Smallies On Fire

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June 28th 2018

 

Neville & Tony flew all the way from the U.K. to fish for 3 days here in Montreal. This was to be the first day of their trip and I wanted to get them started with a bang. We were going smallie fishing and it would also be the first time I targeted them this season as well. I hoped they would bite!

I picked them up on my way to the launch and we arrived right after 7:00 eager to get started. I also had another couple of clients scheduled to fish as well that I had to once again send out with Don. When we were all ready, out we went to search for the smallmouth!

The skies were looking a little threatening, but as luck would have it, the rain gear wasn’t really necessary. We set up in the first spot and I instructed them on what to expect. Tony began on a crank and Neville was tossing a blade bait to a rocky area looking for that first bite. Several casts later, Tony was into a bass and loving it. Unfortunately on the third jump, it threw the hooks and that ended quickly. A few casts later he was locked up again and this too was over just as fast. He needed to finesse the fish with the tiny hooks and after a little explanation, the third time was the charm. He had been horsing them and pulled the hooks from the first two but not the third. This one was to eventually make it into the net and he finally caught his first ever smallmouth bass! It didn’t take long for me to switch Neville to a crank as well and soon they were both getting into fish.

After the action slowed from numerous fish being landed, I decided to switch them over to soft plastics. This should give them both several more bass with different presentations. I quick demonstration had me locked up on the very first cast, showing them that it definitely worked! Once again, they began hooking many more smallies from this same spot. This went on for a while and Neville decided to try his luck with a fly rod. I had brought a couple along and was sure he would be able to get into fish this way as well.

Tony continued tossing soft plastics, hooking up once in a while but Neville wasn’t having much luck on the fly. Although he did manage to hook into one, it came off when it took to the air. He finally switched back to the spinning rod and was into fish in no time!

Eventually this slowed as well and I gave them jigs to try for a few more bass. Although they were hooking the bottom frequently, they did get a few others before we just pulled the plug completely on this area. We had fished it for almost two hours with very little down time. Yuup, it was loaded!

Our next spot was to be an open water flat that I wasn’t sure what to expect. They did manage to hook up a few times, but it wasn’t really on fire. Thirty minutes later, we were on the move again. They both had chances and boated a couple of decent smallies, but I just wasn’t feeling like there were many fish here.

I was going to target the bass a little shallower now due to the post spawn and decided to hit a couple of points that I knew. Although one didn’t produce more than a few fish, the other was pretty good and there was plenty of action. Tony seemed to be doing better from the back of the boat however and not for any particular reason. They were both throwing the same thing to the same spots and he just had the hot rod today!

With Tony not ever having caught a largemouth, I thought I’d try a spot nearby and see if he could land at least one. Well it didn’t take long before he brought a chunky post spawn fish to the net. We had to take several pics of his catch to go along with all the other shots of the smallies earlier. Both of them were throwing soft plastics over weeds and Neville finally hooked into another decent fish as well. Unfortunately it had swallowed his bait but with a little surgery, I had it out without injury.

With only the two largies being caught, I decided to slide to another rocky area for more smallie action. Neville was having a hard time getting bit but not Tony. He was putting on a clinic from the back of the boat again. Although not very big, they were all decent fish and he was thoroughly enjoying himself.

With time not on our side, I decided to hit one final area in hopes of hooking them up several more times. It was here that Neville finally got his wish as he managed to catch a couple of giant perch and one really nice smallie on the fly. Tony was still pounding fish but this time he was in the front of the boat with Neville fly fishing from the back. He needed more room and it was much safer too! I had wanted to end around 4:00 but the action was so good that we finally finished 30 minutes later.

This was a great start to their trip and they both got a taste of what the next two days should hold. I will be concentrating on the bass but also doing a little trolling to get Tony some pike & walleye. These are two more species he has never caught and I need to tick them off his bucket list. Who knows, maybe I’ll get him a musky or even a sturgeon too! All I know is they will be landing many more fish in the next two days to make this the best fishing trip they can possibly have. With a little luck, maybe ever!!