Smallmouth Initiation

Yuan was In Montreal on business from China and wanted to fish today for smallmouth bass. Who was I to deprive someone from halfway around the world out of experiencing our tremendous fishery! We met at the lake around 7:30 only to find the weather people were wrong once again. Quelle surprise! I couldn’t even launch the boat with three to 4 foot waves rolling directly onto the ramp. Plan B had us taking a road trip to another place where hopefully the conditions would be a little better. After fighting the morning traffic we arrived and all looked good. Yuan was use to fishing in China and on a good day receiving 4 or 5 bites from 12 to 15 inch largemouth bass. Boy was he in for a day to remember! The weather wasn’t exactly picture perfect with low clouds, cool air and the chance of precipitation. Although the winds were still present, they were doable and only caused me some discomfort with boat control. The first stop had him throwing a diving crankbait off a point and within a few casts, he was locked up. It may have been only average to me, but the 2.5 pound smallie was a giant to him. He couldn’t believe the raw power of these fish as I attempted to slip the net under his catch. Eventually, after several jumps and countless powerful dives, I succeeded. His first Canadian Smallmouth was officially behind him! A couple of quick pics and back to casting he went. Within the next 10 minutes he did manage to get a couple more but I quickly realized that there were better places to be and relocated. He was picking up one here & there and then I hit the jackpot. For the next few hours he was locked up on practically every cast. He caught a bunch of fish of all different sizes on a crankbait and then it went dead. I immediately switched him up to a jig and soon after, it all changed. He was back in the groove getting hits on every cast for a while and landing plenty more bass. There were so many fish in this area that even when he lost one, another immediately ate the jig. I think he believed that he was in heaven with all the fish he was into! This was something he had never experienced before and was more than happy to participate in catching as many as he could. As many times as he got snagged in the rocks, he would get hit when it popped free. There was even an incident that tangled the line in a knot around the rod and he had to hand line a four pounder to the boat. The action was so fast & furious that he skipped lunch in order to keep catching! We moved around a bit when things slowed and eventually got into an area that held some of the bigger smallies. These things were so vicious that they were attacking the jigs while we reeled in for another cast. I had one pinned by the boat and he threw in right next to the fish and almost had the rod tore from his hands with a fish almost 5 pounds. Each time we relocated, this happened all over again! There were so many fish being hooked into that he actually lost count of how many he had. I don’t even want to estimate how many were landed or even lost for that matter! All I know is that by the end of the day he was sore all over from the power of these bass. I don’t think he would have been able to fish a second day after being beaten up from these bass on steroids! Smallies rock and now he finally realizes what all the hype is about. By fishing for green bass all the time he hadn’t gotten to experience what a brownie could actually do. I know he won’t forget today anytime soon! His business has him travelling to this area almost every year and I’m pretty sure I haven’t seen the last of Yuan from China. What a way to be initiated into smallmouth fishing!!