Accidental smallmouths...

[desmobob]

I've been out on the lake with my fly rod, fishing for lake trout and landlocked salmon.  Things have been slow but the trout have been cooperating.  I got skunked yesterday and it was looking like I was going to get skunked again today.  I put on a full-sinking line and an old-school streamer (Wood Special) and stumbled onto a nice concentration of smallmouths.

 

They didn't put up their usual fight in the numbing 44˚ water, but they were still fun to catch.  They were outside a bay where the smelt run up a tributary stream.  The smelt run was a couple of weeks ago but judging by the bellies on the smallies I caught, they might still be in the area...

 

 

[TnRiver46]

Sweet!

[desmobob]

I really enjoy fishing from a float tube in the spring.  I have a boat, but this lake requires purchasing a user sticker, a boat wash/inspection, pay to launch, pay to park, etc.  If I can find a place to walk to the water, I can float tube (in this case, a public beach that isn't open yet).

 

I added a larger craft to my float tube fleet this spring.  It's a Dave Scadden Raptor Lite Speed X.  It's a lot roomier than the Outcast FatCat I usually use, plus it can be rowed.  I can cover a lot more water with it.  I just need to find success patching my waders.  I've had cold wet feet every time out this spring!  ?  A tube of Aquaseal is en route...

[JWall14]

19 hours ago, desmobob said:

I've been out on the lake with my fly rod, fishing for lake trout and landlocked salmon.  Things have been slow but the trout have been cooperating.  I got skunked yesterday and it was looking like I was going to get skunked again today.  I put on a full-sinking line and an old-school streamer (Wood Special) and stumbled onto a nice concentration of smallmouths.

 

They didn't put up their usual fight in the numbing 44˚ water, but they were still fun to catch.  They were outside a bay where the smelt run up a tributary stream.  The smelt run was a couple of weeks ago but judging by the bellies on the smallies I caught, they might still be in the area...

 

 

That water looks AMAZING! Nice fish!

[desmobob]

38 minutes ago, JWall14 said:

That water looks AMAZING! Nice fish!

It's a beautiful body of water: 32 miles of clean, cold water full of rocky islands, ledges, and shoals.  Lake George, NY, "The Emerald Queen of American Lakes."

 

 

 

 

[J Francho]

Nice fish, congrats!  I never fished Lake George, but would like to someday.  Anytime I was up that way, I was fishing Champ.

[desmobob]

I live at the very southern tip of Lake Champlain and I'm 11 miles from the middle of Lake George.  My dad had a summer camp on L. George and I spent all my summers (and more) there growing up.

 

There is great fishing of all kinds all around me, even in the winter, through the ice.  ?

[J Francho]

It's a beautiful area for sure.

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, desmobob said:

I live at the very southern tip of Lake Champlain and I'm 11 miles from the middle of Lake George.  My dad had a summer camp on L. George and I spent all my summers (and more) there growing up.

 

There is great fishing of all kinds all around me, even in the winter, through the ice.  ?

Looks like you need knee high rubber boots to live there! Beautiful country with water everywhere, my kind of place 

[TheBasslayer]

Those are some nice fish! I wish Southern Michigan had Lakes like that! I wanna fish Torch Lake sometime, which to me seems kinda similar to Lake George.