The biggest difference ?

[EastMarkME]

Anyone else switched from being brought up on LM and moving to a SM region ?

What do you think is the single biggest difference in locating and catching SM vs LM ? Is it deeper water this time of year ?

Thanks for your input.

Mark

[roadwarrior]

#1 Current

#2 The focus on structure, not cover.

8-)

[acmaul13]

X2 8-)

[EastMarkME]

Great advice. I have been spending time with the depthfinder trying to learn the bottom in the local lake I fish most to locate subtle points/drops and rock piles that arent visible so it will click eventually I hope. More work to do for sure.

With LM of course alot of the brush,lilly pads,whatever, is more visible.

I cant believe how different it is. Im learning....thanks in part to this great site and its members.

Many thanks.

Mark

[Huskyatwork]

The biggest difference is that smallmouth pull much harder and jump alot more. ;D

In all seriousness, think deeper water related to structure and making longer casts with lighter line.  

[Skunked in DR]

Can't argue with RW's advice.  

I will add however that in some of the smaller lakes that I fish, the smallies are exactly where you would normally expect to find largies and you fish for them the same way.  

[EastMarkME]

Thanks guys. The lakes over 3K acres. I am changing my line to 8 lb Yuri from 10 lb Stren on most of my reels hoping it helps a little.

Hope the 8 holds up in the rocks. I will check the last few feet frequently.

I decided Im going to tie on a Senko setup,a Fat Ika setup,a Spinnerbait setup, and a LC jerk bait setup and focus on unseen structure. Leaving the other rods and most tackle home.

Keeping it simple might help me get back on track.

Mark

[maineman]

Do not forget to take a few top water with you!  lots of fun in the mornings and late afternoon . some times also all day.  :

[EastMarkME]

Big Zara Spook and Slapstick fan here. Its fun for sure.

OK...5 setups. ;-)

Mark

[sofakingbigbass]

no drop shot setup?

[EastMarkME]

Spent an hour on youtube and fishing sites learning about dropshotting just this AM. I am starting to 'get' the deeper water thing although its unnatural to me. I am going to set up for it and try it next time out.

Mark

[Bass-1]

Mark, if your going to fish smallies up here, you want to learn about the "ALEWIVES" that the state "LET" come back... >   Good for the bass, not good for us. It's going to be like fishing with hamburg when the fish are eating steak. I've adjusted to fishing largemouth more then smallies just for this reason....

[EastMarkME]

Ive caught a few alewives recently while jerk baiting this season Bass1.

Also caught some nice LM recently. Them smallies are tougher for me...but I will figure them out. Im determined. I have a little better feel for them then I did. It takes some getting used to fishing 15+ feet of water compared to LM shallows.

Mark

[hawgwalker]

In my experience smallmouth are not the dominant bass in most of central Maine except for several of the Belgrades and smallies are scattered with bait. If you fish deep weeds and structure this time of year you will catch both species though weeds and structure seem more important to the largemouth. If you must have smallies look for a big flat with sand and sparse weed for smallies and watch for bird activity, loons and gulls, to point out baitfish puddling on top. In the summer they seem to hunt in packs of 2-6 fish working together on bait (alewifes or perch) When you hook a summer smallie always have your partner cast to where the fish was first hooked as quickly as possible for a possible double. If you are on a lake with water reeds, dragon flies and nymphs are like crack to smallies and you will often find big smallies shallow amongst the reeds grazing on insects and the crayfish and baitfish that also thrive there

IMO smallies are not anymore line shy than largemouth but it is important to have the right line for the bait as the line diameter effects the action of the bait. 20lb line OR 6 lb is going to look like ROPE in the water to a fish. 20lb line will impart negative cues with some baits not others.