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What a day! That is a new PB for me for length for a bag of smallmouth but well short of my best bag for weight (19lb 6oz). It was a funny day of lots of dinks but occasionally lightning would strike and I would land a good one.
I started the day throwing a Sammy (walking bait) and did pretty well at the first spot. My first fish was a dink. Second was not bad. Then another dink. Then a 17.5" and finally the first fish that made it into my bag, a 19.25" and 3lb 5oz (still pretty skinny from the spawn). That fish just destroyed my topwater and made a big jump at the kayak but stayed pinned. Any day I can catch a fish that size on topwater it's already a special day. I just had no idea how special the day was going to be.
After that fish I could not get another bite off that first spot. Since the day was calm I decided to head upstream first. I knew the afternoon wind would be from downstream so I like to go upriver and fish for a bit before that picks up. I knew I would end the day downstream from the ramp - I always like to end the day so that the wind helps me back to the ramp
The first couple of spots only produced a single bass. I was heading towards the spot where I had done well two weeks earlier but there was a bass boat with a coupe of anglers and they stayed on that spot for a good long time. I did get 4 more topwater bass with a couple of 2lbers in the mix near that spot so the trip upstream was not a waste.
I did try to fish the little island after the bass boat left but I could not get a sniff. I knew trying to fish upstream following those guys the whole time would be a waste and I did not want to jump around them and head way upstream so I made a decision to head back downstream earlier than I had originally intended.
At that point I hit a bit of a lull and did not get a bite for over an hour, fishing several spots along the way. I finally got to another well-known spot that had a bass boat on it. He was at the upstream end of the spot and I asked him if he minded if I fished the edge of the flat downstream a ways from him. He told me to have at it.
I am glad I stopped and asked because I picked up quite a few bass off that edge with Vision 110 +1. Once again some dinks but a coupe of nice ones in the mix. After a short lull in the action I decided to move on and continued my way downstream. I stopped at a little rocky hump/island and picked up a couple of bass off it with a swimbait and lost a good one there as well.
I had decided early on to be aggressive about changing spots and not waste time trying to catch just one more bass off of spots that were clearly tired of me being there. I think that helped contribute to my success on the day!
The next stop was a mid-river hump. By now the wind was starting to pick up. I thought perhaps that with the chop that there would be bass on top of the hump (in 5-7') but that was a bust. The front edge of the hump was another story. There were a ton of bass stacked up on the upper right side of that hump. It was almost every cast on the 110 +1 for a while. They were mostly small fish but I did manage a 19" bass of that spot. I was so excited to catch that bass but by the end of the day I would be culling that fish!
After making a handful of casts without a fish I decided to keep on moving. The wind had picked up pretty strongly by now. About 15-20mph. The next spot was a very shallow flat beside a couple of small islands. That flat is 3-7' deep and has a lot of boulders that come within a foot or so of the surface. That ended up being the magic spot for the day!
Off and on during the day I had thrown the S-waver but I had yet to get a bite on it. That shallow flat though just screams for the S-waver so I picked it back up. To be honest I did not have a lot of confidence. My first couple of casts did not produce anything. Then the magic started to happen.
I was reeling that glide bait over one of the boulders just a couple of feet from the kayak when I watched this huge bass just destroy that lure. It was a short line fight and that fish jumped a couple of times and thrashed the surface. I think I held my breath the entire fight! I finally slipped my net under a 19.75" bass. I don't remember what that one weighed off the top of my head but it was part of my bag for weight.
After that I carefully combed that entire flat with the S-waver. A short while later I caught one that was a couple of pounds and that helped keep me laser focused on straining that water.
The next fish that bit almost ripped the rod out of my hands! I knew I had a good one. This bass thrashed along the surface a bit but never fully jumped. I could see this was a beast. I kept the pressure on and eventually wore down my best fish of the day. A 20.75" 4lb 7oz giant (for me in July anyways).
I kept fishing that spot with the S-waver but I could not get another bite. So after a while I reluctantly left that spot. The next spots produced only a single bass each. I kept heading downstream but it was starting to get late and I did not want to get home too late since I had to pick up my wife from the airport the next morning. The old "Sorry I am so late but I slept in because i was so tired from fishing" is just never going to cut it
I decided to head back to the magic spot and give it a few quick casts. Well, I am calling it the magic spot for a reason because once again my S-waver got slammed by a big one! This was not quite as big as the other two but it was a 19.25" bass that was over 3lbs.
That was the only bass I got off that flat on that stop, but I did fish the front of it where it drops off into deeper water with the 110 +1. I picked up several bass doing that and a giant pikieminnow. Each time I caught a fish off that spot there were 2 or 3 bass with it when I reeled it in. That lasted for a while and then that bite shut off.
I decided to fish 3 more spots on the way back to the ramp. Two of the spots I had skipped earlier and I wanted to re-fish the edge where I had success with the 110 +1 earlier in the day.
The first spot only produced some weeds The second spot is a little island. I was sitting in about 3' of water (with lots of big rocks in it).. I reeled that S-waver in until I had about 2' of line out when a big bass came shooting out from underneath my kayak and just smashed that lure. That was just so wild! That fish was quickly subdued and turned out to be a 20" bass (that was really skinny). That was the only bite off that spot - but it was a good one!
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2srVasJ]
I did stop and quickly re-fish the edge from early in the day and picked up a few more bass there but nothing of size.
So by the end of the day my best 5 bass were 20.75", 20", 19.75", 19.25" and 19.25" to give me 99". They weighed a combined 17lb 13oz which is not much for that length but some of those fish were still quite skinny from the spawn. Just a magical day overall!
Here are some more pics and the video from the day:
I started the day throwing a Sammy (walking bait) and did pretty well at the first spot. My first fish was a dink. Second was not bad. Then another dink. Then a 17.5" and finally the first fish that made it into my bag, a 19.25" and 3lb 5oz (still pretty skinny from the spawn). That fish just destroyed my topwater and made a big jump at the kayak but stayed pinned. Any day I can catch a fish that size on topwater it's already a special day. I just had no idea how special the day was going to be.
After that fish I could not get another bite off that first spot. Since the day was calm I decided to head upstream first. I knew the afternoon wind would be from downstream so I like to go upriver and fish for a bit before that picks up. I knew I would end the day downstream from the ramp - I always like to end the day so that the wind helps me back to the ramp
The first couple of spots only produced a single bass. I was heading towards the spot where I had done well two weeks earlier but there was a bass boat with a coupe of anglers and they stayed on that spot for a good long time. I did get 4 more topwater bass with a couple of 2lbers in the mix near that spot so the trip upstream was not a waste.
I did try to fish the little island after the bass boat left but I could not get a sniff. I knew trying to fish upstream following those guys the whole time would be a waste and I did not want to jump around them and head way upstream so I made a decision to head back downstream earlier than I had originally intended.
At that point I hit a bit of a lull and did not get a bite for over an hour, fishing several spots along the way. I finally got to another well-known spot that had a bass boat on it. He was at the upstream end of the spot and I asked him if he minded if I fished the edge of the flat downstream a ways from him. He told me to have at it.
I am glad I stopped and asked because I picked up quite a few bass off that edge with Vision 110 +1. Once again some dinks but a coupe of nice ones in the mix. After a short lull in the action I decided to move on and continued my way downstream. I stopped at a little rocky hump/island and picked up a couple of bass off it with a swimbait and lost a good one there as well.
I had decided early on to be aggressive about changing spots and not waste time trying to catch just one more bass off of spots that were clearly tired of me being there. I think that helped contribute to my success on the day!
The next stop was a mid-river hump. By now the wind was starting to pick up. I thought perhaps that with the chop that there would be bass on top of the hump (in 5-7') but that was a bust. The front edge of the hump was another story. There were a ton of bass stacked up on the upper right side of that hump. It was almost every cast on the 110 +1 for a while. They were mostly small fish but I did manage a 19" bass of that spot. I was so excited to catch that bass but by the end of the day I would be culling that fish!
After making a handful of casts without a fish I decided to keep on moving. The wind had picked up pretty strongly by now. About 15-20mph. The next spot was a very shallow flat beside a couple of small islands. That flat is 3-7' deep and has a lot of boulders that come within a foot or so of the surface. That ended up being the magic spot for the day!
Off and on during the day I had thrown the S-waver but I had yet to get a bite on it. That shallow flat though just screams for the S-waver so I picked it back up. To be honest I did not have a lot of confidence. My first couple of casts did not produce anything. Then the magic started to happen.
I was reeling that glide bait over one of the boulders just a couple of feet from the kayak when I watched this huge bass just destroy that lure. It was a short line fight and that fish jumped a couple of times and thrashed the surface. I think I held my breath the entire fight! I finally slipped my net under a 19.75" bass. I don't remember what that one weighed off the top of my head but it was part of my bag for weight.
After that I carefully combed that entire flat with the S-waver. A short while later I caught one that was a couple of pounds and that helped keep me laser focused on straining that water.
The next fish that bit almost ripped the rod out of my hands! I knew I had a good one. This bass thrashed along the surface a bit but never fully jumped. I could see this was a beast. I kept the pressure on and eventually wore down my best fish of the day. A 20.75" 4lb 7oz giant (for me in July anyways).
I kept fishing that spot with the S-waver but I could not get another bite. So after a while I reluctantly left that spot. The next spots produced only a single bass each. I kept heading downstream but it was starting to get late and I did not want to get home too late since I had to pick up my wife from the airport the next morning. The old "Sorry I am so late but I slept in because i was so tired from fishing" is just never going to cut it
I decided to head back to the magic spot and give it a few quick casts. Well, I am calling it the magic spot for a reason because once again my S-waver got slammed by a big one! This was not quite as big as the other two but it was a 19.25" bass that was over 3lbs.
That was the only bass I got off that flat on that stop, but I did fish the front of it where it drops off into deeper water with the 110 +1. I picked up several bass doing that and a giant pikieminnow. Each time I caught a fish off that spot there were 2 or 3 bass with it when I reeled it in. That lasted for a while and then that bite shut off.
I decided to fish 3 more spots on the way back to the ramp. Two of the spots I had skipped earlier and I wanted to re-fish the edge where I had success with the 110 +1 earlier in the day.
The first spot only produced some weeds
The second spot is a little island. I was sitting in about 3' of water (with lots of big rocks in it).. I reeled that S-waver in until I had about 2' of line out when a big bass came shooting out from underneath my kayak and just smashed that lure. That was just so wild! That fish was quickly subdued and turned out to be a 20" bass (that was really skinny). That was the only bite off that spot - but it was a good one![url=https://flic.kr/p/2srVasJ]
I did stop and quickly re-fish the edge from early in the day and picked up a few more bass there but nothing of size.
So by the end of the day my best 5 bass were 20.75", 20", 19.75", 19.25" and 19.25" to give me 99". They weighed a combined 17lb 13oz which is not much for that length but some of those fish were still quite skinny from the spawn. Just a magical day overall!
Here are some more pics and the video from the day:
