[MikmaqWarrior]

Went out to a local pond with my best friend to catch some feisty little smallmouth this evening. I caught about a dozen in the 2-1/2 hrs we were there. The biggest one I caught was only 13" but they sure put up a helluva fight for such a small fish.

This pond used to be full of good size bass - averaging 16-18"...and it wasn't uncommon to land a 19-20" lunker every so often. You could literally catch 50 average size ones in one evening, but unfortunately the farm that uses this pond for irrigation brought in some immigrant workers, and they fished it nearly clean within only about 5 or 6 years - keeping everything they catch, no matter the size.
The small ones that are left are still fun to catch, but I miss the days when you had a chance to land a big ol fat hog every so often.

I used a 4" Berkly Pit Boss on a wide gap #3 hook...with no weight...this allows me to let it sink slowly and finesse it up and down in the lower column of water, or slowly reel it across the top of the water like a frog. They smash it hard!

This was rigged to my 6" UglyStik GX2 rod with a Mitchell 300c reel spooled with 6lb Trilene mono.

The best part was spending time with my best friend...even if it was only for a few hours.

Len

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[Flatband]

Yeah baby!!!!!! Love it all!!!!!

 

[SLING-N-SHOT]

Very nice.....healthy looking smallies

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[flipgun]

Small Mouths chunk up fast. If the environment is not stressed there should be some respectable hogs a lot sooner than you might think. Even the little ones are a blast on ultra-light gear.

 

[MikmaqWarrior]

Small Mouths chunk up fast. If the environment is not stressed there should be some respectable hogs a lot sooner than you might think. Even the little ones are a blast on ultra-light gear.

The immigrant farm workers are there everyday fishing it...they keep everything except for the really tiny ones...they throw them on the bank instead of back into the water. It's frustrating. I've actually confronted a few of them when I saw what they were doing. They leave their worm containers, coffee cups, and soda cans everywhere. I take a garbage bag with me every time I go there just to clean up their mess. I try to understand that it's different where they come from but it is still hard to witness.
I'm hoping that the bass can recover, but with the amount of fish being removed, it doesnt seem likely...but, I have my fingers crossed..

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[Ibojoe]

Nice ones Len! Really pretty fish. I’ve always wanted to get into a mess of those with a fly rod. That would be a blast!

 

[Tag]

Beautiful scenery. Looks like a great time

 

[hoggy]

good fishing.