Conference wahoo::fishing

From my experience, I haven't found them to be that much different from 
largemouth, so the tactics I use are very similar.  If I'm in a spot where 
I know they run small, I'll use med action spinning equipment and 6-8lb
test.  But, if I'm after a HAWG I'll use a baitcaster with 12lb test.

The lure selection is basically the same as largemouth, except maybe slightly 
smaller sizes.  My two largest smallmouth were caught on 9" texas rigged worms.
I caught a nice one the other day on a jig&pig.  I've also caught them on 
Rappala's and Shadraps.  Most of my smallies have been caught on small 4-6" 
worms.  I know alot of people like using grubs and Gitzit's, but I've had 
better luck with the small action-tail worms.  On the tube a few weeks ago, 
Orlando and a friend were doing real well up on Winni with spinnerbaits.

Smallmouth relate to different stucture than largemouths.  They tend to 
like rocks, gravel and sand.  They'll often hold on rocky banks, rocky points 
and vertical edges.  If there's a current, they'll be behind a rock or sand
bar, facing the current, waiting for crayfish or something to be swept by.

I recall reading something recently about smallmouth spawning that said that 
most smallmouth spawn after largemouth.  Where the largemouth spawn in the 
shallows that warm up earlier, the small mouth spawn deeper and the water 
takes longer to reach the spawning temp.

Don Mac

    
    Thanks for the info DON,much appriciated. looks like i might be
    there at the right time providing the weather starts getting better.
    I'll let you know how it goes. LOOKING FOR A SMALLIE MOUNT.<5+>




                                                   CREATOR OF "TOBACC"

    
    
    	I don't know when they spawn but 3 weeks ago a friend and I
    were trout fishing in our favorite spot (sorry boy's, no name).
    Around 5:00p.m. he threw on a tandom red/yellow mickey finn fly,
    on wet line, fly rod and started pumping while we trolled.
    Well the three smallmouth weighted in at 3 1/2 , 3, 2 3/4 lbs.
    and were caught within 20 mins.
    I was not a fly fisherman then, I am attemping to be now!!
    
    
    
    					Shakey Steve

    Hey Don, I'd like to know where you got that info on small mouth
    spawing. They spawn BEFORE largemouth in water temps around 54-58
    degrees. Largemouth in temps around 62-68. They (s.m.) will spawn
    at 3-8 ft. depending on water clarity. If really clear they may
    spawn as deep as ten feet, but that is unusal. In Maine and N.H.
    the ususal spawn is around the middle to end of May. Even early
    June if the weather doesn't cooperate. Largemouth spawn a couple
    of week after smallies. Smallies like gravel for their beds and
    don't do to much except move it around a little to clear off the
    silt. Biggies make a real nest in clay or hard sand and those are
    the ones we see in most lakes. Big round holes.
    
    Tight lines, Ron

    	I've had my best luck in fairly clear water working the break
    line with 6" plastic worms. The breakline is where you can look
    into the water from a boat and barely see the bottom. This winds
    up being roughly 8-12 feet depending on water clarity. It also appears
    that a flat tail worm works better for me than a curly tail.
    
    	Depending on the weather and size/depth of the water your fishing,
    the spawning period seems to run from mid May to early June.
    
    	The type of feed in the water your fishing will make a difference
    also. I've fished water where a gold shad rap was the hot lure and
    tried it other place where fish won't touch it. The above method
    (worms on the breakline) though seems to almost always work, especially
    around rocky areas.
    
    Good luck.......................RAYJ

    BTW - If your fishing clear water, bring polorized sun glasses if
    you have them. A lot of times you'll be able to see the fish your
    after.

    I can't recall off the top of my head where I read that Ron, but
    I'll take a look for it, and if I come across it, I'll post it.  
                             
    I'm pretty sure the author's temps were close to the ones you
    mentioned, smallmouth's liking the cooler temperature for spawning.  
                             
    But as I said, he felt that the shallows heated up to the largemouth 
    spawning temp before the smallmouth's preferred depth reached the 
    spawning temp.  So, I guess your difference in opinion lies within
    the depth at which the smallmouth spawn.  
           
    But as you say, that's what makes horse races...
           
    I'll try and remember to look that up tonight... 	Don Mac

    The best bait I have used is the "HELLGRAMMITE". If you dont know
    what one is, hit the book store and get a picture. Thems is one
    uuuugggglllyy bug. Lift a few rocks along the banks to find them
    (some bait shops sell them) Use a split shot or sliding sinker about
    20in from the hook. Crawl it along the bottom, or try "jigging it"
    Them BRONZ-BACKS love this stuff. Also a black or brown streamer
    (ugly of coars) might do the trick.
    
    		"FASTEN YOUR SEATBELT !!!"
    
    				BUCKETMOUTH

    
    YOU guy's are really great.WITH all the info that i recieved i ought
    to do pretty good. I'LL be up there for 4 day's and with using the
    knowledge and experience you guy's have given me,i don't think i
    can miss.EVEN if i don't catch anything it should be a lot of fun.
    It will be the first time getting away from the wife for that long
    so it's got to be fun.<nag,nag nag,nag> ahhhhhhhh,get me the HE__
    out of here!!!! thanks again. I think if it wasn't for fishing i
    would be a alcoholic.
    
    
                                        creator of"TOBACC"
                                        

    P.S. HAVE A FEW BELTS BEFORE YOU MEET MR. HELLGRAMITE. YOU MAY NEED
         IT.
    
    			BUCKETMOUTH

    
    RE:9 I will try all the ways that i have read here.The hellgramite
    sounds like it will be a experience and i feel ready to tackle them
    at any cost<chances are drunk>.how big are these ugly creatures
    and how do i hook them up to keep them alive.also what size hook
    should i use? should i bring the macheti?<just kidding>
    
    thanks                                      creator of "tobacc"

    re: .8
    
    Ranger Ron says, "If it wasn't for alcahol, He'd be a fisherman"
    
    

    You'al notice that my fish'en partner can't spell either. That comes
    from all those days of watch'en me catch the fish..;^) I belong
    to that good old club called A.F.A. .......you'al figure it out:^)
    
    Just a bit of a hint for big T......take a Zara Spook with you.
    If there is one bait that smallmouth like, that has got to be the
    one. It is also the most fun in the world to have a Bronzeback hit
    that surface bait. Talk about heart stopping action!!!!!! Don't
    miss a chance to try it.....you'll like it.
    
    Besides, hellgemites pinch the h*** out of your fingers when you
    try and get them out of the can. That is the way you have to do
    it too......:^( Hook them behind the head if you must use them.
    
    Tight lines, Ron

    Have you seen "THE FLY" movie ? Kids Stuff !!! 
    About 2in long ,draggon fly like body, hard shell "crustation like"
    larg "ant like" head w/ pinchers, no wings ,blackish or brown.Legond
    says that eons ago, they stood 10 stories tall and lived on large
    reptiles (which there are none now). Bring a friend. Hook em thru
    the back (behind the tusks)...kidding...
    
    Also great for trout.
    
    					BUCKETMOUTH

     Found it!  It wasn't in one of the mags, it was from the book 
    "The Art Of Freshwater Fishing".  Page 85, on Smallmouth Bass: 
     
    "They are most active in water 67 to 72F and spawn in water from
    the upper 50s to lower 60s.  While smallmouths spawn in cooler 
    water, they may deposit their eggs a few days later than the 
    largemouths.  The reason is that shallow, weedy bays used by 
    spawning largemouths warm faster in spring than do the deeper, 
    rocky sites preferred by smallmouth."
          
    I knew I had read that somewhere!
           
    Don Mac
     

    RE.13  You just described my wife!  I give a second nod to the Zara
    Spook....its awsome if worked correctly!!  I also had good luck
    with a lure made from the Ozark moutians called the Wood Chopper!
    It worked great on the small mouths at winny last year!  I'm going
    up for three days, June 5,6 and 7th!  I can't wait!  I'll be using
    my wife for bait!!
    
    							John
    

    Spook's a hot one. Also the Heddon TORPEDO (try black) top water.
    This lure has almost no action, so twitch it some (the lure).
    
    			BUCKET MOUTH

    Is the Spook and Torpedo like other top water lures still
    effective in mid-May?  Especially in light of the fact that 
    SM's might be just starting to spawn and do so in deeper water
    than the LM's.   I would think that getting down to the level
    of the fish activity would be more productive.   Are they that
    aggressive to come up from 5 ft+ to hit a top water plug at this
    time?  Or are we talking about fish in shallower water?
    
    Steve
    

    I watched Jimmy Houston fish a spook ( Peacock Bassin' on the Oronoco,
    Yeeeeehawwwww ).  He was moving the tip of his rod from side to
    side as he cranked to give it some action.  I believe that the
    technique is referred to as " walking the dog ".  Otherwise, you
    might as well be throwing a stick with hooks in it, a Zara Spook
    has no "natural" action.
    
    Steve

    This month's BASSmasters and Bass'n mags both focus on topwaters,
    and I believe one of them even has an article of fishing spooks
    for bronze backs... I haven't really read them yet... But, there
    on the racks if anyone's interested...		Don Mac

    Once you have the technique for walking the dog....hold on to that
    rod!  I caught a four pounder mid day in July on the spook!  Once
    I learned to work it I almost jumped out of the boat to get it
    myself;-)!
    
    						John

    re:17
    	To answer your question, it depends on the weather up to that
    point and the size of the body of water. The only way to really
    see if topwater will be effective is to try it. I can see how people
    can easily get hooked (pardon the pun) on topwater fishing. It is
    the most enjoyable way I can think of to catch a bass.
    
    	I have a question myself. Has anybody ever tried night bass
    fishing for smallmouths with any kind of luck ? I know largemouth
    hit pretty good on a hot summer night but have never tried for
    smallmouths this way.
    
    RAYJ

    re: .17
    
    Oh yes.....smallmouth and largemouth will come from as deep as 15
    or more feet to hit a surface bait. It all depends on the mood of
    the fish. Whether they are active, passive or suspended. Top water
    lures will work any time you are around active feeding fish, and
    pre-spawn is one of the heaviest action periods of the year.
    
    If the fish are deeper than 20 feet, they won't come up. Their air
    bladders can't decompress that fast, so they stay in that region
    to feed. Naturally that means that you have to get down to them.
    
    Don Mac, That article goes against all that I have read on the subject.
    Well, maybe we have learned something new........but I dont' know.
    I'll have to check it out somemore.
    
    Tight lines, Ron

    I've read other theories also, Ron.  As we all know, that's one
    thing bass'n is full of, different opinions.  That book that B.A.S.S.
    puts out "Secrets of the Pros" (or something like that) is a great
    example.  It's has sections from all of the top pros, and every
    other guy is telling it differently!  Oh well...
    
    Oooh, all this talk about night time bass'n with topwaters has got
    me going!  Last July, just after dusk, in the stumpfield, tossed
    out the Hula-popper, KABOOM!!!  6lbs 13oz of wall mount!  
    Ya gotta love it!
    
    Don Mac
                                              

    	When I put info in this file, there are times that I will extract
    and condense stuff from Field and Stream and Bassin' of which I
    keep about half a dozen or so kicking around my office. Here is
    an extraction from F. and S. called "Where to look for smallmouths".
    
    >In the spring, smallmouths don't become become very active until
    >the water temperature warms up to 50 degrees or better.
    
    	It goes on to say that the best time to fish is during the
    afternoon of a warm, sunny, and breezy day. It also says to fish
    the side that the wind is blowing into as the wind will push the
    warmer top water in that direction.
    
    >When the water temperature reaches 58- to 65-degree range, bass
    >migrate, males first, to the spawning grounds. The males build
    >the nests amidst rocky terrain in 2 to 12 feet of water, primarily
    >3 to 5 feet deep providing there is sufficient nesting gravel (hen-egg
    >sized rocks) available.
    
    	It goes on to say the the biggest bass will be near any big
    boulders, a deadhead log, or shade tree in the spawning area.
    
    	This kind of goes along with what I also thought the norm for
    smallmouths to be. Typically, in this area, the largemouth appear
    to spawn after the smallmouths, but there again, that will depend
    on the body of water and weather conditions. Commen sense tells
    you that smaller and shallower bodies of water will warm faster
    than bigger deeper waters.
    
    RAYJ

    FOR YOUR INFO...
    Bluegill are spawning early this year in MD. in the smaller ponds.
    I can see some larger nests just beyond their beds. Bass? probably...
    Lats night, after fishing a shallow running crank-bait (for quite
    a while) I tied on a larger deep-diver. ! BAM ! first cast 23in
    of hog. He/she was about 6ft deep. I landed 2 more in about the
    next 20 min. A nice night.. They are all sefely back in the pond
    waiting for next week.Point being: if they are spawning early here
    they are probably going to be early up north. So shine up those
    rods and sharpen those hooks 'cause here they come.

    You didn't say where in Maine you are anticipating this lunker .
    The bass club I belong to is having our second club tournament this
    Sunday on Great Pond in Belgrade . We had the first one two weeks
    ago on Long Pond also in Belgrade , 26 people 19 fish caught ,of
    which 4 or 5 were smallmouth the rest largemouths. 
    
    We still are fishing extremley cold water up here , last weekend
    while practice fishing Great Pond , wqe found temps ranging from
    46 to 51 . The key at these temps is to fish sloooooow and easy
    and to catch the fish when they become active .
    
    I was able to win the Long Pond tourn by doing just that . We have
    some eccellent bass fishing in Maine if you know where to go and
    how to  catch them once you find em . 
    
    We have been working very hard to have the min length raised from
    the current 10" to 12 and it looks as though that is going to happen
    soon . We also encourage Catch and Release .
    
    The Smallmouth up here have not begun to show many signs of pre
    spawn as of yet . The weather has been very cold and has fluciated
    between bad and bad . 
    
    If you know which lake you will be fishing , let me know and I should
    be able to give you an update as to conditions etc .
    
    Al Vorhis

    RE.26
    Al,I shoulda known. I was up at Great Pond last summer( the first
    time I'd ever been there) over the Fourth of July weekend and boy
    I was impressed with the Lake! I had my canoe and I was camping
    at the North end of the Lake so I wasn't able to try out the flats
    at the South end but I had a hell of a time poking around that big
    island up at the north end and bumping worms along the bottom at
    20 ft or so. Bump, bump, then I'd get a snag...wait this isn't a
    snag,it's moving like a tank along the bottom...and after dragging
    this log up to the surface I was staring at a face that only it's
    mother could love.  At about 5++ pounds (no scale!) it was a beautiful
    largemouth. I had a great weekend. I really want to go back this
    year(especially now that I have a "real" boat) so please tell me
    more about this lake and also, how you do at the tourny...
    Do you count the Pike in there? Or is it just Bass that qualify?
    I got some mean fishing in the reeds up at the N.E. side of the
    lake...Had a mean sucker on for about 1 minute but damn! no steel
    leader!. Big fish in that place...

    Those are fighting words...Fletcher!  What do you mean, " I was
    there with my CANOE, But now that I have a real boat!!!"
                       
    Before the big ones jump on the end of that line they don't come
    up to the sufface to see what your fishing out of;-)!!
    
    							The Legend
    Who catches the big ones from a CANOE!

   {I have not been foloowing this topic but, I thought it would be
    a good place to add tonights results.  We boated 6 keeper smallies.
    one over 3lbs.  We also had 11 shorts.  We fished Lake{Singltry
    in Millbury MA. 5 of the fish were caught on a pig+jig the other
    on a willow blade spinner.
    
    For te large mouth people in about 58 degree water I landed on large
   {mouth over 3lbs on the same spinner bait.
    
    NOW!! DON MAC shut that big mouth of yours!! :^)
    
    Bassin Bob
    

    Ok, Bob, I'm happy now, knowing that that big ol' battlestar bass
    chaser of yours is over it's new boat mystique problems!
    
    Don Mac  

    
    The lake i will be fishing at is lake George.any info on what size
    shad{baitfish} that swim in these waters?


       thanks                                    creator of "tobacc"
    

    
    I had a wonderful time up in maine.we hit some real good fish.
    we caught 7 bass from 2 1/2 to 4lb's.only 1 bass was a large mouth
    which went 3 lb's.plus many smaller ones.we stopped at a small pond
    on the way back to the camp and we caught 25-30 pickeral in about
    1 1/2 hours,some reaching 20".lost a couple at maybe 25".I also
    caught a big fat hornpout on a spinner bait.
    
     thanks for all the tips although the only lure we caught anything
    on was spinnerbaits.
    
                                                   creator of "TOBACC"