Back to the basics

[Nailer]

I took the day off and went with my retired friend to the Muskegon River.

We fish back to the basics (hook line and sinker). A couple of split shot a few feet in front of a single hook, tipped with a minnow and drifted or cast over the deep weeds. The smallies where loving it. We lost count how many but, I'm sure it was more than 20. We also picked up 6 or 7 pike. All the fish went back. Here's two from a double I had.

Edited November 13, 2009 by Nailer
re-add pic

[DIRTY DOG]

look like a GREAT day ken

[salmonquest]

simple, fun I'd say easy but is it ever? and if the line breaks your out what abuck fifty. Looks like a great day.

[Priority1]

WTG Ken.

[GLF]

Nice looking smallmouth Ken! Have you ever ate smallmouth? They are very tasty!

[Nailer]

Nice looking smallmouth Ken! Have you ever ate smallmouth? They are very tasty!

Yes, back when I was single and food was in short supply. Unfortunately for me most of my family doesn't care for fish. %90 of the smallies we got where of keeper size.

[Alessandro]

Can´t see the pics?

My personal experience with black bass is very limited. I got my first ones last year in Portugal (they tried to introduce them here in Sweden but too cold), fished in the Santa Clara and Alqueva dams.

[Nailer]

Here ya go.

[GLF]

Nice looking smallies Ken!

[Alessandro]

Congrats, Nail, I couldn´t tell small or largemouth apart, different colors from

the largemouths (much smaller) I caught, otherwise no way for me to tell the difference.

[fishsniffer]

very nice ken

[GLF]

You can not always tell the difference by color.

A sure way to tell the difference between the bass species, is by looking at their bottom jaw. On a largemouth, the bottom jaw extends beyond the eye. On a smallmouth, the bottom jaw does not extend beyond eye.

[Alessandro]

It´s like telling a brown trout and atlantic salmon apart, not always easy, obviously you don´t catch +40 lbs brown trout but otherwise it the head, jaw and tail that you can see the difference.

BTW my "secret" basslure is the Yo-zuri Slavko oh bug, bought it in a Portugese shop and fished with it only the last day. It´s a plastic copy of an old wooden lure from the US during 1940ies, have a few that swear buy it as

the best lure ever for smaller fish, but impossible to get hold on it

seems (or at least for me) since the molds been destroyed by Yo-zuri.

Good for rainbow trout as well, but I had no success so far, I won´t fish

for european perch in waters with northern pike with mine since it got affection value, but it could certainly appeal to EP as well....

[awhitaker]

I love catching smallies. I usually catch a few on the inland lakes around me in central Indiana. I think they're much more beautiful than largemouth although I'm not one to complain catching either.

[GLF]

I love catching smallies. I usually catch a few on the inland lakes around me in central Indiana. I think they're much more beautiful than largemouth although I'm not one to complain catching either.

I use to fish bass tournaments on Wawasee Lake. Have you ever fished it?

[Adam Bomb]

I love smallies. I always said id trade 10 largemouths for one stubborn smallie. Damn theyre fun to catch!