Will Wetline

I paint 2 - 4 dozen jigs at a sitting and have done hundreds using TJ's Tackle 3" fluid bed. Once you get a feel for this system the results are consistently excellent, much better than dipping the jig into the jar. I believe TJ's fluid bed is offered at the best price out there and has worked with no problems. https://www.tjstackle.com/ If you're curing in a toaster oven, spend another few bucks on an oven thermometer so you'll know the exact temperature. You'll enjoy these modest investments for years.

Bob, this day was very unusual regarding hook setting the TRD. Using the procedure described in my post, I regularly land 90% or better. Wish I had underwater footage to see how these missed fish were taking the bait.

Weather report was for sun/haze and 0 - 7 mph wind. Surface temp: 64.3º. By 8:00 I had taken a keeper and a 2 1/2 lb. smallmouth on a popper. Nothing else happening on my first spot so I moved to a large flat to do some "spybaiting" with a Duo Realis Spin Bait 80. I've been fishing this bait for a number of seasons now but don't hear others talking about it, probably because to present it effectively, you use a snooze-inducing cadence - just let it wobble along slowly, fore and aft props whirring. If you have the patience to do this, you'll get a rude awakening from time to time. Early afternoon found me working a long ridge. Nothing deep on the northern end and further disappointment throughout the shallower areas. Would they be coming out of the depths on the southern end mid afternoon? Anchored at about 15' and casting a TRD on a 1/16 oz. Midwest Finesse (mushroom) jighead, I found them but had a problem - I couldn't keep these finicky eaters hooked! My SOP with a TRD is to casually reel down to the fish and firmly sweep set. This afternoon the fourth and the fifth jumped, throwing the bait. All five were between three and four pounds. It's not my style to smash rods on the gunnel so I took a short break. Back at it, I hooked up again. Now I could go home smiling.

What a day!

It was cool and bright early morning. Surface temp was 60.7º. It could be time for topwater. The Duo Realis Popper 64 enticed this smallie and two others which were slightly smaller. Caught this smallmouth with a Canon PowerShot D20. Others have reported seeing many beds; I have spotted relatively few for this time of the season. Weather report was for 5 - 10 mph wind. From 10:30 - 1:30 the water was whitecapped. Then it calmed down enough for the black gnats and I to enjoy my sandwich. By 2:30 I had had enough but I wanted one more fish. A decent smallmouth took a quick look at a Z-Man Jerk ShadZ then veered off. It was time for a TRD to be walked slowly across the bottom. So ended another beautiful, challenging day on Quabbin.

Yes. I don't like the sound of braid for one thing and I can tie a required braid-to-fluoro knot but don't care to. I get adequate distance with straight fluoro to catch clear water smallies so I plan to keep things quiet and simple.

My favorite rod for 3/32 oz. marabou jigs and 1/8 oz. bucktail jigs is St. Croix's Avid 7' Medium Light rod. I like the TFO Resolve 7' 6" ML stick too but was surprised I don't get more distance with it than the 7' St. Croix. I've got Shimano Stradic 2500s on both rods and fill the spools with 6 lb. Seaguar Invizx.

Don, my steelhead fishing buddy for 20+ years, decided d to turn to the dark side. What this meant is that instead of chasing big, berserk trout in New York's Salmon River, he wanted to join me on a trip to Quabbin Reservoir for feisty smallmouth. Don asked what he should bring besides food and drink. Told him to layer up and wear a light rain jacket to shed spray. And don't forget Wanda's wonderful coffee cake. Set Don up with a Rapala DT6 while I tried to get a reaction to a Z-Man Jerk Shadz, a homemade spinnerbait or a Duo Realis Spin Bait 80. No takers. Took a break and enjoyed a snack. Deep and slow might do it and this modest smallie agreed. Don was a good sport in a small boat but we both had enough rocking and rolling by late morning. We motored through the big water carefully to a location with somewhat less wind and, we hoped, a few more fish. Tried reaction baits again and a smallie came up for a look at the Jerk ShadZ but did not take. Don diligently cranked the DT6 without response. Time for another piece of coffee cake and then back to the bottom with the TRD. By mid afternoon dark clouds had rolled in. We were tired of dragging the 12 lb. anchor and resetting it. And the smallies were not being sociable. Let me end this report with a thank you, Don, for your good company and a thank you to Wanda for your world class coffee cake which, if I could have figured out how to keep it on the hook, would have been enjoyed by the bass as well.

Another cold, cloudy, breezy morning. First stop was a spot so secret only 500 or so other anglers knew it. Conditions here are very particular for it to be "on" and they were not, so I moved on. Worked rocky-bottomed areas of a large flat but nothing moving here. Traveled Outside to a spot I always check and got not the faintest of taps. Back Inside I checked both deep ends of a long ridge thoroughly. Nada. Moved to the high point of this ridge which appears to be about 8' deep this year. Could a smallie be cruising around here? Picked up the rod with a 4" Z-Man Scented Jerk ShadZ, a good bait to throw to work out frustration, and started snapping it. Whaddya know - it got whacked! Twenty minutes later a second smallie took the soft jerkbait. Reworked the area with an ultra-reliable Z-Man Finesse TRD and it produced the biggest smallmouth of the day, 3.70 lbs. I no longer smelled like skunk and could rejoin civilization. The sky over the dock was changing as I unloaded the boat; there were dark clouds, bright clouds, brief showers and some blue. I will welcome the sun when I'm out again next week.

Yes sir! Those are fine fish.

My goodness, we have a poetess!

This 4.21 lb. smallmouth took palmered black and purple marabou I tied on a 3/32 oz. Midwest Finesse jighead April 21.

Not optimistic about the bite on my ride in the countryside to Quabbin. There were patches of fog to drive through and it was cold. It had been dark with showers the past few days and the ten day forecast was not encouraging. It seems that spring has stalled. When I got to my first spot, the sky was clearing and there was a nice ripple on the water. A suspending jerkbait to start? Nah, keep it small and subtle with a bucktail retrieved slowly, rod tip angle high to gently pop the jig off rocks. On the third cast I felt a sharp tap. Let's call this a 4.01 lb. attitude adjustment fish. Ten minutes later the surface went flat. This is a time for reflection. Sip coffee. Eat a bagel. Think deep thoughts. See, when the water is calm, the smallies get skittish and seek depth for security. I relaxed until the breeze came back. By late morning I had worked this area thoroughly and took off in search of more wind in a soon-to-be spawning area. Made a couple dozen casts with a favorite Lucky Craft suspending jerkbait. I got no response so went back to the jig. Remember - swim it low and slow, pop it gently off bottom obstructions and into the mouth of . . . Aargh! Here's the day's best bass - 4.18 lbs. - in the day's worst pic. A smile for the last fish. It's 3:00 and this graybeard needs to rest and be at work early the next morning. Before leaving, let's dissect the bad boy bucktail: The head is cast from an 88% bismuth/12% tin alloy. The cavity used is 1/8 oz. in Do-it's Round Head Jig Mold With Socket Eye. The thread collar is 140 denier. The hair that breathes and moves sinuously behind the jighead is, as you know, from the tail of a deer. If you like, a final touch would be two strands of black/red Flashabou-Grizzly Accent. Don't overdo it here because what you'll get with a "less is more" understanding regarding bait making (and presentation) is more fish interest.

This day, my first of the season on Quabbin, the weather was agreeable and I was thinking the smallies might be too. The game plan was to work deep edges of flats and steep drops off rock humps. The bait was a jig that has risen in my early season go-to selection: a 3/32 oz. black/purple marabou pattern, palmered on a mushroom jighead. In the course of my eight hour day, I spotted very few cruisers and had only one smallmouth inhale the jig I was working just fast enough to keep it out of the rocks. But hey, if you're only gonna hook up once, let it be a 4.21 lb. smallmouth! Rod: 7' or 7' 6" ML power, fast action. Reel: 2500 size. Line: a full spool of 6 lb. fluorocarbon. Surface water temps ranged from 49.9º to 54.6º.

The stacked marabou on the mushroom jighead, the hackle tailed marabou minnow, the spinnerbaits and the Bio-Silk skirted, Z-Man split tail jig are new this year. Other baits have come from my bench during the winter design/building season of the past few years.