# Fall Smallmouth 07



## Bryan_VA

Well fellas I did a bunch more smallie fishing this fall. The bite was really hit or miss but I ended up doing ok. I didn't catch nearly as many fish as I did this summer but the average size was better. In the summer I fished rivers almost exclusively but since October I've been hitting the still water more often. So here are some of my favorite pics from this fall. 





Here's a nice river SM that ate a swimbait retrieved along the shoreline. 




When the scenery is this good it doesn't matter if the fish are biting, which is a good thing cause I got skunked on this day! 





Most of the smallies I catch from one lake have this neat blue color on their back and face. I really like the way they look, even when they're small. 





Another river fish, also on a swimbait. 





If it has a small mouth and you catch it on a hair jig it counts as a smallmouth right??? 




Here's a big lake smallie that bit a tube in a laydown over a dropoff. Don't know how I got him out of there. 





Another chunky lake fish. This one creamed a swimbait on a cold November morning. The way he was jumping he must have thought it was August. 

I tried to use slightly bigger baits this fall to get a bigger average bite. It worked pretty well but I was surprised just how many little fish will also take a 6" swimbait. I caught some nice fish on Esquired's homemade baits too. Pics of those fish sucked as did alot of others I took this fall. I have to work on my timer pics or get someone to go fishing with me, then maybe I'll be able to weigh more of my fish too. 

And by the way, I'm not giving up yet. I'll be out chasing smallmouth for a day or two this weekend. I'm going for broke this time. BIG fish or no fish.


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## Jim

Sweet pics man! Thanks for sharing. What kind of swimbaits are you throwing?


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## Nickk

Nicely done! I haven't fished forever it seems, I'm dying!


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## shizzy

Nice pics and report...That is a cool color to those lake smallies. I haven't been able to fish much this fall, I've been busy. But I make have to make amends this weekend!


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## little anth

i like that color on the smallies good job man


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## Bryan_VA

Thanks guys.

Jim, I've mostly been using a 6" Basstrix paddle tail tube. It's a nice, slim "smallie sized" bait with great action.


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## SMDave

Nice, that you got a hold of those Basstrix! Those are the hot baits right now! I wish I could catch a smallie as big as your dink....  Wait till next spring Tinboaters!


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## little anth

where did u get the tubes????


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## FishinsMyLife

Nice fish. I wish we had smallmouths around here. Just about all of em you caught are footballs!


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## Bryan_VA

I got the tubes several months ago before the whole Basstrix frenzy got out of hand. I think right now about the only place you can get them is Ebay. And I believe you'll pay through the nose for em!

I have 5 baits left, now accepting bids lol


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## Waterwings

Nice catchin' !


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## little anth

lol thats the only place ive seen em


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## SMDave

Not to spam, but here are some that are similar: https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage-MLMM.html and 
https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpageSWIMPOOR-PBSR.html


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## little anth

ok ill check em out they look ok


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## jawz13

nice fish guys


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## shamoo

those basstrix cant stay on the shelf, they get 250 bags in and they're gone within 1/2 hour or less. You basically have to start calling when they open up and hope you get a couple bags.

Nice pictures my friend


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## mr.fish

Wow, thats a nice count of smallies. Great catches.


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## mtnman

nice fish dude. did they give yea much of a battle. a couple of them looked like they would have.


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## little anth

yea give us some details on a few of em


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## Bryan_VA

Hmm...details....well I guess I can say they all fought pretty well, they are smallmouth afterall. The bigger lake fish pulled me straight down into a laydown and bulldogged hard, I was lucky to get that one. Of course the carp took the longest to land though . They were all caught between 10am and 5pm, nothing really early or really late. Windy days were the best by far.

Bites on the swimbait were pretty subtle for the most part, usually just a "tick". I set the hook like I'm fishing a crankbait, with a sweep. I had to be careful not to get jumpy, pausing for just a split-second after the bite was critical. I threw the Basstrix on a 6'6" MH baitcasting rod with 15lb P-Line floroclear. I also caught some fish on tubes, senkos, hairjigs, and jerkbaits this fall. Those are my typical lures for this time of year and I fished them with a 6'6 M spinning rod and 15lb Power Pro, sometimes with a 10lb fluorocarbon leader.

As far as fish dimensions, I can honestly say that I haven't measured a single smallie since September. When you're by yourself on shore it can be a huge pain in the a$$, especially after you just went through the ordeal of getting a self-photo. I never weigh smallmouths, couldn't tell you why. I weigh largemouth all the time. 

I have a whole bunch of really crappy fish pictures I took this year. Might have to post them sometime just for fun. Sucks when you catch a good fish and you cut off your head in the pic or it's way out of focus.


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## little anth

thanks nice report.


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## Captain Ahab

Bryan_VA said:


> Sucks when you catch a good fish and you cut off your head in the pic or it's way out of focus.



In my case that is a plus!


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## SMDave

Bryan_VA said:


> I have a whole bunch of really crappy fish pictures I took this year. Might have to post them sometime just for fun. Sucks when you catch a good fish and you cut off your head in the pic or it's way out of focus.



Which is why I take my dad with me! That, and the fact that nobody could take me fishing! Just 4-5 more years! But it's nice to have my dad tag along too.


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## little anth

i would second that but nno one fishes in my family.so i fish with my friends


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## mtnman

NICE!!!!!!


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## SMDave

little anth said:


> i would second that but nno one fishes in my family.so i fish with my friends


Opposite for me. My dad fishes, but I have NO FRIENDS that fish. Whatsoever. (well passionately, there are those kids that just go out once a year with a spincaster and nightcrawlers, not knowing what a bass looks like, using 30lb mono.) :roll:


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