We hit the water yesterday with 2015 NBSFA Champion Ryan Hood. It was a day of firsts for both of us with Ryan catching a personal best Smallmouth and some crazy topwater action over deep water.
We started our day off over a shallow grass flat with scattered dollar pads. I was throwing a Blue Fox in line spinner and Ryan was using a fluke. Both of us were catching fish and they were extremely aggressive. They seemed to be roaming around on the flat so we just kept moving around. In the more open areas I was throwing a JackAll SK Pop Grande topwater. It’s smaller profile seemed to be the ticket for the very clear water we were in and they would inhale it. I love topwater.
After a bit we moved further down the lake and tried drop shot fishing in 20 to 25 feet of water. The fish were scattered and not overly big at this point. We heard some splashing out behind us and could see bass busting into bait on the surface. I kicked the trolling motor on high and headed out. We were throwing the top waters as far ahead of the boat as we could and then wham we were into fish. We only got half a dozen of them but it was the first time I ever took fish on top over 47 feet of water. At this point Ryan stayed with his topwater and I went deep on fish I was marking on the Lowrance and picked up a couple more.
We headed down the lake to a long rocky point I had found on another trip and this is where most of the magic happened. We started on top and one would come up and nail it. You would get it close to the boat and there would be three or four more with it. This is where Ryan got his four plus and Shawn took a break from the camera to get in on the action. We stayed an hour and a half on this spot and caught them on Topwater, flukes and half ounce JackAll Super Eruption spinnerbaits. This is one of the best spots I have ever come across for Smallmouth being bunched up. I cannot wait to hit this again in the fall when they really have the feed bag on.
I was throwing the half ounce spinnerbait on a 6’10″ MH Crucial Rod with a Curado 200G7 and 15 lb Power Pro. I like the high speed retrieve on this reel for summer time spinnerbaits.
The Pop Grande was going out on a Zodias 270MH spinning rod with the new Stadic 2500HD and 8 lb mono. The drop shot was on a Cumara DX72 MA with a 2500 Saros reel with 8 lb mono. I much prefer the lighter action rods for drop shot. I have found the heavier rod tends to make the fish run to the surface and jump on the hookset. The softer action of the 72 MA lets me get into the fish without making it run to the surface.
All in all we had a great day out there and I can’t wait to go back.
Backwater Casting’s photo.
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