Summertime Smallies!

For people from the North, smallmouth fishing is a way of life. Big Lakes with big waves, producing legendary bronzebacks. These fish routinely come completely out of the water while being reeled in, and often the fiercest action doesn't begin until they've seen the boat. If you haven't had the opportunity to experience this for yourself, I highly recommend it. There are many bodies of water offering exquisite smallmouth fishing: Erie, Ontario, Simcoe, Cayuga, Susquehanna River, Champlain, St. Claire, St. Lawrence River, Pickwick, Smith Mountain, are just a few of the many options anglers can choose from when seeking big smallmouth bass. While you won't find these fish to reach the size of their greener cousins, smallmouth pound-for-pound have a reputation for packing twice the punch. There's no denying that. One thing that isn't debatable is that some of those lakes produce very nautical conditions that can be very dangerous. Weather Underground has wave conditions for those big lakes, and you should check them before going and heed the advice that's posted there when bad weather is predicted.

When the summer heats up, the bigger smallmouth move deep. Now deep is of course a relative term, and varies from lake to lake. Typically though, you'll be fishing in water that's over 25 feet, with techniques like drop shot, carolina rigging, tubes, cranking, etc. My two favorite presentations in this time of year are...

Click here to read the rest and visit wunderground.com for a full list of all my Reel Weather blog entries!

Five in the Box: Post-Spawn Bass

I asked my friends from all over North America to tell me their favorite way to target Bass post-spawn. Here they are!

Kate Dattilo, Connecticut 

Once the bass are off beds I'll concentrate on that area because I know the fish will be nearby. I'll look for cover. I like swimming a jig near docks or using a plastic Jerkbait. 

Gary Dobyns, California
Yamamoto senko....rigged a few different ways. You can't go wrong with that bait!

Rhett Woody, Tennessee 

I'm a jig fisherman at heart, and I love to pull out the jig whenever I get the chance. As soon as the bass come off the beds and a lot of the large females are still hanging out under docks, matted grass, bushes, timber, or whatever else is available, I love to get back in there and fish the jig. To me, there's nothing quite like the feeling of a big bass slamming a slow fished plastic.

Zak Elrite, California

The Freedom Tackle Stealth swim jig for lock-jawed post spawners, it has a removable hook system which allows the trailer to move and wave giving it more action while still keeping a subtle, stealthy approach for catching spooky post-spawners.

John McGoey, Ontario, Canada

I throw a Jackal jerkbait on the ledges in 10-15 feet of water where the big females go to recuperate and I work it really slow. 

Shane Lineberger, North Carolina

My favorite technique for post spawn bass is throwing a Brians Bees prop bait around dock floats for bass guarding fry. That bait has awesome action for drawing strikes from big bass.

Tim Hawley, North Carolina
Without a doubt the number one bait I throw to catch numbers is a wacky rigged Senko...but my favorite big bass bait is a top water frog for post spawn giants!