Good Smallies And Bad Photos From Quabbin, 5/4/13

[Will Wetline]

It's obvious that I need to pay better attention to composing my fish photos. Maybe I had changed the camera setting as well as taking these pics without the proper regard for the bright sun. I will try to figure out my errors before the next outing. I've noticed that fish out of water prefer that I don't fiddle with the camera for too long.

 

Be that as it may, I decided to fish favorite spots some distance away from Gate 43 even though word was there had been increasingly good action in nearby water. I figured I'd still find a few hanging around my favorite Outside rock pile. Here's the first:

 

 

This smallie, about 3 lbs., gobbled a 5" hula grub rigged on a Shake It jig I was dragging in about 20 feet of water. When I visually located the hump I noticed neither cruisers nor evidence of nesting activity so I anchored in positions to work the deep edges where the rock meets the sand and some weed growth.

 

 

This 3+ lb. smallie liked a Shake It jig as well. This head was dressed slightly differently with a green pumpkin/black print rubber skirt with a complementary GYCB 5" twin tail trailer. I'm not sure that these fish would fuss too much about exact color if you put a slow moving jig in front of them at breakfast time.

 

Before Quabbin opened for the season I did some research on baits unfamiliar to me. In the 20 years I've fished Q's clear water I've never thrown a lipless crank. Why not? After studying magazine articles and threads on this fine forum - thank you all who contributed - I tied on a Strike King Red Eye Shad Silent. I cast and tight lined it to the bottom. I let it sit briefly and then pulled it off, not too hard, not too fast - just enough to make the bait "work." Then I let it settle on a semi-tight line. Lifting again I thought I was hung but it turned out what I had hung weighed 4.7 lbs.!

 

 

I immediately developed a liking for lipless crankbaits.

 

At 11:30 the wind came up, gusting to 20 mph. I headed back in and set up on a larger flat surrounded by deep water. It didn't take long before I got kinda crazy trying to make a proper presentation in this strong, variable wind. A second anchor would be helpful I know, but I'm lugging too much gear as is.

 

Well, there you have it, this weekend's Quabbin report from your low tech smallie chaser,

 

WW

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NEjitterbugger]

Dang, those are some not so small smallies!!!!

[powerduster]

Great looking fish. I like the 1st picture its not bad at all. A bit overexposed but in a good way. I'd print it.

[Tuckahoe Joe]

Good looking fish!  I gotta find some water around here that holds smallies.

[Bankbeater]

Good looking bass, they look healthy.

[metalhack]

Those are beautiful...Id love to fish Quabbin sometime!

[Hi Salenity]

Lol, that first fish looks like it'd go over 5 pounds! My fish pics always make the fish look smaller

[pbrussell]

Lol, that first fish looks like it'd go over 5 pounds! My fish pics always make the fish look smaller

I wouldn't say this is completely true...

[AK-Jax86]

Very nice smallies

[Siebert Outdoors]

Awesome smallies!

[Paul Roberts]

Nice.

 

Yeah, lipless have a way of finding their way into the GoTo bin. A lot can be done with them too, so they can stay in the GoTo bin all year.

[Dwight Hottle]

Very nice. Sometimes getting a good picture is actually more difficult than catching the smallie in the first place.

[EvanT123]

Awesome fish and description of the catches. Sounds like there's always a new presentation to try and things to learn great job!!