Rig questions, (pics) small mouth bass identification and advice

[cheezledzul]

Background... I'm a talker, I always give background. Sorry... if you dont like long posts &a lot of ?s press back lol. 

 

So first weekend in august I'll be taking my first solid freshwater trip to a lake just south of lake george NY. It's a dammed portion if lake sacandaga, attached to the hudson. Joining my cousin who rented the site for the year. Bringing my kayak so I'll be on and off shore. 

 

He told my dad to get 1/0 wide gap or worm hooks plastic swim baits with a paddle tail work well. Poppers/floating jerk bait in the morning/sundown. 
He sid 3-4" worms and I asked if he prefers those flat tail worms over senkos there and he said senkos paddle type like keotech. 

Is 1/0 too small? From every thing I've read and researched 3/0 and 4-5" senkos are the usual. ive never seen anything larger than 3" recommended or even spoken about. Should I be following his lead or will the 3/0 5" senkos I'm using work best? Tight on money right now. Itll take a little before I can get a 2nd type of rig setup. Rather stick to my original plan but ultimately want this trip to be worth it and would rather use his rigs or your suggestions if you think otherwise. 

Also based off of the pictures it looks like their small mouth? Water flows NE from scanadaga over the dam to Stewart's then to the hudson. 

 

Just bought a new rod and reel and in the process of getting rigs for it. 3/0 offset wide gap, 5" senkos with 3/8 bullets on 15lb braid. Have some old rooster tails I was gonna bring too but thinking if I should get his suggested bait first. 

 

Bonus questions:

Does any of this mean there wont be lm/striped in Stewart's? Not sure if this effects that. Think I should take the time to drive to lake george in the morning/evening and just fish around Stewart's midday? Is Stewart's worth it or stick to the bigger sacandaga lake?

Trying to learn how to pick good areas for bass fishing and came up with this thought process lol. Not sure if direction of waterflow and dams effects bass. Real noob here. Just a hypothesis. 

[Jar11591]

No stripers in Stewart’s. They can only make it as far north as the Troy dam. The lake is LOADED with 10-15” smallmouth, and very few of any real size. I caught 1 tiny largemouth which shocked people who regularly fish the lake, so there really isn’t a fishable population of largemouth in Stewart’s.

 

The lake is extremely deep and rocky, and many of the banks are sheer cliffs that will drop from 2’ to 90’ instantly. I did really well with the little smallies by throwing a skitterwalk or popper in the mornings, and hopping a tube throughout the rest of the day. Be prepared to catch dozens and dozens of little smallmouth. Also be prepared to get snagged, A LOT!

[cheezledzul]

11 minutes ago, Jar11591 said:

I did really well with the little smallies by throwing a skitterwalk or popper in the mornings, and hopping a tube throughout the rest of the day. Be prepared to catch dozens and dozens of little smallmouth. Also be prepared to get snagged, A LOT!

Im very new to this and dont understand the lingo yet. Sorry in advance. 

 

Skitterwalk and hopping a tube? What are these/meaning?

Do you consider a 4" senkos smallies? Should go to a 1/0-2/0 instead of a 3/0?

 

I dont mind catching 12" bass all day. This is my first time fishing where I actually took the time to learn and am determined. Just need practice working lures and reading the situation/s.

 

Assuming you are from the area will sacandaga have more quantity/substantial bass? Or is it worth taking a 30 min drive to lake george? If so have you had better luck in the morning or night?

[Jar11591]

Skitterwalk is a topwater walking lure made by Rapala https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Rapala_Skitter_Walk/descpage-RSKW.html

 

And “hopping” a tube is a technique when fishing a tube, by letting it fall to the bottom, then using your rod tip to make the bait “hop” and fall back down as you retrieve. The “tube” itself is a soft plastic bait that usually rigged with a a weighted head inside the tube. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-BERKLYSFBTS.html?from=basres

 

4” senkos are perfect for smallies, and you may even catch more of the tiny ones at Stewart’s with a 3”, but a 4” will be totally fine. A 2/0 hook oughta suffice for Stewart’s reservoir.

 

Sacandaga will definitely offer you a better chance at catching a stud smallmouth, but it’s a very big lake, so keep that in mind. Lake George is also good fishing, and can offer both numbers and size for smallmouth. But if numbers are most important for you, Stewart’s is your best bet. The lake is so loaded with little bass it’s ridiculous. 

[J Francho]

Sacandaga?  Look out for pike!

[EGbassing]

2/0 is what I would use for that senko, but 3/0 would work. Is the 15 pound braid on a spinning rod? If so, that's also what I would use, but if that braid is on a baitcasting rod, you'll probably need something like 40 or 50 pound braid. I know 50 pound braid sounds like overkill, but it's much easier to handle than 15 pound braid. (and you don't have to worry about breaking off) Good luck. 

[J Francho]

7 minutes ago, EGbassing said:

2/0 is what I would use for that senko, but 3/0 would work. Is the 15 pound braid on a spinning rod? If so, that's also what I would use, but if that braid is on a baitcasting rod, you'll probably need something like 40 or 50 pound braid. I know 50 pound braid sounds like overkill, but it's much easier to handle than 15 pound braid. (and you don't have to worry about breaking off) Good luck. 

Great advice.  All I see are spinning rods in the pics, so I think he's all rigged up.

[Deleted account]

I fish a somewhat smaller hook than most for bass, a 1/0 works well for smaller worms like the Zoom finesse, you probably want some larger hooks for larger or thicker baits. When I fished up in NY, a 2/0 worked well for most baits, I'd bring up some 3/0 and 4/0 ones too, again depending on what baits you'll be throwing. We used to do really well with the 4 1/2" sluggo up there.

[WRB]

If you weedless rig soft plastics by Texas rigging then a larger size hook is needed, gap is about 2X the soft plastic dia, 3/0 worm hook is common. 

If you expose the hook like nose hooked drop shot or wacky rig using a o-ring a smaller size and shorter hook works good, size 1 or 1/0 is common.

There're more worm hook styles then I have time to list.

Terminal tackle like hooks and sinkers are not expensive, take a few minutes and re tie rigs as needed. From the photo you have spinning rod and reel that limits what you can effectively use depending on the line and rod power you have. I suggest avioding heavy wire hooks and use light to standard wire sizes for ease of hook setting soft plastics.

Don't know what the legal bass limit is where you fish? Showing 6 dead bass could be over the limit of 5 bass in most some states.

Tom

[cheezledzul]

3 hours ago, WRB said:

If you weedless rig soft plastics by Texas rigging then a larger size hook is needed, gap is about 2X the soft plastic dia, 3/0 worm hook is common. 

If you expose the hook like nose hooked drop shot or wacky rig using a o-ring a smaller size and shorter hook works good, size 1 or 1/0 is common.

There're more worm hook styles then I have time to list.

Terminal tackle like hooks and sinkers are not expensive, take a few minutes and re tie rigs as needed. From the photo you have spinning rod and reel that limits what you can effectively use depending on the line and rod power you have. I suggest avioding heavy wire hooks and use light to standard wire sizes for ease of hook setting soft plastics.

Don't know what the legal bass limit is where you fish? Showing 6 dead bass could be over the limit of 5 bass in most some states.

Tom

Hey to be clear I was not with them when they took those pictures. Its just an example of what they caught at the lake im going to.

 

I think Im going to just stick to buying and using my 3/0 with 4" senkos for this trip even though theyre only like 12" small mouth. Im bringing some old roostertails I have myself and maybe switch with my dad whose bringing some 1/0 hooks with 3" plastic swim baits with paddle tails.

 

Im a little low on funds after organizing this trip and buying a new rod, reel, line, weights, and now hooks and lures. Gonna have to figure out how to keep it as simple as possible while bringing some options

 

If possible Im going to try to pick up 1 spinner and maybe a rappala diver or something cheap. Since its my first time I also want to just test things out when I have down time.

 

So as of now the weather is predicting rain every day for the next 2 weeks and stopping the day I go.

 

I know this changes a lot of things like water temp and clearness.

 

How would I fish this situation? Would senkos be best or something like spinners or jerk bait?