Dirtyeggroll Posted May 20, 2019 Posted May 20, 2019 Got the go ahead to plan a trip to anywhere in the U.S. during the first part of August. I plan on pulling my boat but hiring a guide maybe half a day the first day to get a lay of the land. Looking for some recommendations as to where will be the best place to have a trip of a lifetime (will be celebrating 30th birthday). Thinking that due to the heat in the big largemouth fisheries in the southern states that it might be best to head north to catch some trophy smallies. I've never targeted smallies so there'd be a bit of a learning curve. If you think that the southern state fishing will be good around that time then I am also open to those suggestions. Would love your suggestions! Quote
Super User WRB Posted May 20, 2019 Super User Posted May 20, 2019 Green Bay Wisconsin area should be a good choice driving from Omaha NE. Tom 1 Quote
HeyCoach Posted May 20, 2019 Posted May 20, 2019 Alabama in August is miserable. 95 degrees and up for the highs with high humidity. Quote
Alec McMillan Posted May 20, 2019 Posted May 20, 2019 South/Central Georgia is awesome in the summer! 95+ degrees! I love it! Quote
Dirtyeggroll Posted May 21, 2019 Author Posted May 21, 2019 1 hour ago, HeyCoach said: Alabama in August is miserable. 95 degrees and up for the highs with high humidity. Miserable for the fish, meaning they are tough to catch?? 57 minutes ago, Alec McMillan said: South/Central Georgia is awesome in the summer! 95+ degrees! I love it! Awesome for you liking the weather, or awesome for fishing? I don't mind the heat, in fact, I embrace it. But I am not going to have nice weather vacation. I am on the hunt for some big bags of fish! Quote
HeyCoach Posted May 21, 2019 Posted May 21, 2019 I was meaning miserable as in weather. Now I’m usually coaching football in August and not fishing, so I’m not the one to ask about that. Quote
Global Moderator Bluebasser86 Posted May 21, 2019 Global Moderator Posted May 21, 2019 Going to need a big boat to get on a lot of those big smallmouth waters up north. 1 Quote
Dirtyeggroll Posted May 21, 2019 Author Posted May 21, 2019 6 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said: Going to need a big boat to get on a lot of those big smallmouth waters up north. I have kind of come to that conclusion after reading a bit about some of those big smallmouth lakes. May have to figure out a different plan. Quote
FishinBuck07 Posted May 21, 2019 Posted May 21, 2019 Just throwing it out there but what about the Finger Lakes Region in upstate New York? I have family that lives up that way and there is a lot of water in a small area, meaning you could fish a lot of different lakes. Most of them you wouldn't have to worry about a bigger boat issue. My little brother does pretty good fishing up there. 2 Quote
Alec McMillan Posted May 22, 2019 Posted May 22, 2019 On 5/20/2019 at 8:28 PM, Dirtyeggroll said: Miserable for the fish, meaning they are tough to catch?? Awesome for you liking the weather, or awesome for fishing? I don't mind the heat, in fact, I embrace it. But I am not going to have nice weather vacation. I am on the hunt for some big bags of fish! The fishing is awesome, I love the heat also. Quote
Super User WRB Posted May 22, 2019 Super User Posted May 22, 2019 The heat isn’t the issue it’s the humidity + heat that sucks and bugs at night. I would suggest my location but it may be too far to trailer a boat. Tom Quote
Super User Scott F Posted May 23, 2019 Super User Posted May 23, 2019 Big Smallmouth in lakes in August is doable with a good guide in northern Minnesota, Michigan or Wisconsin but they will be deep. I do a smallmouth trip for big fish in August but I’ll only fish rivers that time of year. The fish will be shallow but unless you have a jet boat, canoe or kayak the rocks will tear up your lower unit. Quote
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted May 23, 2019 Global Moderator Posted May 23, 2019 That’s a really good time of year for ultra shallow topwater smallmouth in my neck of the woods 2 Quote
Dirtyeggroll Posted May 23, 2019 Author Posted May 23, 2019 9 hours ago, TnRiver46 said: That’s a really good time of year for ultra shallow topwater smallmouth in my neck of the woods Tennessee is an interesting idea. I will be in Nashville for work for the month of July. I have a good friend who lives in Smyrna (southwest of Nashville proper) with whom I will be staying. I am planning on bringing my boat for the Nashville trip with hopes that I have a free weekend (or week night) during that time to fish Chickamauga, Percy Priest, Kentucky Lake or Dale Hollow. I didn't figure that time of year would be ideal for those lakes and its also my understanding that those lakes are highly pressured and could prove to be pretty difficult to fish for an outsider so fishing them was going to be more of a side bonus of my work trip. Please tell me more about your neck of the woods in early August. Quote
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted May 23, 2019 Global Moderator Posted May 23, 2019 6 minutes ago, Dirtyeggroll said: Tennessee is an interesting idea. I will be in Nashville for work for the month of July. I have a good friend who lives in Smyrna (southwest of Nashville proper) with whom I will be staying. I am planning on bringing my boat for the Nashville trip with hopes that I have a free weekend (or week night) during that time to fish Chickamauga, Percy Priest, Kentucky Lake or Dale Hollow. I didn't figure that time of year would be ideal for those lakes and its also my understanding that those lakes are highly pressured and could prove to be pretty difficult to fish for an outsider so fishing them was going to be more of a side bonus of my work trip. Please tell me more about your neck of the woods in early August. The lakes you mentioned will Be crowded after lunch time with pleasure boats and crowded with fishermen at all times. Chickamauga and ky lake would be good for ledge fishing in summer, granted some big fish will haunt the shallows all year. Dale hollow and priest are smallmouth factories, most guys would drag big jigs around all night in August and skip daytime fishing. They catch some monster brown bass by the moonlight. As far as my neck of the woods, there’s a lot of shallow water rivers. That’s the topwater smallmouth fishing I was referring to in my last post. Tailwaters as well as free stone streams, you can catch big smallmouth at noon with topwater when it’s 95 degree air temp. In fact sometimes they don’t hit it until midday. Guys that are handy with a fly rod can really catch some big ones other subtle topwater bugs this time of year also 1 Quote
Dirtyeggroll Posted May 23, 2019 Author Posted May 23, 2019 Just now, TnRiver46 said: The lakes you mentioned will Be crowded after lunch time with pleasure boats and crowded with fishermen at all times. Also my concern for not originally considering to plan a dedicated fishing trip to these areas. Shallow as in not bass boat friendly shallow? Quote
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted May 23, 2019 Global Moderator Posted May 23, 2019 39 minutes ago, Dirtyeggroll said: Also my concern for not originally considering to plan a dedicated fishing trip to these areas. Shallow as in not bass boat friendly shallow? Some stretches are, some stretches aren't . A couple years ago in the middle of summer we were camping on an island in Norris lake (very bass boat friendly) and accidentally stumbled upon an awesome top water smallmouth bite every morning. It only lasted 2-3 hours but they would come up 20 feet to hit a spook 2 Quote
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted May 23, 2019 Global Moderator Posted May 23, 2019 Here's some pics from that camping trip, I bet @BassNJake might even know right where we were! Haha. The walleye was at lunchtime 30 ft down with a poor man's Shakey head Quote
Global Moderator 12poundbass Posted May 23, 2019 Global Moderator Posted May 23, 2019 I don’t know what kind of boat you have but there are plenty of smaller lakes in Michigan with smallmouth in them, rivers as well. 1 Quote
Dirtyeggroll Posted May 23, 2019 Author Posted May 23, 2019 16 minutes ago, 12poundbass said: I don’t know what kind of boat you have but there are plenty of smaller lakes in Michigan with smallmouth in them, rivers as well. I was reading some older articles and some guide websites that suggested early August is when the smallmouth up there start to feed up and it can be a good time to go. My boat is a 17 ft Ranger R70. Big waters aren’t out of the question but I don’t have a ton of boating experience on big water. Would love suggestions of smaller lakes and rivers to try. Quote
Global Moderator 12poundbass Posted May 23, 2019 Global Moderator Posted May 23, 2019 33 minutes ago, Dirtyeggroll said: I was reading some older articles and some guide websites that suggested early August is when the smallmouth up there start to feed up and it can be a good time to go. My boat is a 17 ft Ranger R70. Big waters aren’t out of the question but I don’t have a ton of boating experience on big water. Would love suggestions of smaller lakes and rivers to try. I can’t help you with particular lakes, because I’m just getting into smallmouth fishing and I only have two lakes around me that have them. I have read Croton dam and Hardy pond in the Newaygo area are good. It’s a river impoundment so weather isn’t an issue. There’s a Michigan thread here you can ask in there and I’m sure a few Michigan guys that chase after SMB will help you out. 1 Quote
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted May 23, 2019 Global Moderator Posted May 23, 2019 I went to Michigan in early September 2015 and the smallmouth about pulled me out of a kayak . Angry boogers up there. If it wasn't for the after lunch wind everyday I think I would have stomped em pretty good 1 Quote
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