Abundant Smallmouth

[Amery]

I fished below the dam this morning and was doing well before daylight on the black bugger. Then caught some after daylight on midges. About 9:00 I went up to the lake side and fished a tube on the ultralight. I straight tore up the smallmouth. Had 6-10 in an hour. Nothing huge but I bet it it would only be a matter of time. As a creek smallie guy I am satisfied catching a lot of little brownies. Did I catch it on the right day or could I do this consistently? I was fishing right by the dam site rec area.

[nathanhooper]

There are a lot of small mouth by the dam area. I cannot tell you how many I catch when trolling around. It just seems like they are in almost every spot I go. I wonder if it has to do with the rip raff and other big rocks in the area which seem to hold a lot of crawfish also. I know they love them.

[jeb]

They seem to prefer the clearer water down by the dam.

I caught a 3lb smallie in Ventris yesterday, according to the Boga Grip. So they seem active. Only SM I caught out of 16 black bass. Rest were spots and LM, many of them on top water.

[Champ188]

Were you trolling your topwaters? Not sure the concept of casting is widely understood on this forum.

[jeb]

Were you trolling your topwaters? Not sure the concept of casting is widely understood on this forum.

LOL! No, I don't troll lures, or use live bait.

[1969Larson]

Were you trolling your topwaters?

Great idea! Is there a difference between trolling a topwater and reeling it in? Other than just covering more water? If I could get my trolling motor to walk the dog I would do it.

[Champ188]

We used to troll big 15-inch Kona Heads, Bahamas and Marlin Magics for sailfish and marlin off the Pensacola coast. The key was getting them set to skip across the tops of the waves just right. Those oughta work just fine on Beaver. Heck, you could probably catch some 5-pound smallmouths and maybe even a tasty gar or two.

[J-Doc]

Were you trolling your topwaters? Not sure the concept of casting is widely understood on this forum.

Only because the casters have closed-lip syndrome.

[J-Doc]

I fished below the dam this morning and was doing well before daylight on the black bugger. Then caught some after daylight on midges. About 9:00 I went up to the lake side and fished a tube on the ultralight. I straight tore up the smallmouth. Had 6-10 in an hour. Nothing huge but I bet it it would only be a matter of time. As a creek smallie guy I am satisfied catching a lot of little brownies. Did I catch it on the right day or could I do this consistently? I was fishing right by the dam site rec area.

I myself would call it a great day to catch that many smallmouth. Small or not......they sure are some mean little rascals per pound. I myself do not fish the dam end very often at all. I find the fish to be much deeper than I'm comfortable with and extra long casts are needed. Unless.........they are just flat out feeding and then you have to find the right bait and retreive. Just a bit too much work for me but sounds like you had a great time!

Yes......there is a very healthy population of smallmouth in the lake. I had Steve Parks (Rage Tail) tell me he filmed a TV show with Hook N Look a few years back on Beaver Lake and he said there were some giant smallmouth in that lake. All caught on Rage Craws. :-)

[Quillback]

Great idea! Is there a difference between trolling a topwater and reeling it in? Other than just covering more water? If I could get my trolling motor to walk the dog I would do it.

When I lived in Massachusetts I talked to another fisherman who trolled jitterbugs at night during the summer, he claimed he caught a lot of bass doing that. I don't see why it would not work here during the right time of year.