homesteading smallie

[spuds704]

Last Tuesday I decided to run over to the Nick tail waters to see if the smallies had moved in to the gravel beds to spawn. Caught one around 4 lbs. on my third cast on a Texas rigged worm. The fish had a small white spot just behind the point where it's upper and lower jaw comes together. Turned him loose and started fishing again and not ten minutes later, I caught another fish in the same place I caught the first one. The second one didn't put up near the fight the first one did, and after landing it, I noticed the same white spot on that fish. The first hook up was in the roof of it's mouth, the second was outside it's mouth and tore a hole in it's right cheek. Friday, I was back over there and in the same place, I caught the same fish on my first cast on a drop shot, had the white spot and a sore on it's cheek. Today I took the boat and headed back over for another round, I threw jerks, cranks, flukes, and worms, and the only bites I got was on worms but they would just knock the crap out of it one time and then nothing. The wind took me down the gravel bank but when I got to the spot where I caught that smallie I just didn't have the heart to put another hole in it's head. But, there was a guy walking around the bank and on his first cast at that spot, he caught the same fish on a chatter bait. I asked the guy if it had a white spot on it's left cheek and a sore spot on it's right cheek and he wondered how I knew that, so I told him the story and he we decided that was one stubborn fish. I'm pretty sure this is a male fish that's moved up a little early because none of the guys that fish there on a regular basis has seen any big females yet. Wonder how many more times that poor thing has been caught.

 

[hoop235]

LOL!! Good story, that fish was determined to guard his spot!
I've always heard that smallmouth don't roam around as much as LM, they're more home bodies, and that they really defend their territory during ther spawn.
Thanks for the laugh!