Finding Summer Smallmouth, 7/3/22

[Will Wetline]

 

4:23 a.m., Hardwick, Massachusetts.  An omen? Is the universe saying DON'T GO OUT ON THE BIG WATER TODAY! Hey, I had a game plan and my summertime smallmouth sleuthing hat and I was going! Scooted around the port side of this branch maybe knocking some rust off my 19 year old Toyota.

 

 

Looking over gear in the boat. There's terminal tackle and whatnot in the utility carrier, pre-tied dropshot and "Carolina Lite" rigs in the top of the Ice Cube cooler and a good many baits to the right. If these aren't enough, I have three full Plano 3600 boxes behind me.

 

 

This little one got the skunk off early by tapping a Z-Man TicklerZ deep. I wasn't exactly unhappy but I had fully expected a topwater bite which, after half an hour of popping, gurgling and come-get-me stillness did not happen.

 

 

Pfft! This waterlogged wooden wishbone is hardly the biggest chunk I've landed. Am definitely not getting a smallie vibe here. Onward!

 

 

Ah, yes. Five days ago a decent smallie grabbed a Sweet Beaver while dropping. This day they didn't want it. You see a Smallie Beaver in the photo. Fine tuning can make a difference.

 

 

Another smallie on the same Beaver. Looking around the background of this picture, you don't see anything out of the ordinary. Today's game plan was this: get well offshore - past the flats on which they spawned and further out from its edges where they recuperated post spawn. Then anchor on the edge of the deep. How deep? I can't say exactly because I'm a "no tech" fisherman. Let's say 40'. They will hold here until it's feeding time and then move shallower over sand, sandgrass and among scattered rocks. I will be anchored here, making repeated casts around the boat.

 

It's mid afternoon. Sunny, warm, breezy. I'm trying to stay alert but thoughts wander. In my mind's eye is the meme of the dumb fisherman dude who tells his date that "her butt looks like a crankbait coming through the water." Now comes the image of Kim Kardashian's magnificent hindquarters. Y'know, it's symmetrical rolling, wobbling motion is a lot like that of the original Big O. Bet when she's on the dance floor it registers on the Richter scale.   

 

.  .  .  Come back, boyo - your line is moving. Reel down. Set.

 

 

This darlin' saved the last dance for me.

 

[throttleplate]

2 hours ago, Will Wetline said:

Now comes the image of Kim Kardashian's magnificent hindquarters. Y'know, it's symmetrical rolling, wobbling motion is a lot like that of the original Big O. Bet when she's on the dance floor it registers on the Richter scale.

 

LOL. I wouldnt want to see her hindquarters exposed while i am eating as i would upchuck. There is something in her hindquarters that are as fake as your original big O.

[Sphynx]

Nice day, it's been brutal out here, lots of rapidly changing weather patterns, and when you can get to them from the shore they have been pretty small, glad to see somebody out there is catching a few respectable size fish!

[Dwight Hottle]

Great report with an interesting deviation sir! 

[Deeare]

Nice work!!  You should post this on the Eastern mass thread.   Bunch of guys regularly fish the quabbin.   

[cvaicunas69]

On 7/8/2022 at 8:08 AM, Will Wetline said:

 

4:23 a.m., Hardwick, Massachusetts.  An omen? Is the universe saying DON'T GO OUT ON THE BIG WATER TODAY! Hey, I had a game plan and my summertime smallmouth sleuthing hat and I was going! Scooted around the port side of this branch maybe knocking some rust off my 19 year old Toyota.

 

 

Looking over gear in the boat. There's terminal tackle and whatnot in the utility carrier, pre-tied dropshot and "Carolina Lite" rigs in the top of the Ice Cube cooler and a good many baits to the right. If these aren't enough, I have three full Plano 3600 boxes behind me.

 

 

This little one got the skunk off early by tapping a Z-Man TicklerZ deep. I wasn't exactly unhappy but I had fully expected a topwater bite which, after half an hour of popping, gurgling and come-get-me stillness did not happen.

 

 

Pfft! This waterlogged wooden wishbone is hardly the biggest chunk I've landed. Am definitely not getting a smallie vibe here. Onward!

 

 

Ah, yes. Five days ago a decent smallie grabbed a Sweet Beaver while dropping. This day they didn't want it. You see a Smallie Beaver in the photo. Fine tuning can make a difference.

 

 

Another smallie on the same Beaver. Looking around the background of this picture, you don't see anything out of the ordinary. Today's game plan was this: get well offshore - past the flats on which they spawned and further out from its edges where they recuperated post spawn. Then anchor on the edge of the deep. How deep? I can't say exactly because I'm a "no tech" fisherman. Let's say 40'. They will hold here until it's feeding time and then move shallower over sand, sandgrass and among scattered rocks. I will be anchored here, making repeated casts around the boat.

 

It's mid afternoon. Sunny, warm, breezy. I'm trying to stay alert but thoughts wander. In my mind's eye is the meme of the dumb fisherman dude who tells his date that "her butt looks like a crankbait coming through the water." Now comes the image of Kim Kardashian's magnificent hindquarters. Y'know, it's symmetrical rolling, wobbling motion is a lot like that of the original Big O. Bet when she's on the dance floor it registers on the Richter scale.   

 

.  .  .  Come back, boyo - your line is moving. Reel down. Set.

 

 

This darlin' saved the last dance for me.

 

I have to say I have been following your posts, first on Facebook, and recently here, as my fascination with the Q has grown over this last year or so. I have only made one boat trip so far, with a couple initial shore visits sprinkled in, but the sight of a 5+ lb smallie has me hooked. Not to mention the pristine environment one gets to enjoy. I have been studying up on some contour maps, and your posts have provided invaluable insight into next season's fishing goal, learn a thing or two about this fantastic place.