Dwight Hottle

If you don't want to wear your arm out try trolling

Rapala tail dancer TDD9

Fish with friends Always be ready Try something different

Rolo said I'm ready Tom. How many rods may Dwight and I take along? Roger you better let me bring the rods! ;D

Hey Rodger maybe we can both get Catt to take us out on Falcon. Sounds like fun and I can go to school watching you both!

RW wrote: Smallmouth: St. Clair Your hurting my feelings RW. :o Largemouth-Falcon with Catt

I'm in Islamorada this month & the cold front has caused a massive die-off of tarpon, snook & bonefish thruout the everglades & bay. Water temps down to 40 degrees before the warmup started. The state has closed the season on tarpon, bonefish & snook until April.

My biggest accomplishment for the year was breaking the 30lb barrier for northern pike & 12lb barrier for steelhead. My decade accomplishment was breaking the 7lb barrier for smallmouth & largemouth, 12lb barrier for walleye, & the 37lb barrier for lake trout.

Interesting article in the infisherman online about gobies & the impact on the great lakes smallmouth fisherie. The article is State of the smallmouth written by Rich Zaleski. From page three " Noted Lake Erie angler Jeff Hahn has found a pronounced shift in that lake's smallmouth population over the past decade. While smallies in the 4- to 5-pound class seem to be increasing, the numbers of young fish are falling. Many folks, including some fishery biologists, lay the blame for declines in young fish on the proliferation of the goby, he says. While gobies have become the main diet of Lake Erie smallies, they also raid the nests of spawning fish, resulting in a population of fewer but larger fish. Years ago, a good catch in the two weeks before the spawn might have included 100 fish with an average size close to 3 pounds. The best days now may produce 35 to 40 fish. The average size of a culled limit now borders on or exceeds 4 pounds, with a few fish over 5 and frequently a 6-pounder or two. While this appears to be trading quantity for quality, the reality is that that smaller fish are much fewer and farther between. Those not familiar with Lake Erie see that it still takes 5 fish over 20 pounds to win a one-day tournament and figure the lake's smallmouth population is in great shape. But many Erie anglers and fishery personnel are concerned about what appears to be a significant reduction in the recruitment of smallmouth. When those big fish die off, says Hahn, what will be left? "

The hardest part about bass fishing is keeping up your enthusiasm for day two after getting your butt kicked the day before. Then figuring out a new strategy that works.

Bass Hole Thanks but I would trade you any day for that 9lb-8oz RI bass. That is a monster northern strain for RI. Congrats!

My biggest smallie for 2009 was 6lb-12oz.

Try seguar fc.

Thanks for the info. I have been very happy with all my st croix rods. I have always loved the cork handles on st croix as they fit my hands like a glove. The specs on the inshore rods do look good. I will let you know how happy I'm with it when you come up.

Excellent article. Thanks for posting it.

My favorite inline spinner is hands down the blue fox vibrax in firetiger. After the hook gets dull cut it off & add a splitring to the wire loop with your favorite hook. Very versatile lure for lots of species of fish. Almost as versatile as a jig.

Has anyone had any experience with the legend inshore rods? Specifically the LIS70LM spinning rod. Looking to use it for light weight cranks.

Paul Roberts said [Agree. Not to stir things up. I can see the argument that scales and conditions rarely allow for perfect accuracy. But...George Perry's scale didn't either. What we a recording are not bass, but weights via scales. All we have are imperfect scales and imperfect conditions. A "certified scale" should count. Also, does the 2oz rule apply to yellow perch and tarpon? Without knowing the details of the reasoning, I feel Kurita is due the record. ] Paul the IGFA rule regarding beating an existing record by 2 oz applies to any record under 25lbs. So yes to the yellow perch but no to the tarpon. I don't have the rule book in front of me but I recall the differential is greater than 2 oz for records over 25 lbs.

The smallie weighed 7lbs-6oz.

My very favorite rapala for deep applications for smallmouth is a deep tail dancer TDD09 dives to 20 feet. Best colors for me are clown on cloudy & sunny days & perch on sunny days. I caught my biggest smallie on them. Best shallow application is the original floating rapala in F11 or F13 size pick a color.

Some big fish never get widely reported. Here is a picture from the Ohio Game Fishing site. Reported caught in April 2005 from lake erie near Conneaut Ohio. Caught by Don Ishee. His son Todd is shown holding the fish in the picture. And yes is went to the taxidermist. 9.2 lbs. No dimensions given but the picture supports the stated weight in my opinion.

Great video. I have fished for lake trout in numerous upper candian lakes. They say they only grow 1/2 lb to one pound per year of age. I saw a still photo of a 101lb laker netted from lake athabasca when they still commercially netted the lake. It was said to be asexual. It looked like a giant sunfish in shape, small head with a heavily rounded body. A real freak. Here is a picture of a red fin lake trout caught in lake athabasca northern saskatchewan.

bassnleo said What are ya waiting for Kent? Me, Dwight, and YOU this Spring. We may not find a double digit fish but we may hit triple digits per day . I'm in leo. Kent its time to get your bucket list moving! I'll even go back to get your snags loose if you want to use those cranks bumping bottom. ;)

I agree that Tenn, KY, Al and CA have the best shot. The great lakes have such tremendous fisheries that double digit smallies surely exist. Randy VanDam's 9lb-8oz Ohio record supports that the 10 pound barrier could be exceeded. Only time will tell.

"The new World Record Smallmouth will be caught on the Tennessee River." I predict that Kent will get that BIG smallie on the Tennessee River & then will come north to fish Lake Erie with all of us great lake boys! I know that will take care of two bucket list things to do. ;)