First SM...Riverpark 1/15

[fishnooga]

Decided to fish below the dam and try to catch some of these Smallmouth everyone is talking about. I went to the golf course first...nothing. Then to Coolidge park and the bridges...nothing. Almost gave up but we headed back toward the dam and started at the railroad bridge and boom...landed my first SM (3lb1oz). The only other fish I caught was a 5lb drum. Both were caught on a smokey/chartruse jig with 1/4oz wt. Really a rough day to be on the water and the bite was super slow for us. Just glad to have gotten one. emoBigsmile

 

[2jigs]

Good looking fish.emoThumbsup I was going over the bridge around 2:00 & it looked good & smallmouthisheyemoLaughemoWelcome

 

[fishnooga]

Yeah, it was right around 2:00 between the railroad and dupont parkway. Pretty sure I saw Bass15 out there....should have tried to get some crawdads off of him. Sure would like to catch a bunch cause they are fiesty..

 

[jason]

One is better than none...especially if the one is a 3lbr! Nice smallie.

 

[bass15]

Yee -haw , It was me. Two girls and all . Bullet will be up and running soon. Hard to believe that a MERC won't run with 5 - Cylinders. Live Crawfish are absolutely , positively , cheating -------WITH OUT A DOUBT , I really think that big smallies are so used to seeing shiners , that they just overlook all but the most lively presentatations. (There's your 6 or 7 pdr. of the week. ) My kids still caught all of them with the nearly world famous circle hook , no action just a slip-float with a large "DAD" suspending a foot off the bottom.

 

[fishnooga]

Nice to have a backup boat if needed! Does anyone know why this section of the river has such a good SM population. I've only been fishing these waters for about two months and I usually put in at Suck Creek. We've caught decent fish down there but no SM. That area seems like it would be good for them too with rocky bottom and lots of current but we haven't gotten any down there. I wonder what it is from the Dam to Downtown???

 

[bass15]

Baitfish with steep drops every 100-500 yards.

 

[JerDog]

Good looking first smallmouth. How was the fight? Pound for pound they are up there with the best but in the cold water they may not be up for the fight.

 

[fishnooga]

I agree; they seem to be very fast. He went around the bow in a hurry. It was nice to see that brown flash...