Summer River Smallmouth

[camelbird]

Went out of River Bend Park on Sunday morning for a few hours of smallmouth action. Caught about 20 fish from 7-10am. Gotta love the light tackle fight of a SMB - airborne and strippin drag. Fish ranged from 10"-16.5", caught two in a row at 14".

Most productive lures / presentations:

- White Fluke Jr 4" (same I use for chatterbait trailers) nose hooked with a 2/0 circle hook. 1# Cast, one or two small pops, let sit, sometimes I'll deadstick it if the place looks real fishy, repeat. 2# Cast, fast pops keeping it right under the surface, it will dart back and forth. 3# And then the deadstick, right above the push water of a rock or structure, or right behind, and sometimes through the chute.

- Mepps inline spinner in #2 + #3 - gold - I always keep one rod tied on. Cast at rocks and retrieve. Fan cast an entire area. Cast through the nooks n crannies. Great way to cover lots of ground before you switch to soft plastics. Usually catches smaller fish, but a good lure to get the skunk off the boat.

- Yum 4" Senko, Dinger color, hooked wacky style with 2/0 circle hook. I only cast this right behind structure or on the edge of current seams/pools. Cast, one or two pops. Cast, deadstick. This lure works best after the sun comes up and they start getting picky.

Pic of the 16.5" caught on a fluke


Justin

[ictalurus]

Excellent report and nice fish. Thanks for all the details. I need to do some smallie fishing. So many places to fish, so little time...

[DanMarino]

Gotta love the smallie fishing on the Potomac. I'll be getting out next Sunday if the weather cooperates.

[ictalurus]

I forgot to ask about how you rig the jerk shad with a circle hook. Do you mind posting a pic? Do you set the hook or do the usual circle hook thing and let the fish take care of it? If that's the case, it sounds like the perfect soft plastics technique for my corpse-like reflexes.

[DanMarino]

I nose hook tubes, senkos, and flukes all the time with circle hooks and it works great. When you feel the fish, gently sweep to the side and reel in. I rarely miss fish with Owner Light MUTU circle hooks.

13

[chex]

Very nice! Thanks for the tips. Gonna have to head up there sometime soon.

[camelbird]

I nose hook tubes, senkos, and flukes all the time with circle hooks and it works great. When you feel the fish, gently sweep to the side and reel in. I rarely miss fish with Owner Light MUTU circle hooks.

13

Bill,

x2 on this... nose hooking gives the bait a nice darting action, and when you see the line ripping or feel it moving and nice sweep is all you need.

Through the top like this, or through the side will both work..

[gkreps]

All you salt paddlers and peddlers and flat landers, the invite to join Rob and I out here in Western Maryland is always open. We have some of the best small mouth fishing on the Potomac. Rob and I have made a few trips down to Annapolis, Herring Bay, and Mattawoman to fish, now it's your turn to come to the land of the hills and fish with us !!!!!

[ictalurus]

Awesome. Thanks for the info. Do you think it would work if it was rigged weedless?

Greg--that would be excellent.

[camelbird]

Bill,

With smallmouth, most definitely, they are veracious sight feeders. If you rig it weedless with a worm hook, it might not dart as erratically but will certainly get the job done. If rigged weedless I've always used a solid hook set vs a circle hook gentle sweep and reel.

Gkreps,

Would be wicked to get in on some western maryland smallmouth / musky fishing!

Justin

[DanMarino]

I'm in guys if my schedule allows it. Let's plan something.