No shutout on Super Bowl Sunday!

Smallmouth No. 2 for 2024 caught on a Z-Man Finesse TRD worm.

Karen and I went camping for her birthday this weekend, and I managed to catch one smallmouth bass -- about 12 inches. Got it this morning just behind our campsite on a Z-Man Finesse TRD worm bouncing it on the bottom.

Skies were overcast, and it in fact started to rain lightly before I caught the fish. The water temp was around 50, and the Shepardstown gauge was just under four feet.

I tried a swimbait, too, with no luck. I think I might have had a sunfish nibble, so other than that, the smallmouth bass was the only action of the day.

I fished a little last night but we got to the campground just after the sun had gone down. I can barely see anything in daylight, so I only fished for 10 to 15 minutes.

Looking back on my blog posts (other than for the tens of viewers, I write stuff so I can remember shit), the earliest smallmouth bass I've caught looks like Feb. 25 back in 2017. And this year, I've already caught two. The smallmouth action usually doesn't start until late March.

Here's a short video I captured using my Olympus Tough TG-6 while releasing the fish:

First fish of 2024 on the first cast!

A chunky smallmouth bass on the first cast of 2024!

I got on the 2024 scoreboard early with a Potomac River smallmouth bass on my first cast on Jan. 1. The fish slurped up a Z-Man Finesse TRD Worm that I was working s-l-o-w-l-y on the river bottom. 

On the cast, the worm got snagged initially on a rock or something, but I managed to free it. About 30 seconds later, it felt like I had another snag, but the fish started moving.

The fish was caught with a Mitchell reel made in 1964.

Snags were the story of the rest of my time on the river, though. I had numerous snags and ended up losing five or so lures. I tried a Reaction Innovations Little Dipper to avoid bouncing the bottom but got nothing on that.

The water was a little high -- about four feet going by the Shepherdstown gauge -- and water and air temperatures were both around 45 degrees.

I used a couple rods with classic Mitchell 300 reels, and the one that caught the smallmouth was made in 1964 (serial number 567XX64). So 60 years later, the reel is still catching fish!