Dingaling man

Sounds like there's so many variables with different water clarity ...ect I'll have to go mess around a bunch. Thanks!

Hello, Does anyone have any tips for LVS 34 settings for lake ontario/ St.lawrence clear water smallmouth? I've been using default settings which are great. Anyway fine tuning settings I could try? To many endless videos to dig through on YouTube. Thanks fellas

I went through this 2 years ago, exactly the samething. Go to a longer rod, I got a 7'4 which helped, Those huge smallmouth 5+ are still tough to land on a ned. You want that extra leverage on the hook set and when they start digging, especially at the boat. If you set the hook to hard, you will tear that hole a bit. You want to stick em with that hook,

I was thinking hand controlled, I do lots of drifts when the waves are big so I figured I would have worry about the trolling motor but still have no clue

Mount Live Scope 34 on Pole?? or my older Trolling motor that has cable steering on my 1998 Triton Bass Boat I fish lake Ontario Smallmouth Bass all summer and 70% fishing the 5ft to 25ft and 30% deeper The steering cable has some slack and play which worries me at slower speeds, drifting and sitting still or bigger waves, anyone have this set up opinions thanks, J.

Very nice healthy fish, which lake are you on here? Looks beautiful

What a tank, nice one! I'm going to try some different heads out. I have no problems with the drop shot or swimbaits. Hopefully figure this ned catching game out.

Aw man, so close but sounds like you had a decent tournament!!

I've just about mastered the drop shot, I throw it a ton. I rarely lose any big fish on the drop shot. I added the ned rig last year and the smallies eat a ton. I didn't have any problems until hooking into 5LB+ fish. It was consistent, kept losing them closer to the boat which was frustrating to watch a big one swim away, I could throw a swim bait out quickly and somtimes land that fish. I hook them mostly in the top of mouth, MBR flex? This is making total sense, im going to pick up a longer rod. The world of rods can be confusing since there's so many out there with different power from different brands. Thanks for the brake down, the 7'3 equivalent to a 5 1/2 makes this even more simple. It's still the same during the summer time here. I fish near the old fort bunch, lots of big ones but the scenery is top notch. It's been quiet with covid but this summer it will be booming again

The Advid X I use is 6'9 ml xf--, a longer rod could definitely help. The big ones surge so much, I do fish lots of open water as well, so a 7'0+ ML is worth a try. The big ones could totally get into the power of the butt end of the rod in a hurry , from being to short and not enough give. Especially the bigger fish. I have no problems with anything below 4lbs, it's been the bigger fish and always near the boat mostly, when they surge from seeing me. The 6'9 advid x also feels stiff, more like a medium-XF, Finally making sense!!

I'm think a longer rod, I'll have to make some kind of spring loaded net to shoot out at them lol. A fast taper and a longer rod sounds like a direction I'm heading The smallies definitely bite and fight alot different then large mouth, especially around the St.lawrence. it's super addictive

I may start using a mono leader for a little more stretch. The advid X I'm thinking the advid X is- ML XF but feels stiffer, maybe to stiff.? I use the same reel for the drop shot and land 95% of the fish I hook which makes this frustrating. It only seems to happen with the big smallies, I've never bent a hook while fishing. im thinking maybe a mono leader for a little more stretch, thoughts?. I may have the drag setting a little to tight as well. If the gear seems decent enough, I'm thinking user error . My hook set, plus drag must be costing me the bigs. Thanks for your input The Stella drags sounds to be the best of the best. I'm sure it could only help with the bigger smallie surging at the boat. A 5lb++ smallie peels drag super fast when they dive. I have a stradic which I may try out. Lots of ideas from the fella in this thread. Sounds like user error on my part, couple adjustments coming up this spring.

The newer ned lockz , they have the teeth ribs on the hook to hold the bait on. I used those all last year but also the reins ned lock since they had Tungsten for deeper water. I never used the old style of zman ned but sounds like the bait keeper sucked. Haha, close enough eh lol. The worse part was seeing a few monsters get off and swim away, I swear they were 10 pound smallies lol.

It's always when I get them near the boat. I'll fight with them initially only to loose them near the boat which makes it frustrating since I get to see the size of these big lunkers. I catch a bunch of the big ones on drop shot or any other technique with ease. It's this ned game that's got me stumped but it's so effective with numbers. This back reel sounds like somthing I'm gonna have to try out. I've heard and read lots about it.

I was thinking about that zman hook, they are pretty small. Any suggestions for a different brand or size? I usually reel set the hook and then loosen the drag after. Maybe I'm not loosening it enough. ? I've tried a soft hook set vs a harder hook set and still seemed to loose them. It's always seems near the boat when they serge. I couldn't figure it out last year. I tried a reel set vs a soft set vs a harder set. Same results, which has me stumped. I might be doing something wrong else wrong.

Good point with going straight flourcarbon. I do fish a lot of 15ft to 25ft. I've had better luck landing large mouth but there smaller around here. The big ones fight very similar but the smallies seem to dive harder but get much bigger up here then the large mouth. The back reeling sounds like somthing I may have to try out.

a little more stretch could help with keeping them pinned vs them tearing a little bigger hole, they chew up that ned head up so much, i may try a different rod or try a different line size or mono. Its been a challenge so far, couple good ideas so far.

Reins Tungsten Ned Rig Jig Head 1/4oz when deeper then 15ft and mostly Z Man Ned Lockz HD Jig Head 1/10 or lighter. what a gorgeous fish!!nice one. i thinking on picking up a rod thats a little more parabolic, maybe the big ones rip a little hole with the harder head shakes vs sticking them. ive tried softer hook sets and reel sets with no luck.

Hey everyone, Fished the Ned Rig last year with lots of success, numbers caught were very high once i learned the basics. My problem was when i would hook into a big 5lb-->6lb++ smallmouth, i would lose prob 70% of them, It seemed repetitive and frustrating. I would always have a little battle before watching them come unhooked. Anything smaller (below 4lb), i could land no problem. (eastern End Lake ontario) I land 95% of the big ones on the drop shot or any other technique which makes this a nice challenge. I tried lighter hook set vs Heavier hook set, more drag vs less drag. I couldn't find anything that would work, different hooks and baits. My thoughts are: Trying a different rod power? trying a medium rod with a fast taper.? thoughts? DO big small mouth maybe over power the ned sometimes or the big ones have harder mouths to penetrate? My set-up St Croix Advid X-6'9 Medium Lite, Extra Fast.(spinning) Shimano Nasci FC 2500-Spinning Reel 15lb braid to 8lb Flourcarbon leader. Any input?

These smallies have big old heads with hard bone and grow big. Fighting them is fun but ive see videos of pros that will beef up there rods for big smallies.

Hey guys, I've been out on Lake Ontario drop shotting smallies. My question is, when targeting larger smallmouth bass 5lbs ++ would a bigger 2/0 drop shot hook help with hook sets? and pinning the smallies better vs a Gamakatsu #1 drop shot hook? Those bigger browns are build soild. Thanks

These look really nice and they look solid. What kind of reel did you put on it? I didnt know what i was getting into with my Canadian Tire cheapo, the smallie fight is amazing, felt like my wrist was gonna brake

Any input on a drop shot rod for Lake Ontario Smallies? They fight like a super breed of smallies. A sensitive rod but strong enough to handle the 5 to 6 pounders. They already broke 2 cheapy rods this season. Open price range