A Crank, A Creature And A Big, Fat Worm On Quabbin, 6/7/14

[Will Wetline]

Took a trip to Cabela's in E. Hartford Thursday and found Rapala's DT series on sale (along with a number of other items I don't absolutely need). I don't often throw cranks, but the DTs in bluegill were too pretty to pass up.

 

At 7:30 a.m. I was anchored in about 15' on my favorite pile of rocks. I thought the DT-10 would balance well with my St. Croix Avid medium power rod and Shimano Curado which was filled with 10 lb. Silver thread AN40. On the first cast I cranked the bait to depth, then a few more feet then

 

 

I'm not superstitious about bass on first casts. I thoroughly fan cast the area but no more takers. I'm getting superstitious. There have to be more bass around this choice spot at this time of the day at this stage of the season (post spawn), so I go to a wacky rig. This set up is golden most any time and I particularly like it for "clean up."

 

Here's one wacked out smallie:

 

 

And another:

 

 

A third picked up the Senko shortly thereafter but the take had been imperceptible. Had her on for only a few seconds, just long enough to determine she had "authority," if you know what I mean. I'm hardly the first fisherman to state that it's the biggest that get away.

 

Alright then. Might there be another bass that would like a sale priced, bluegill pattern, deep diving crankbait? Yes!

 

 

It's about 9:00 now on a bright morning. I thought I'd waste half an hour drifting a large sand flat while throwing a Duo Realis Spin Bait 80. This expensive little Japanese wonder produced very well for me earlier in the season. Not today though, and I think only because the fish were not on these flats.

 

Next I spend five hours dragging bottom with soft plastics at 15' to  maybe 25' depths. I'm moseying a creature through sandgrass and bumping it into rocks and the occasional 75 year old stump you find in the Quabbin. Wish I had brought an alarm clock - could have caught up on needed sleep instead.

 

3:00 now. I'm positioned a long cast away from the Bass Magnet, a short, narrow, rocky rise surrounded by deep water on one side and shallow muck on the other. Water temp. here is 70º and I expect a smallie to smash the DT-4 when I strafe the high point. It took 6 - 8 casts before a spirited 2 lber. slammed it - so spirited in fact, it jumped a foot away from the boat and threw the crank .  . . . Why I love smallies in 25 words or fewer . . .

 

The Senko will tell me if there are any more around. Uh-huh:

 

 

The scale said 3.9 lbs., the best of the day by a few ounces.

 

Correction: Make that 4.1 lbs.

 

 

I figured the fish would be off the top of a football-field-length ridge so I set up in approximately 20'. I was dragging a football swing jig w/Biffle Bug through scattered rocks when almost back to the boat it got "thunked." The 7' medium power casting rod was adequate (obviously) for the hookset of the standard wire hook I used - I had had some question beforehand about this.

 

It's close to 6:00 now and I'm thinking that 11+ hours in the sun and breeze should be enough for this graybeard. Just a few more casts at the opposite end of the ridge . . . where a 2 lber. was waiting for a bluegill pattern DT-4 to come along.

 

Tight lines, all.

 

WW

[Dwight Hottle]

Sweet outing and great pics.

[Mccallister25]

Awesome pics! Sounds like a great day.. Im actually pretty superstitious about catching a fish on my first cast.. Thats a no no in my opinion!!

[hookset on 3]

Will,  nice story and on a beautiful looking day, that this fellow New Englander can Truly appreciate.

 

Those are some stout looking Smallmouth.

 

P.S. Looked like you were the only boat around. That's what I love about Quabbin.

 

 

Hookset

[MCS]

Nice fish! Another great read. You have some of the best write ups! Keep up the great work.

[Bankbeater]

Good going! You have some nice smallies there!

[MarkH024]

Always like reading your reports. Thanks for sharing and great fish!

[A-Jay]

Very Nice ~

 

Post Spawn Smallies can sometimes be pretty mysterious, and other times they'll chew the paint off your baits.

 

Yours looked like a full & satisfying day on the water.

 

A-Jay

[Getfit74]

Awesome trip and some great looking smallies.