and on my first cast, just before the jig hit the bottom, I felt the wonderful little tic tic that every Smallmouth fisherman wants to feel. I set the hook immediately and the battle was on. The fish came straight up and cleared the water by about 3 feet and then sounded and tried to take my jig away.<br /><br />6 lb test Trilene Fluorocarbon on a 6&#39;6&quot; medium spinning rod was plenty of equipment to wear this fish out. Rick netted it, got the pliers, and I got the camera. This sounds like a familiar story to me. &quot;Get the net, get the pliers, get the camera. Repeat, repeat, repeat.&quot; After we finally got the hook out of the fishes throat, (he had gobbled it up), Rick told me that there was a hanging spot near that spot. So, I threw the jig back in, let it go to the bottom, and started to put it back when it felt like I was hung up on a rock or brush or something like that. I pulled a little harder and the fish yanked back really hard. He wasn&#39;t about to give that jig up without a fight. Get the net, get the pliers, get the camera. This fish was bigger than the first one and what a beauty it was. 2 casts, 2 big smallies. I&#39;m beginning to like this type fishing.<br /><br />Re-tie, make a cast and nothing on 3rd cast. 4th cast, jig hits the bottom, fish grabs the jig, set the hook again, and get the net, get the pliers, get the camera. Another twin smallie came to net. Whee doggie! Then Rick gets a bite, sets the hook and I get the net and land a smallie for him. No pics. Rick catches another one non-keeper and I hook the 4th one for me that felt every bit as big if not bigger than the 3 that I landed, but alas, he pulled off after a short fight. Maybe 10 to 15 seconds. <br /><br />We scouted other places today and Rick lost the biggest fish of the day after a short fight. We took some time to scout docks for crappie and fished one of our favorites, but no crappie bites today. In all fairness, we only crappie fished about 10 minutes and then back to bass fishing.<br /><br />My shoulder hurt me all morning. Need another injection. Thanks for taking me fishing today, Rick. It was a memorable day for me. I&#39;ll never forget it. emoBig emoGeezer
We were fishing jigs and I don&#39;t know the make or model of them, only that they work pretty good. We were sitting in 30 to 40 feet of water and casting to 20&#43; feet of water and on my first cast, just before the jig hit the bottom, I felt the wonderful little tic tic that every Smallmouth fisherman wants to feel. I set the hook immediately and the battle was on. The fish came straight up and cleared the water by about 3 feet and then sounded and tried to take my jig away.<br /><br />6 lb test Trilene Fluorocarbon on a 6&#39;6&quot; medium spinning rod was plenty of equipment to wear this fish out. Rick netted it, got the pliers, and I got the camera. This sounds like a familiar story to me. &quot;Get the net, get the pliers, get the camera. Repeat, repeat, repeat.&quot; After we finally got the hook out of the fishes throat, (he had gobbled it up), Rick told me that there was a hanging spot near that spot. So, I threw the jig back in, let it go to the bottom, and started to put it back when it felt like I was hung up on a rock or brush or something like that. I pulled a little harder and the fish yanked back really hard. He wasn&#39;t about to give that jig up without a fight. Get the net, get the pliers, get the camera. This fish was bigger than the first one and what a beauty it was. 2 casts, 2 big smallies. I&#39;m beginning to like this type fishing.<br /><br />Re-tie, make a cast and nothing on 3rd cast. 4th cast, jig hits the bottom, fish grabs the jig, set the hook again, and get the net, get the pliers, get the camera. Another twin smallie came to net. Whee doggie! Then Rick gets a bite, sets the hook and I get the net and land a smallie for him. No pics. Rick catches another one non-keeper and I hook the 4th one for me that felt every bit as big if not bigger than the 3 that I landed, but alas, he pulled off after a short fight. Maybe 10 to 15 seconds. <br /><br />We scouted other places today and Rick lost the biggest fish of the day after a short fight. We took some time to scout docks for crappie and fished one of our favorites, but no crappie bites today. In all fairness, we only crappie fished about 10 minutes and then back to bass fishing.<br /><br />My shoulder hurt me all morning. Need another injection. Thanks for taking me fishing today, Rick. It was a memorable day for me. I&#39;ll never forget it. emoBig emoGeezer