Turkey sandwich

I fish them in rivers primarily, and this changes seasonally/based on conditions, but the core stays the same. Tubes and grubs work year round. Cranks/lipless cranks are great ways to cover water fast from spring through fall. A good popper is excellent from spring to fall as well, and if I had to pick one more, it would be a light Jig/craw.

Smallmouth move for lots of different reasons, and can cover some serious water. Getting them to bite when you find them is usually much easier than just locating them.

Pay attention to water levels. This can have a big impact on where you're finding them, but generally, I've found them to not roam very far in rivers. A swimbait set up is as good as any for targeting them, though it's a lot of work. Even when you find them, they can go from super aggressive to super spooky fast. Most of my experience with them has been kind of as a fun surprise smallmouth fishing. A very violent, fun surprise.

I use InvisX leaders a lot. So long as it isn't super heavy cover or top water, it works great. What are you planning on fishing on it? Which Seaguar? Apologies, just misread. You're using InvisX.

That's a pretty hefty reel. What's he planning on using it for? Seriously, though, that reel would take 400 yards of braid.

Without getting into a political/economics rant, this makes me sad. They've always been solid producing baits for me and definitely have a pretty specific niche in how I fish. The loss of jobs and quality control aspects both just suck.

WRB and Catt are both on point. Also, it's a matter of what's available. If shallow vegetation is providing oxygen and shade, holding bait, providing ambush points on a bright sunny day, and is more readily available than 10-20' ledges to slide down, odds are good you're going to have a sizable shallow population even on sunny days. Similarly, on overcast days or in low light, you may find them breaking cover and roaming flats (less direct sun light). Bass, and fish in general, don't likely think about being deep so much as they likely think about staying comfortable and finding food and that's relative to every body of water. Bass can thrive in some pretty shallow, swampy water so long as there's something dissolving oxygen, be it wind, weeds, or current.

That's pretty shallow. What were water temps like?

That's the one! The numbers of smallmouth you can put in the boat with old school lures like grubs and tubes is ridiculous. I mean, I'll tie up a drop shot if I want to pick apart each individual boulder or weed clump, but generally, tubes and grubs are what I'm fishing in between cranks/rattle traps/spinnerbaits and the tediously slow stuff like drop shots and dead sticked plastics.

I'm a Bills fan. Essentially, half the team has been injured since 1999 and the other half Whaley drafted straight to IR. I predict alcohol.

If you're going to that level of extreme finesse, another approach for ultra light tackle that will no doubt get bit is a size 6-10 Clouser minnow rigged 18" or so behind your split shot and drifted on current seams or bounced slowly across shallow rocky flats. You're going to get bit by pretty much everything, including sunfish, but that's true for every presentation mentioned here. Jerry-rigged fly fishing is the painfully finesse of the painfully finesse.

Welcome to the forum! Plastic worms are super versatile and proven. Yes, a wacky or weightless t-rigged senko will catch you fish, but learning to fish a Texas or Carolina rigged worm (usually straight, curly, or u-tail) will also teach you a lot about feeling the bottom. If you're in South Jersey your local lakes are likely to have lots of sand with weed beds mixed in. Learning to "feel" for hard bottoms will help you find key pieces of cover and change in structure which is huge for finding fish. It'll also let you know where the bottom is essentially mush. Pay attention to what you feel and what you're cleaning off of your bait between casts. Sometimes a C-rig is better than the best electronics on the market.

Drop shot possibly aside, tubes have probably caught more smallmouth than any other technique and you can work them a bunch of different ways. Tubes work virtually all year and are a great presentation to work in combination with the drop shot once you find fish. There's a great Zona video somewhere where he fishes them on heavier than usual jigheads (1/4-1 oz) to increase rate of fall and force reaction strikes. Yes, you're going to snag (Hybrid or similar copolymer is your friend) but you'll also have a faster presentation.

DT-6s, and the old Fat Free series are still some of my favorites. The old Fat Raps deserve an honorable mention, too. The Cordell and Normans still show up in my rotation, also. There's something to be said about classics that don't go out of style.

Congrats on the new boat!

I have a Lure 13.5 that was used for a "demo weekend" through ACK. I ordered it at a sizable discount and received it with pieces missing. I called, complained, and not only did I receive the missing pieces, but was also refunded a pretty solid chunk of money. Their customer service did an excellent job making a bad situation a very good situation. I tell this story because you can often find some pretty killer deals on quality equipment if you look for them. That being said, do not spend $250 on a cheap, small kayak if you are a bigger dude. Look into buying demo models, used, end of season sales, etc, but don't buy something you're going to hate fishing out of, or doesn't track well to save a couple of bucks. If possible, its better to spend $700-1000 on something you'll be happy with than $200 on something that makes you miserable every time you look at it.

Great fish! Big smallmouth love spooks, and it's good to see your persistence pay off. Cheers on the new PB!

@A-Jay it's good to see the new boat getting so much action. Also, I'm ridiculously jealous. It seems like every time I've had a free day to get on the water we've had thunderstorms. Keep up the videos so I too can live vicariously from my living room.

This thread is awesome! Hearing about Marshall/co-angler experiences with top tier guys makes it seem like one hell of an educational experience. I've never fished tidal waters consistently (completely stupid for living on the Delaware, I know), but it really impresses me how much detail someone like KVD goes into for plotting his day. KVD also seems like a casting machine. I'm curious, how much time did he spend covering water with search baits before slowing down with the caffeine Shad? What kind of commonality (being a local) did you find with him in approach to finding consistent patterns in tidal rivers? Dude, that sounds like he also had a pretty incredible weekend. Whenever you get those stories... Just sayin'

It makes perfect sense. Throwing giant musky plugs on a broom stick and throwing giant bushy streamers can both be pretty exhausting. I'm still very new to streamer fishing, and just getting acclimated to the ways wind resistant and weighted streamers wreak havoc on a good, respectable loop has me comparing it to casting musky gear or throwing a heavy Carolina rig for hours. I'm hoping the heavier 8wt will help add more control and reduce some of the fatigue. Still, it's pretty hard to beat a fish crushing a streamer and then fighting them on the whippy stick.

that is a hog! Great catch.

I typically roll cast instead of pitch. I've had back problems and just feel more stable casting seated as much as possible and the roll cast has been just about as stealthy as a pitch.

That's my thought process, only Philly makes yard casting hard. The 8wt will also work for stripers and bonefish.

Smallmouth on the fly are a blast! I have a Sage VXP 6wt and I'm likely to pick up either an Orvis Access or St Croix Legend Elite 8wt for heavier weighted flies and heavy streamers. I'm slowly getting less terrible with the whippy stick, and it's a lot of fun. *Orvis Recon, rather.

Also, pictures make identification like 10 million times easier