Suspended smallmouth

[wolc123]

This is a fun time of year to chase smallies, as they leave the shoreline structure and head out over deep water. It can make things tough on big waters like Erie, but not too much trouble on a deep little Adirondack lake.

The best time was the first and last hours of daylight when the wind was nill and the surface as smooth as glass.  Then it is just a matter of watching for boils as they break the surface chasing up baitfish. Cast a jig to those spots, count to 5 or so, give it a twitch or two, and more often than not, you soon have one on. 

My favorite part, being cheap and lazy, is that there are no snags out there and the same jig lasted me all weekend.  I imagine I will get most of the summer out of the same one.  I ended up with 9 nice 13 to 16 inch "keepers" last weekend and a few shorts.  It was not real fast action with lots of rowing between rises, but man do they pull.

[genesee_mohican]

Quote

That's some of the best fishing around and the views, peace and quiet are hard to beat.  I like to use rebel poppers, jigs and senko's on ultra light to light tackle from my canoe.

 

[wolc123]

[Robhuntandfish]

used to do a lot of that.  Beautiful place to be!  Never was much of a jig guy - used to use small husky jerks, small spinnerbaits, Zara Spooks and senkos.  Topwater bites were always the ones you hoped for cause it was so fun. 

[Rattler]

I've had great success on big smallies using a Mepps #2 with bucktail trolled at slow speed about 25 yards or more behind the boat.

[Pygmy]

Down here in the Finger Lakes, a popular method  is to troll tandem streamers ( Locally known as " woodchucks")  with a fly rod over deep water for suspended smallies chasing alewives( locally known as sawbellies)….

It is quite a thrill to be holding a fly rod  trolling about 5MPH when a 3 or 4 pound smallmouth loads up on it....

[wolc123]

1 hour ago, Robhuntandfish said:

used to do a lot of that.  Beautiful place to be!  Never was much of a jig guy - used to use small husky jerks, small spinnerbaits, Zara Spooks and senkos.  Topwater bites were always the ones you hoped for cause it was so fun. 

I use plain old round-head bucktail jigs most of the time for the extra satisfaction of getting them on lures that I made myself but mainly because I am so cheap.   I pour my own heads, shoot my own deer, pick up road kill tails, etc, so all I need to buy are the hooks and they litterally cost pennies.   I always use as light of one as I can (1/8 oz works perfect for bass suspended down 5 feet).   The lighter jigs are also easier to get a good hookset with and tougher for the bass to throw after they are hooked.    They tend to be spooky in the clear calm water though so any lighter than that is tough to reach out far enough on the casts to fool them.    

[turkeyfeathers]

Wolc - the upper niagara was on fire last week. 47 smallmouth in couple hours between 2 of us. Put in at isle view and fished all the little harbors . Pitching 1/8 oz jig heads with 3” gulp to and around backs of boats. Fish are laying underneath waiting for food to get drifted under. Lake bite is slow with water temps ramped up. Lots of 3+ pounders in the mix. Fun in the current for sure. 

[Jeremy K]

We landed a few friday in the lower river

[wolc123]

 

46 minutes ago, turkeyfeathers said:

Wolc - the upper niagara was on fire last week. 47 smallmouth in couple hours between 2 of us. Put in at isle view and fished all the little harbors . Pitching 1/8 oz jig heads with 3” gulp to and around backs of boats. Fish are laying underneath waiting for food to get drifted under. Lake bite is slow with water temps ramped up. Lots of 3+ pounders in the mix. Fun in the current for sure. 

That is basically my home water (I can be at the launch in 1/2 hour).   I am usually able to get smallies there any time of bass season and this usually is the easiest time to get lots of them (late post spawn).   I stayed away from there for a few years, after they dredged up the Buffalo river for fear of what chemicals they may have dredged up, but they should be good eating again by now.  As mentioned many times,  I am not big into "catch and release".  We started keeeping a few again last season and they were pretty good and I felt safe enough to feed them to my wife and girls.   I will be in other places for the rest of this month (PA, VA, St Lawrence), but will probably start in again on the upper Niagara in mid-August or so.      By that time the smallies where be deeper there, but I know a lot of their hiding spots.   I am trying to locate largemouth in the Upper river.   

A couple years ago, we fished a bass tournament there and probably had the three largest bass overall of the tournament.  We got the prize for the biggest bass (recouping our entry fee) but half the 6 allowed bass had to be Largemouth and we got skunked on them.  We finished third place overall, loosing out to two boats who found some Largemouth.  I was not real happy with the tournament thing because they made us release the fish, but the nieghbor kid talked me into it.  I probably would not have agreed if I had known about the (3) largemouth / (3) smallmouth technicality.        

[Jeremy K]

6 minutes ago, wolc123 said:

 

That is basically my home water (I can be at the launch in 1/2 hour).   I am usually able to get smallies there any time of bass season and this usually is the easiest time to get lots of them (late post spawn).   I stayed away from there for a few years, after they dredged up the Buffalo river for fear of what chemicals they may have dredged up, but they should be good eating again by now.  As mentioned many times,  I am not big into "catch and release".  We started keeeping a few again last season and they were pretty good and I felt safe enough to feed them to my wife and girls.   I will be in other places for the rest of this month (PA, VA, St Lawrence), but will probably start in again on the upper Niagara in mid-August or so.      By that time the smallies where be deeper there, but I know a lot of their hiding spots.   I am trying to locate largemouth in the Upper river.   

A couple years ago, we fished a bass tournament there and probably had the three largest bass overall of the tournament.  We got the prize for the biggest bass (recouping our entry fee) but half the 6 allowed bass had to be Largemouth and we got skunked on them.  We finished third place overall, loosing out to two boats who found some Largemouth.  I was not real happy with the tournament thing because they made us release the fish, but the nieghbor kid talked me into it.  I probably would not have agreed if I had known about the (3) largemouth / (3) smallmouth technicality.        

I know of some spots for large mouth in the upper ,my father in law and his buddies have fished that area longer then I've been alive . Shoot me a PM when it gets closer and I'll give you some spots.

[The_Real_TCIII]

Ive caught a lot of LMBs in the marina by the old holiday inn

[turkeyfeathers]

Ive caught a lot of LMBs in the marina by the old holiday inn

We drew a blank there last week and was shocked. Last July 5th buddy caught this from under a boat in the dock


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[Marion]

We drew a blank there last week and was shocked. Last July 5th buddy caught this from under a boat in the dock


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Remind me not to swim by that dock. Don't want it biting my toes off

#LessOverzealousMods #WeWantANewMod

[crappyice]

Ive caught a lot of LMBs in the marina by the old holiday inn

I’d rather not discuss what I’ve caught at the old Holiday Inn.


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[wolc123]

We get a few musky by accident on the upper Niagara.  My biggest was a 48 in back when they had to be 44 in to keep.  Today it hangs above the bar in our billiard room.

 These days they got to be over 54 in to keep.  I am not sure how many of the shorties survive after the trip to the boat on 8 pound test bass tackle.  We always do our best to be gentle on them but I suppose a few have probably gone over the falls belly up.

During that bass tournament a few years ago a 40 incher ripped a 16 in smallmouth off my line.  

 

 

[The_Real_TCIII]

We get a few musky by accident on the upper Niagara.  My biggest was a 48 in back when they had to be 44 in to keep.  Today it hangs above the bar in our billiard room.
 These days they got to be over 54 in to keep.  I am not sure how many of the shorties survive after the trip to the boat on 8 pound test bass tackle.  We always do our best to be gentle on them but I suppose a few have probably gone over the falls belly up.
During that bass tournament a few years ago a 40 incher ripped a 16 in smallmouth off my line.  
 
 

Same here, I’ve caught three musky and two were on 8lb line in the upper Niagara. One was an absolute monster that we netted but the shaft of the net broke and all was lost, no pictures


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[wolc123]

 

8 minutes ago, The_Real_TCIII said:

Same here, I’ve caught three musky and two were on 8lb line in the upper Niagara. One was an absolute monster that we netted but the shaft of the net broke and all was lost, no pictures


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The time I got my largest I was actually trying for them.  We had been hooking into at least one on every drift, breaking most off.  I switched to the heaviest outfit on the boat, loaded with 14lb line, doubled up the last 15 in, and tied on my largest bass jig.   

I attached a huge rubber lizard to that and lowered  it down.  The big one picked up that bait almost immediately. After a 20 min battle, it looked ready for the net, but had saved enough strength for one more good run.  

It had spent everything it had left on that last run, so it was either lewiston or my wall.  I chose the latter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cynthiafu]

4 hours ago, The Jerkman said:

Remind me not to swim by that dock. Don't want it biting my toes off

#LessOverzealousMods nice musk

Muskies

[Pygmy]

2 hours ago, crappyice said:

I’d rather not discuss what I’ve caught at the old Holiday Inn.


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Don't wait up for the shrimp boats, Momma,  cuz I'm coming home with the crabs...

[Pygmy]

3 hours ago, The_Real_TCIII said:

Same here, I’ve caught three musky and two were on 8lb line in the upper Niagara. One was an absolute monster that we netted but the shaft of the net broke and all was lost, no pictures


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Yeah.....Sure......Hehehe...