Crestliner2008

When I'm fishing for SM, I use 1/4 oz. steel (lead is prohibited in some waters in my state) bass casting type sinkers. I've fished this weight in 10' - 45' of water with no problems. Some of our SM waters are rocking....some are weedy. Doesn't seem to matter much, as far as the sinker goes - to me anyway.

X2 - besides that, it would be a bear to cast without tangling. And then again, since this is a finesse presentation, using light line, just imagine if you hooked into two 3 - 4 pound small mouths! What do you think the odds would be of landing either?

One other thing to consider on high pressured lakes is your approach to a structure. A lot of anglers zoom in on a structure at top end speed. shutting down within yards of their target. This will not get you bit, in this situation. Instead, cruise in quietly. Keep your profile low. Stand out from the structure. Make long cast. And as has been said above, study finesse fishing and become intimate with those various presentations.

X2 - All my hooks have the barb crushed down. No logical reason for it being there, unless you're in a tourney. The only hooks I leave the barbs on are my drop shotting hooks, since 90% of the time they're lip hooked on the very edges of the mouth.

Re-arrange your tackle box!

I agree with the suggestion on Senkos. But I'd recommend using the 5" instead. Rig them texas style, skin hooked (Tex-posed). Also, if you can get ahold of some Fat Ikas in green and some in brown color tones. Rig them reversed, with skirt up, again texas style, skin hooked. These have more weight yet and will get down in amonst the snaggy-est bottoms without hanging up. Best thing is that they will produce SM bass! Finally, an internally weighted tube rigged texas style will produce similarly to the above. With these basic presentations, you're putting the odds in your favor. Target the eddy areas or any type of current breaks. You'll get bit!

You have to read the instructions with each spinning reel nowadays; some require you to lay the spool flat, while others prefer you to roll it on edge-ways, the way you do it with a baitcaster. Shimano is like that. Their anti-twist feature requires it.

We hit some fine weather and fishing conditions yesterday. Water temps were between 62 - 66 degrees by the end of our day. I was figuring the smallies would be a lot deeper by now, but I figured wrong. Checking out the deeper structures, I found this huge ball of bait: The salmon were exploding on the surface around us in this spot. Thought we'd see the bait on the surface, but they never came quite that high in the water column. I did get this one on the DS: We didn't get any more from this spot, so we moved shallower and started to really get into some nice bass. Here's a few of the dozen and a half that we caught & released: A truly beautiful day out there yesterday. Here's a view of this fabulous reservoir: With the warm weekend ahead of us, I suspect the big smallies will start to stage a lot deeper. That's when this place really gets into the the swing of things!

Where do you get the Dragon Worms? I used them several years ago on my DS, but have been unable to find them. Outstanding producers!

Spro makes a great "PowerSwivel", which is a precision crane swivel design, in very small sizes. I've been using the size 10 on both my DS and tube rod. (I put a clear plastic bead above the swivel to protect the rod tip eye when I reel up.) I use the same line as the main for my leader, which is only about 1 1/2' - 2' long. Minimizes twist tremendously.

I've tried the Gulp sinking minnow. In my opinion, it's a very poor Senko knock-off at best. These baits are stiff and dry out easily. No where near the action of a Senko on the fall. The "stuff" it's made of is indeed an eatable product, with respect to what fish will eat. But sometimes they eat marshmallows too! I'll stick with the Senko. However, I am trying the 3" & 4" Gulp minnow this year, fishing with jigs and on the drop shot. Not sure how that's going to work out yet?

The Sluggo is a soft "jerk" bait. That's what it was designed for and what it produces best at, as far as presentations go. You can cast it and just let it fall to the bottom, jerking it off occasionally, as well. So it's quite a versatile bait. Let a Suggo just fall - with no action on your part - and it will swim off the spot you cast it to, with no internal action per se. The Sluggo has less internal "mass" and sinks a lot slower, permitting this "gliding" action on the fall. This allows for more angler interaction, and consequently, where the jerk-bait action can be imparted by the angler. The Senko however is a very different animal. This one is specifically designed to be used as a drop and dead-sticking bait. It's internal mass is very dense, allowing it to fall rather quickly. This quick fall rate, when fished on a Texas rig (with no weight), will cause the tail to wiggle frantically, which is very enticing to both LM & SM bass. And it will fall - basically - straight down most of the time. Rigged Wacky style, the Senko's both ends wiggle, which is really a dynamite presentation in some situations, i.e.: post cold front and inactive bass. Each is designed for a specific action. Each can be used in each other's intended presentation, but less effectively, in my opinion.

The older I get, the less important it is to me to land every fish I hook. I'm more into the hunt and the subsequent successful presentation, that means the most to me. Being a CPR fisherman anyway, so it's not a problem to loose a fish or two at boat-side. The overall fishing experience is much more important than landing every fish. JMO.

Would probably work very well. However, in MA they'd be illegal, as well as other states, I suspect. Maximum is 2 hooks (lures) here per person.

I fish depths up to 35' with a weightless, wacky rigged Senko. Is there some kind of an advantage to using a weight?

I have 3 Abu Ambassadors and have been using them for many, many years with no problems. The ole' reliable 5500C is hard to beat for the money. A matching BPS Bionic Blade and you're good to go!

MJEFF - Yep....64 here and retired! I've seen plenty of beds in the mid section (around the Pass) and north from there. Fish were on them about 2 weeks ago, but not anymore. I believe, any bass remaining on or near the bedding grounds now, are the smaller males. The big girls are heading on toward their deeper, summertime haunts. Beardog - Have no fear! There are plenty of quality smallmouth up there and there will be for years to come. What I am concerned about, however, is the reduced water clarity, even on the main. Using an Aqua View, the bottom 3' - 4' of some structures are pretty murky! Plenty of bait around to keep the smallies fat; perch seem to be predominating over the smelt though. Not sure what that's all about?

For the past 2 years (this will be my 3rd.), on my tube rod (7' Med. Act.) I've been using Vanish Transition, with no problems at all. It's a hybrid fluorocarbon - from what I gather - but casts like a dream. No twisting either, but I'm putting it on a Symetre. Have caught a lot of smallmouth on this line. I'm happy.

Beautiful picture!

Good report...THANKS. I fish the Quabbin twice a week, on average, but I've been without my truck for the last week & 1/2! > Have it back now, so I'll be back up there next week....if this freakin' rain ever stops! ;D The smallies I'm after will be off their beds and setting their summer time camps. Right now there are pre-spawn, spawn and post spawn fish available. Just takes a lot of looking around to find them.

I'm partial to the ole' Trilene knot. Been using it for a lot of years. Most modern knots are pretty reliable however. It depends on what you're use to tying and the ease and speed at which you can do it.

I do not believe fluoro will significantly increase the fall rate. It will "allow" your wacky rig to be presented in a more natural manner; as the line will sink along with the bait, allowing freer action. I've been using fluoro for everything beneath the surface, with the exception of crank baits. For those I use mono, which tends to be a bit more forgiving, due to the stretch. On the other hand, if I'm fishing on the surface, I'll use a braid, which tends to float. JMO.

You may not believe this, but that "vivif" minnow was an original design of the now defunct company, Herters, Inc.. They were making lures very similar to the Storm's Wildeyed Shad, back in the 60's. Panther Martin didn't use the design until well into the 70's. This whole soft plastic swimbait thing is actually a re-hash of some older designed lures which never really took off in past years. Some of the old catalogs are incredible to look at!

I plan on trying these out a bit differently; nose hooked only, with a weighted worm hook. Of course, I fish mostly off-shore structures for small mouth.