MikeInWyandotte

Yes, I've experienced the sinching down phenomena for lighter braid. But there's a fix to that too, a tip I read from Hank Parker. Tie on a 1/2 oz bell sinker and fling it out there. This would represent a maximum cast distance. Then place a piece of tape over the line that remains in your spool. Problem solved, that's how I can now get away with using 20lb test on all my baitcasters... works great too!

More likely to happen if you are fishing mid day with high sun, less likely to happen if you are fishing in the morning or the evening. But like everyone else says in this thread, it happens. The pros struggle also... ever read "Day on the Lake" series in Bassmaster? Where they have a pro go to and un-named random lake? Many of these "Days on The Lake" aren't what I would call stellar by any means.

For throwing lighter lures (1/2oz or lower) I'm automatically using spinning gear. Don't like using baitcasters for lighter lures because it's a pain in the a$$ to deal with backlash and birds nests. I usually reserve my baitcaster for lure weights of 1/2oz and above... typically spooled with 20lb PowerPro and I always have a floro or mono leader tied on via double uniknot. For lighter stuff, I found it really helps to use Seaguar Smackdown Braid, 10lb test. This stuff is as light as dental floss, very limp with ZERO memory, and casts light lures a very long way effortlessly. And since it's 10lb tests you aren't going to get broke off. Again, with my spinning gear, I typically have a floro or mono leader tied on, usually 6-7lb test. Works great, has the versatility to throw weightless wacky worms, swim jigs, tubes, crankbaits, etc etc. Also my go to for drop shot. The key though is the thin braid for your main line, can't emphasize this enough, makes a world of difference.

Ridiculous numbers this year on largemouth in the lower Detroit River... Will go through streaks where I've caught fish on 5 consecutive casts. Kietech 4.5" Swing Impact with tail dipped in chartreuse on a 1/8oz swimjig has been killing it. I'll be honest, about 70% of the bass I'm catching are in the 10-14" range but also catching some 18-19" bass in the 4lb range. In five separate 2-3hr outings this past week I've netted 105 largemouth. Never had that kind of success before. Been having a blast, developed a sore forearm and elbow though from fighting fish LOL!

Lures and tackle related to catching other species of fish. I love fishing for smallmouth and largemoith. But I also like to target musky, pike, walleye, steelhead, etc.

Nice work Ksam, good work on your new PB. I fish the lower Detroit River around Grosse Ile and we just started to regularly catch smallies 7 days ago. Once water got above 52 degrees seemed to be the ticket. Catching them on soft plastic swimbats and tubes. After reading your post I will add topless crankbaits to my repertoire. d**n autocorrect... lipless, not topless ?

Within an hour you should have your limit, if it even takes that long. Just Monday I drifted for 45mins and caught eight walleye. No need to tip jigs with shiners anymore, river has warmed up. Antifreeze jigs with dark paddle tail worms have been hot.

Yes. To the point where I'm sick of walleye. I can only jig for so meany days in 40 degree weather LOL. Can't wait to catch some bass, headed up to St Clair Saturday.

I agree with sully420 that the Carolina rig prevents the bass from feeling the weight so they aren't so quick to spit it when they become aware that it's artificial. But there is a flip side disadvantage to this. When fish are hitting lightly on the bait it can be difficult for the angler to feel the hit because the lead weight is between your rod and the hook, and the hook might be on a slack leader line if it's not being pulled by water current. Not a problem for Texas rig since the weight is flush to the bait. Texs rigs definitely pin the bait to the bottom, which can helo if fish are relating to the bottom. Disadvantage is Texas rigs snag easier, especially on river bottoms. I used to use Carolina rig in the river but for the reasons I state above I switched to a drop shot rig for fishing rivers because it keeps the bait suspended off the bottom and the weight is on the other side of the hook, therefore I can feel subtle hits alot quicker to properly set the hook.

Can only dream of catching a fish like this. Was posted on the Lake St Clair Network this past Sunday. Michigan state record is 9.99lbs, so this fish was only .27lbs (or 4.3oz) off the state record. The guy who caught the fish of course received slot of accolades from this of us on the network. I WILL be fishing Lake St Clair this Saturday ??

Green pumpkin tube 3.5 - 4 inches. Dragged along bottom and lightly twitched. Close second is a Z-Man TRD 3in worm on mushroom head jig, again in green pumpkin. 3rd choice is KVD dreamshot on dropshot rig, green pumpkin again.

Fish with them all the time in the Detroit River, beats any artificial bait hands down. Found the best method is drop shot method with dropper only 4-6" below the hook. I like to use an EWG worm hook. I put the point of the hook through the last tail segment pushing into the topside of the tail and pushing through to the underside. Then I push the tails segment up to the offset near the line tie. Then push the point of the hook into the underside right into it's breast plate. It doesn't matter if you kill the crayfish, it still works. I do it this way because without the hook point near the head I have had too many times where bass chomp off the crayfish body and leaving me with just a tail with no bass hooked up on the business end.

1. KVD Coffe Tube in green pumpkin 2. Z-Man TRD worm on mushroom head jig (green pumpkin, coppertreuse or mud bug. 3. KVD Dream shot on drop shot rig in green pumpkin. For options 1 and 3 sometimes helpful to dip tip in chartreuse or methiolate dye. All three have been slaying smallies for me in Lake St Clair, Lake Erie and the Detroit River for the past five years now. All this said, no artificial bait can top a live crayfish... it is simply irresistible to smallmouth.

I use the Ned Rig A LOT in the Detroit River... not a small stream but subject to the same dynamic of a flowing water fishery. You want just enough weight to keep your bait bumping along bottom; too heavy will invite snags. You can always use a knife to shave off some lead if you're too heavy.

"You just never know" ... and that is why it is called fishing and not called catching ? It's the truth though TOXIC, we never really do know and that's what makes fishing so fun, the mental challenge of trying to figure out the bite. If we caught 50 bass every time we went out we might get bored and find a new hobby. I usually hit Lake St Clair during the last week in April and again in May. Then I hit it in August for musky. I live on Grosse Ile so the lower Detroit River is my home waters and I really don't start seeing smallies in my waters until mid to late May; until then walleye is king in my parts. That's why I head up to St Clair the last week of April because it's my first opportunity to start catching decent numbers of smallmouth. Keeping my fingers crossed the weather hasn't sabotaged me. Yeah, unfortunately I'm thinking the same thing, hence why I started the topic. I already have my vacation time booked so I guess Imngoing to be stuck walleye fishing next week ?