First Time Smallies

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July 13th 2018

 

I had a group from Saskatchewan this afternoon, looking to catch bass. Where they were from, walleye & pike were abundant but not the smallies. They were in for a real treat!

Running a little late due to all the construction, they arrived before noon & ready for action. I headed to a distant area and prepped a few rods with soft plastics when we arrived. I noticed an unusual number of bass boats in various places and realized that there was a tournament coming up on the weekend. In fact, there was a boat in the spot I wanted to fish! We watched him for a few minutes while I set up their rods and sure enough, he left without catching a thing. I told them we were going to go in there and hammer them now!

I had Chris up front with me, as I slid into the area I knew held fish. He casted out and while reeling in, had a boil on his bait, but missed the fish. I told him to wait and sure enough, the fish hit again and he was locked up with his first ever smallmouth bass. Never having had the opportunity to fish for these, he was thrilled to watch them go airborne and fight so hard. Although not huge, it was his first and now he wanted more!

I had all three slowly fish the area and Matt eventually hooked up from the back of the boat. He too was in awe from the power and acrobatics of these little brown footballs. The only person not catching was the other Chris. He had his chances but always fell short on the hookset! Matt on the other hand wasted no time in hooking his second fish from the back and the smack talk began. This time the fish was worthy of a pic before the release!

I was working the area thoroughly by holding the electric in anchor mode about every 50 feet or so. This allowed them to cover new water. Each time I made a move, someone always hooked up. Someone other than Chris from the back that is as he was still missing them on the strike. The other two were landing most of theirs and letting him know every time they did!

We had fished this area for a while now and mostly average sized fish had been landed. I decided to try another spot not far from this one and headed there hoping for bigger fish.

I was actually in open water and what should have had current, but it felt like I wasn’t moving. I soon realized that there wasn’t much flow, if any at all. They must have shut off the dam up above and that wasn’t good! We really needed to slow down now, in order to get bit! Matt had no problem with that as he slammed another fish on almost his very first cast! This turned out to be his biggest one so far and also worthy of a pic.

We worked this spot completely, with several other fish being missed by Chris and landed by the others. I decided to have him come up to the front of the boat so I could keep an eye on him and see why. There wasn’t any real reason other than possibly hitting the fish too early, as he missed another soon after. I immediately told him to stop reeling and tighten up on the line and he hooked it on the second bite. They always come back I told him, and this was proof! He finally had landed a fish and the other guys heckled him into taking a pic, regardless that it was a small fish. They said that it might be the only one he catches and they needed proof that he was actually here!

Several more quality bass were landed in the area, but I really wanted to fish another place that I could see nearby. I wasn’t planning on heading there until two other bass boats cleared out from an adjacent spot. Eventually they left and I told the guys that we would finish our day there!

Not long after I arrived, I had a fish attack a soft plastic bait that I was using to search the area. Without setting the hook, I had Chris throw to where I got bit and he was immediately locked up. Big bass and an acrobat at that! I quickly hit the anchor on my electric and netted his fish. More pics and Matt was also locked from the back before Chris could release his catch. There were definitely fish here and I was planning on finding out just how many!

In the last hour, they all had their fair share of fish chances and monopolized on most. Even Chris was catching and that was great to see! They had come all the way from Saskatchewan and weren’t disappointed with the smallie action today. As time was running out, I really wanted someone to end with a fish and ironically, it was Chris. They had all landed their fair share throughout the afternoon and Chris ended their day with a bang! I packed everything up and headed back to the dock to take out.

I don’t think they could have had a better day of fishing, except maybe landing a few more of the ones they missed. They had now seen and felt the smallie in action and were looking forward to doing it again. Unfortunately not anytime soon as they were flying out tomorrow and back to walleye & pike. Hopefully I will see them back in the coming years and their hook setting skills will have improved, giving them an even better day than they had today!!