# What is it with you people and smallies?



## celtic11 (Jun 30, 2011)

Seems to be a lot of people specifically target smallmouth bass and Im not sure why (genuine question.) Ive never caught one but it must be awesome. What's the deal?

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## Mr. A (Apr 23, 2012)

There are people on here that can talk for days on this subject. I will keep it short. I haven't caught many, and none on purpose, but when you get one..... they're like regular bass only really angry and ready to fight! While they may not be huge weight wise they make up for it with horsepower and stamina. IMHO

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## SMBHooker (Jan 3, 2008)

Pissed off fish jumping like they're coming out of cannons and pulling line like freight trains. They fight so much bigger than their size. 


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## LilSiman/Medina (Nov 30, 2010)

There hard to find, harder to get to take the bait, and harder to bring in. Even looking for them is fun and tricky.


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## leftfordead88 (Oct 22, 2007)

acrobatic bull dogs


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## celtic11 (Jun 30, 2011)

Sounds like I need to try and catch one of these beasts.

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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

While the fight is good, the jumps are nice and more then anything, I love the challenge of reading a moving watershed and then targeting just where these nice fish are setting then getting them to hit is the whole game for me, i love the places these fish come from...solitude, beatiful scenery, mother nature.....etc. 
Salmonid


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## Bad Bub (Jan 17, 2006)

Salmonid said:


> While the fight is good, the jumps are nice and more then anything, I love the challenge of reading a moving watershed and then targeting just where these nice fish are setting then getting them to hit is the whole game for me, i love the places these fish come from...solitude, beatiful scenery, mother nature.....etc.
> Salmonid


... and the Ohio river.... Lol!

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## alfred dawes (Jul 4, 2006)

Mark Zona once said if you had a 5lbs smallmouth and a 10 lbs largemouth and tied them together the 5lbs smallmouth would pull the 10lbs largemouth all over the lake. They are brutes.


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## Bassbme (Mar 11, 2012)

lol I love Mark Zona, but I'd put my money on the 10 lb. largemouth for the first two minutes. After that the smallmouth would put a beat down on him. It's a Mike Tyson versus Buster Douglas kind of thing.


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## Bad Bub (Jan 17, 2006)

alfred dawes said:


> Mark Zona once said if you had a 5lbs smallmouth and a 10 lbs largemouth and tied them together the 5lbs smallmouth would pull the 10lbs largemouth all over the lake. They are brutes.


One of the old dale hollow guides (jim duckworth I believe) said that if a small mouth could grow to be 30 lbs., a bass boat would be nothing but a buzzbait!

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## celtic11 (Jun 30, 2011)

You people have me really geared up to catch one of these. Im gonna hit up a different stretch of river this weekend armed with tubes and senkos.

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## FishermanMurph (Jan 29, 2012)

Just fun to catch.  Spent saturday on the Stillwater and had a blast catching them smallies. What they lack in size they make up in fight and attitude. 


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## sady dog (Feb 10, 2008)

try throwing a cement block off your boat tied to the end of your rod...

that is what a 3 lb smallie feels like......

Throw 2 cement blocks off yur boat tied to your line...

that is what a 5 lb smallie feels like


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## FISHIN216 (Mar 18, 2009)

I caught a mixed bag of smallies and largemouth one day last spring and thats when I found out my favorite of the two..you could tell instantly which was on the line. SMB are stronger and a more acrobatic fish. plus I enjoy river fishing or fishing deep structure..beating the banks for largemouth is fun but not quite as fun as smallie fishing IMO

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## mischif (Jul 14, 2006)

I love both smallmouth fishing and largemouth fishing, but river fishing for smallies is always a great time! I have been having a great year!


















































































Well, you get the point! Sorry for all the pictures but you really have to target smallmouth sometime, they are a blast!


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## celtic11 (Jun 30, 2011)

mischif said:


> I love both smallmouth fishing and largemouth fishing, but river fishing for smallies is always a great time! I have been having a great year!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yeah I have seen most of your report threads and it appears you are having quite the year. I waded a local river for a couple hours the other day targeting some deeper holes and cover areas near the banks but all I brought in were some Largemouth, sheephead, rock bass, and sunfish.. all under 10." Still had a good time but was really hoping to get into some smallies. Here's to next weekend!

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## USMC_Galloway (May 13, 2011)

I really think its the trip to catching a great SM that leads to the love of the fish. Almost all of the guys the are hooked on catching smallies are river men, either waders or yakers.Getting out on flows, out away from the packed lakes, normaly all you see all day is yourself and who ever you brought with. 

The privilege to catch a 10-15 yr old fish, then watch it swim back to it hole for another day it pretty cool too.


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## backlashed (Mar 19, 2011)

Mr. A said:


> ..... they're like regular bass only really angry and ready to fight! While they may not be huge weight wise they make up for it with horsepower and stamina. IMHO


They are great tail dancers too! Mine have always had more spunk in them than a LMB.


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## Bassbme (Mar 11, 2012)

I can certainly understand the smallmouth love. They're faster, more acrobatic, and have more stamina than a largemouth, but I'm not sure I'd be so quick to give a smallmouth the edge in power over a largemouth. Lets not forget the tackle we use to catch smallmouth versus the tackle we use to catch largemouth. Generally when you're fishing for smallmouth you're not using tackle that can over power the fish, like the tackle most often used for largemouth fishing. It's a totally different kind of fight. 

Speed............ smallmouth
Stamina............. smallmouth
Acrobatics.......... smallmouth
Power........... largemouth

At least that's the way I see it


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## mischif (Jul 14, 2006)

Bassbme said:


> I can certainly understand the smallmouth love. They're faster, more acrobatic, and have more stamina than a largemouth, but I'm not sure I'd be so quick to give a smallmouth the edge in power over a largemouth. Lets not forget the tackle we use to catch smallmouth versus the tackle we use to catch largemouth. Generally when you're fishing for smallmouth you're not using tackle that can over power the fish, like the tackle most often used for largemouth fishing. It's a totally different kind of fight.
> 
> Speed............ smallmouth
> Stamina............. smallmouth
> ...



Very True!


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## JOE B (Nov 3, 2009)

I just posted 2 pics on another thread of a 2lb smallish and a 5lb large and the smallish tore drag while I was able to reel against the heavy drag of the large. I thought the smallie was a 6 or 7lb large, no kidding. Sorry on the autocorrect. Smallie not smallish lol


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## Bnichs (May 24, 2004)

I agree with others that part of the smallie lore is getting out on the river and not seeing a bunch of other boaters.

I love to catch both species but smallmouth are a special treat since I catch way more Largemouth than Smallmouth.

A good strategy for me was to target the smallies in the river on the weekends when the lakes are extra crowded then target Largemouth on the weekdays that I can get out when the lakes are not as busy.

Unfortunately I have not had many chances to get after the smallies this year.


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## Photog (Jun 18, 2010)

As far as fight I rank smallies as tops but I also love hooking into rock bass on UL equipment.


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## celtic11 (Jun 30, 2011)

montagc said:


> River smallie fishing sucks. Don't try it. Catfishing at paylakes is the most rewarding type of fishing.
> 
> Really. I mean it.


Lol, nice. Don't worry I wont be fishing your rivers! 

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## JimmyMac (Feb 18, 2011)

Largemouth to me just seem played out, with all the pro bass fishing in America, they just don't seem like a special fish. Smallmouth bass look better to me, awesome looking fish, plus they fight much harder pound for pound.


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## lordofthepunks (Feb 24, 2009)

JimmyMac said:


> Largemouth to me just seem played out, with all the pro bass fishing in America, they just don't seem like a special fish. Smallmouth bass look better to me, awesome looking fish, plus they fight much harder pound for pound.


smallies are a big part of pro bass fishing in america. ive won plenty of local tournaments with smallmouth only.


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## JimmyMac (Feb 18, 2011)

lordofthepunks said:


> smallies are a big part of pro bass fishing in america. ive won plenty of local tournaments with smallmouth only.


Well yeah, but the LM is like the poster fish of bass fishing. I dunno why I just get tired of looking at them, lol. I mean hell I'm happy to catch them and do fish for them a good bit each year, just not nearly as cool as smallies. (in my opinion)


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## Fishaholic69 (Apr 6, 2007)

I love catching smallmouth! i fish for them using a fly rod!


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## fredg53 (Sep 17, 2010)

JimmyMac said:


> Well yeah, but the LM is like the poster fish of bass fishing. I dunno why I just get tired of looking at them, lol. I mean hell I'm happy to catch them and do fish for them a good bit each year, just not nearly as cool as smallies. (in my opinion)


Im confused by this post u fish for em bur u r what

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## celtic11 (Jun 30, 2011)

fredg53 said:


> Im confused by this post u fish for em bur u r what
> 
> Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


Oh, the irony. 

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## mastercatman (Jan 30, 2005)

celtic11 said:


> Oh, the irony.
> 
> Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


You aren't kidding! LOL What's more confusing?

Yep, try them smallies. Definitely, a great way is to do some cool wet wading to get into hot action during the dog days of summer!
Grab a two packs of tubes, 3.5"-4" green pumpkin and watermelon seed, maybe some with red flake in them too. Then rig them up with 4/0 worm hooks and an 1/8oz bullet weight ahead of them. Cast close to the banks and into the head of current breaks all along most rivers and streams in Ohio.
Not sure where you're from, but I'm sure you know Lake Erie has a respectable fishery for them and Lake Milton is good too.
Good luck and enjoy, you'll go back for more.


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## Javelin389T (Sep 30, 2011)

You set the hook in 20-30 fow,seconds later its 3-4' out of the water.

Only thing better is a tarpon.Its to expensive to tow the boat down south for them often.


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## buckeyebowman (Feb 24, 2012)

I gotta chime in having just taken a trip up to Ashtabula with my brother in law this past Sunday. He's just started going up there and doesn't know the area real well, but he knows it better than I do. 

We launched out of Lakeshore Park and headed East, just past the second electric plant or whatever it is. He told me we would just troll around for a while, watch the depth finder and see what developed. What developed were two personal best smallmouth for me! I caught 4 total, 2 about 3-4lbs, one that I'd say was 5, and the big one that was 6 easy, maybe 6.5! 

I grew to love smallmouth by fishing for them in streams, but these were a whole new ballgame! They'd slam the lure (we were using deep diving minnow plugs, my bro-in-law a deep HJ 12 or 14 in clown, I with a Reef Runner large size, don't know the number, with a blue back and silver sides and belly) like a ton of bricks, then rocket to the surface and jump. Well, the big one kind of wallowed. Then the bulldog action would start. Again, the big one was more like a semi! I don't know how long I fought that fish, but it seemed like quite a long time. Every time it would see the boat, away it went and there was nothing I could do about it.

I was using a pretty stout bait casting setup. The rod is quite stiff (rated for up to a 3oz bait), and I had the drag screwed down as tight as I dared since the rod was darn near bent double! A largemouth of the same size wouldn't have given 1/4 of the fight! Maybe not even 1/10th! 

I wish I could have kept that fish. It would have gone on the wall, but all were released. I'm not at my best getting up at 3:30AM and I left my camera at the house. My brother in law took a pic with his cell, and if he can figure out how to get it on the computer he'll e-mail it to me. 

A final note. When I got home I had to take an Aleve because my hands were aching so bad! From catching 4 Lake Erie smallies! Wow! All I can say is, we will be back. Oh, yes indeed, we will be back!


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## Perchy101 (Apr 14, 2004)

I haven't caught a Large Mouth in years.... Its probably been 5+ years!


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## Dont Tell (Mar 31, 2011)

The only thing that would make a Smalley better would be for him to Squeal Like A Pig when he jumps.

More fun than any other fresh water fish.


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## Photog (Jun 18, 2010)

Dont Tell said:


> The only thing that would make a Smalley better would be for him to Squeal Like A Pig when he jumps.
> 
> More fun than any other fresh water fish.


Great....thanks.
Now I will associate Ned Beatty with smallmouth fishing.


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## celtic11 (Jun 30, 2011)

Photog said:


> Great....thanks.
> Now I will associate Ned Beatty with smallmouth fishing.


If Burt Reynolds ever invites you to go fishing for smallies in his canoe... just say no.

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## honkinhank (Feb 12, 2010)

leftfordead88 said:


> acrobatic bull dogs
> 
> 
> Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


perfect way to describe them!!!


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## celtic11 (Jun 30, 2011)

So are these fish exceptional at throwing the hook or am I doing something wrong. I've had 5 in the 10-12" range on the end of my line in the last few days and have only gotten my hands on two of them.

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## wiggle (Oct 22, 2008)

Its one of the best fighting fish for there size! I fish for smallies all the time in the rivers and on the lake my favorite is fishing for them with ultralite tackle or 5 wt fly fishing! You got to try it its a blast the fight like little bulls !!!!!!!!!!


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## Fishing Flyer (May 31, 2006)

This thread made my day... especially the squeal like a pig comment! I typically fish for largemouth... unless there is a good population of smallies. Then it's bronzeback all the way!


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## BigTripp (Oct 1, 2010)

I've always been a lake guy so it was always largemouth for me. I went up to Waterworks Park on Monday and hooked a little 12 inch smallie on a rebel craw, thought I had a monster! Those things are crazy, jumping and flipping around. Definitely hooked. Give it a try if you haven't already.


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