I'd like to add that smallmouths are just really angry little buggers. My dad and I went out the first time this year and met this guy on the docks, he was hooking up like crazy but the first fish he had broke off a couple feet away from the dock. This was still pretty early in the year, water waa about 40 degrees and the fish were still a little lazy. About 4 fish and a couple hours later I hookup on a bice fish, i bring it in but can't get the hook out because its too far down his throat, my dad gets it, takes a picture of me with the fish and we put it back. I pick the rod back up and am about to cast out when I see something is wrong with the lure, i get a closer look and notice that there's two lures on the end of my line, i show it to my dad and say "anything look wrong to you?" He grabs it and goes "there's no way.." it was the other guys lure, we gave it back to him because he was still around and told him what happened. That 2 pound smallmouth, grabbed a lure, got yanked towards the docks broke off last second then swam around for another 3 hours with a whole lure and hook still pierced in his throat then saw another lure and thought "yeah i could eat" and still attacked it. That was a great day, we caught a 5 and a half foot sturgeon that day too.
Hey Glenn, I like watching your videos, like this one. But I was wondering if you could include what your fishing, meaning lakes, or rivers. Like for us here in south central Pennsylvania, the Susquehanna River is mainly shallow. There is not much deep water around the Harrisburg area. We have to go south for water to be deeper then 8-10’. So in our case, since there is no deep water, do they move out of the area? Thanks, Jeff
One of my favorite BFS lures is a hair jig i love them they work amazing for multi species here in NJ. And not many people use them which is good for us.
Hey Glenn: What if any soft plastic trailers do you sometimes use on your hair jigs? FYI: Smallie season (where I live in Ontario) forbids bass fishing at ice-out and pre-spawn so our chances here to catch a really big smallie are diminished. Got my biggest smallie this year in thick weeds in early August.
Usually I start out without a trailer, but if I'm not getting bites, I may add a mini-craw trailer without a lot of action. Like the ones from Don Iovino.
Fishing rivers is a similar deal. Very aggressive strikes some days, bottom bouncing others. But those river fish will rip your arm off if you're not careful. Definitely stronger than lake fish, so make sure to set that drag right. I remember wade fishing a small river once on a dog day with a low water level. Kept casting into deep water and along the shoreline maybe 10 feet from the bank and catching nothing. Suddenly I noticed a large boulder sticking out of the water maybe a foot from the shore in 1/2 foot of water in direct sunlight. I was bored so I went for it and was rewarded with a 2.5 pounder as soon as my jig hit the water. Definitely a reaction strike that scared the crap out of me, but who would've know there was a smallie sitting in such warm and shallow water?
I’ll keep this in mind if I ever go up north, We don’t have many smallmouth opportunities in GA, except for the far north lakes. Never caught one before end would love to get one
Got to love the Columbia River Smallie. Such a spirit, especially when you are lucky enough to find a school. One other point, some days they like rattles (hard baits) and some days rattles will turn them off! Thanks Glenn, just in time, going out tomorrow if the wind dies down a bit.
I'd like to add that smallmouths are just really angry little buggers. My dad and I went out the first time this year and met this guy on the docks, he was hooking up like crazy but the first fish he had broke off a couple feet away from the dock. This was still pretty early in the year, water waa about 40 degrees and the fish were still a little lazy. About 4 fish and a couple hours later I hookup on a bice fish, i bring it in but can't get the hook out because its too far down his throat, my dad gets it, takes a picture of me with the fish and we put it back. I pick the rod back up and am about to cast out when I see something is wrong with the lure, i get a closer look and notice that there's two lures on the end of my line, i show it to my dad and say "anything look wrong to you?" He grabs it and goes "there's no way.." it was the other guys lure, we gave it back to him because he was still around and told him what happened. That 2 pound smallmouth, grabbed a lure, got yanked towards the docks broke off last second then swam around for another 3 hours with a whole lure and hook still pierced in his throat then saw another lure and thought "yeah i could eat" and still attacked it. That was a great day, we caught a 5 and a half foot sturgeon that day too.
Hey Glenn, I like watching your videos, like this one. But I was wondering if you could include what your fishing, meaning lakes, or rivers. Like for us here in south central Pennsylvania, the Susquehanna River is mainly shallow. There is not much deep water around the Harrisburg area. We have to go south for water to be deeper then 8-10’. So in our case, since there is no deep water, do they move out of the area? Thanks, Jeff
One of my favorite BFS lures is a hair jig i love them they work amazing for multi species here in NJ. And not many people use them which is good for us.
my biggest smallies have come in the fall and i do like natural colors the best.thanks for sharing.
Enjoy your videos. I usually see mountains in the background of every video. Where are you located?
Hey Glenn: What if any soft plastic trailers do you sometimes use on your hair jigs? FYI: Smallie season (where I live in Ontario) forbids bass fishing at ice-out and pre-spawn so our chances here to catch a really big smallie are diminished. Got my biggest smallie this year in thick weeds in early August.
Usually I start out without a trailer, but if I'm not getting bites, I may add a mini-craw trailer without a lot of action. Like the ones from Don Iovino.
Fishing rivers is a similar deal. Very aggressive strikes some days, bottom bouncing others. But those river fish will rip your arm off if you're not careful. Definitely stronger than lake fish, so make sure to set that drag right. I remember wade fishing a small river once on a dog day with a low water level. Kept casting into deep water and along the shoreline maybe 10 feet from the bank and catching nothing. Suddenly I noticed a large boulder sticking out of the water maybe a foot from the shore in 1/2 foot of water in direct sunlight. I was bored so I went for it and was rewarded with a 2.5 pounder as soon as my jig hit the water. Definitely a reaction strike that scared the crap out of me, but who would've know there was a smallie sitting in such warm and shallow water?
I’ll keep this in mind if I ever go up north, We don’t have many smallmouth opportunities in GA, except for the far north lakes. Never caught one before end would love to get one
You should do it, well worth the experience.
Got to love the Columbia River Smallie. Such a spirit, especially when you are lucky enough to find a school. One other point, some days they like rattles (hard baits) and some days rattles will turn them off! Thanks Glenn, just in time, going out tomorrow if the wind dies down a bit.