Eight For Eight: The rogues gallery of my most memorable smallmouth bass over the past eight years

Like how ESPN has been showing its "30 For 30" series, I bring you my "8 For 8."  

It's been eight years since I took up fishing again mainly trying to catch smallmouth bass.  With temperatures this weekend in the high 90s and not really feeling like fishing and dealing with the heat, I thought I would look back on the Top Eight smallmouth bass I have landed over the past eight years.

These aren't necessarily the eight biggest ranked by size but of most memorable (spoiler alert: a 16-incher is in the Top Three).

No. 8: First 15-inch smallmouth on the Little Patuxent, May 29, 2015.

First 15-inch smallmouth on the tiny Little Patuxent River. 
This is probably like catching a 20-inch smallmouth on Lake
Erie or the Susquehanna.

Since the Little and Middle Patuxent rivers were close to me, figured those rivers were home to smallmouth bass.  Everything in Maryland somehow connects to the Potomac it seems, so it shouldn't be too far fetched that them brown fish lurked in those skinny rivers.

Searching the internet, it appeared -- yes -- there were smallmouth bass, but I wasn't sure if they were plentiful or if they had any size.  The first one I caught on my first time fishing the Little Patuxent tipped a tape measure at maybe six inches.  And that fish was overshadowed by three rainbow trout.

Fishing near the shadow of an I-95 overpass in early 2015, it was confirmed these rivers had decent fish.  This was 15-incher jerked on a Rapala Shadow Rap.  A couple months later, I caught another smallmouth bass stretching 15 inches again on the Little Patuxent, and the game was on.

Oddly, I haven't caught any "big" smallmouth on the Middle Patuxent even though it feeds into the Little Patuxent.  I have seen a few nice fish, though, but they have been shy about their eating habits.

Next up, unlucky number seven ...

No. 7: The One That Got Away, October 2014.

No pictures exist of this fish.  

I've mentioned it before, but maybe fishing "doesn't take" if I don't hook this fish.  Camping overnight with Karen at McCoy's Ferry, had a few smallmouth and sunfish Saturday night.  

Sunday morning, I had not had that much luck and was about ready to call it a day around 11 a.m.  Working a Heddon Zara Puppy, I noticed the line was kind of frazzled where it was tied to the lure and didn't re-tie.

Kind of bored.  Karen should be about ready to go home.
Close to one of those "one last cast" moments, I let the Zara Puppy sail out, started working it side-to-side and a smallmouth bass EXPLODED out of the water -- it was hooked.  It jumped again, and I was desperately reeling.  The fish charged straight at me where I was standing on the bank.  Not even wading in the water, standing on the "safety" of the bank, and this smallmouth was coming right for me.

It jumped again and then it was gone.  

The line broke.

I've replayed this 100 times.  That smallmouth was easily 16 inches.  Maybe bigger?  The lesson was: Should have cut the frazzled line and re-tied the lure, and this has a better ending.

Up next, six is good.  I like six ...

  

Personal-best smallmouth bass at
that time.  Caught it wading literally
 in the middle of the Potomac River.

No. 6: First 16-inch smallmouth, July 25, 2015.

It was my little niece's first birthday, and I decided to go fishing early on the Potomac River with the plans of meeting up with the family later on to celebrate.  

I was wading in the area that I now call The Plateau.  The bottom of the river has rock formations that angle diagonally to how the water flows.  Easy to wade, and the water is low and clear this time of year.

I was mainly using a three-inch BPS plastic worm on a slider jighead.  Had not discovered the Z-Man worms yet.  

Casting as far as I could down river, this fish clamped on, and it was a battle.  Trying to keep my rod tip low so the fish wouldn't jump, I finally landed it -- 16 inches!

Up next, staying alive with number five ...

First 17-inch Potomac smallmouth bass.  

No. 5: First 17-inch Potomac smallmouth bass, Sept. 17, 2017.

This is a fish that solidified the Reaction Innovations Little Dipper in my arsenal.  They are cheap swimbaits (sub $6 for a pack of 10 from Susquehanna Fishing Tackle), so if one gets snagged, usually it's not worth crying about to lose one.  They are durable enough for two to three hookups.  Most importantly, fish like them.

I was wading about 20 feet from shore and spotted a slow eddy -- about two feet in diameter -- hugging the bank.  Not much room for error to hit this spot, but I made one of the best casts of my life.  Wouldn't you know it, this smallmouth was looking for something to eat and pounded the swimbait.

Up next, number four caught off the Susquehanna floor ...

My personal best smallmouth bass at that time. 
It would be surpassed just a couple hours later.

No. 4: Susquehanna 18-inch smallmouth, April 1, 2016.

My first fishing trip on the Susquehanna River with Jason Shay (he was guiding for another outfit -- Susquehanna Smallmouth Solutions was just a glimmer in his eye).  Searching through forums and sleuthing The Google, I read how the Susquehanna in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, area was prime smallmouth territory, and I wanted to experience it.

I coaxed my buddy Kirk to join me, and we trekked up to meet with Jason.

On my first cast as Jason was still helping Kirk get his gear ready, I caught a 14-inch smallmouth.  FIRST CAST and something worthy of a picture.  

Bigger ones were yet to come.

Later on, this one went for a small tube cast as we were drifting down the bank running next to Highway 15.  Precision casting to small pockets, and this fish slurped the tube.

This was my personal best smallmouth at the time, and that record would be broken only a couple hours later.  

Up next, though three was caught on a Wee, it was fierce ...

Personal-best smallmouth for the Little Patuxent River. 
After catching three 15-inchers, finally found one that
was bigger.

No. 3: Little Patuxent 16-inch smallmouth, April 11, 2018.

Like I wrote earlier, this isn't ranking the size of the fish but telling the whole overall story.  The Little Patuxent River is a trickle of water that flows through eastern Maryland.  Not suitable for kayaking or swimming in most places, but this is my home river.

Usually the smallmouth bass are in the 10-inch range, and I consider anything above 12 inches a trophy.  If I consider a 15-inch smallmouth bass a trophy from the Little Patuxent, what about something bigger?

I have identified three or four good spots on the Little Patuxent and hit those regularly.  For some reason on this day, I tried an area of the river that never produced a fish for me before.  On an old (actually the term is vintage) discontinued Rebel Wee-R square bill crankbait that had been rattling around my tackle assortment since even before I started fishing again in 2014.  If I remember correctly, it had never caught a fish before.

The Wee R had some interest that day from rainbows.  Casting to another section to avoid the trout, this smallmouth bass hit lightly.  At first, I thought it was another trout or a dink smallmouth, but then it started pulling.  I was standing on the bank about three or four feet above the water and had to heft this beast up hoping something bad didn't happen.

Three 15-inchers prior to this, so it was a great feeling to see there are bigger fish in the little river.  I swear I've had two hooked since then that were just as big.

Up next, number two reaches for twenty ...

No. 2: Susquehanna 20-inch smallmouth, April 1, 2016.

When I caught smallmouth bass No. 4 on this list, it measured 18 inches.  It was also my first time on the Susquehanna River, so the river had already lived up to my expectations.

But the river produced more.

I cast a Rapala Shadow Rap downriver behind the boat and started working the lure back.  Felt a light tap on the line and set the hook.  Jason Shay, the guide, saw me set the hook and asked if I needed the net.

"Nah, it's not that big."

Reeled some more and got a look at the fish.

"Uh, yeah I need the net."

That Shadow Rap got a work out that day.  It also enticed a fish that length wise wasn't even close but probably chunked out to the same weight as the 20-incher.  One treble was missing from the front hook, and the two rear hooks were bent.

Up next, number one ...

Biggest smallmouth I've caught on the
Potomac and matches my personal best.

No. 1: Potomac 20-inch smallmouth, June 25, 2022.

I had seen pictures of them.  Big smallmouth bass from the Potomac River.  So I knew they were out there, but up until this day, my efforts had only yielded a 17-inch smallmouth (No. 5 on the list, and it was caught five years prior to this).

This makes No. 1 because it was caught wading (not on a boat), it smashed my personal-best from this river, and it was caught on a TOPWATER lure.  This is the only fish on the list landed after hitting a topwater lure, a Rapala X-Rap Prop.

I just wish I had taken a couple more photos before releasing the fish.  This was taken on my phone, which isn't great under low-light conditions.

Honorable mentions:

My tube hanging out of this smallmouth's mouth. 
And if you enlarge and peer down the throat, there
is another tube AND a crayfish!

Karen and I with a double on the Susquehanna River.

Another double!  Earlier this year on Lake Erie.

Perky nibbles

Nothing better than looing UP at I-95.

I went out early this morning on the Little Patuxent River to try and beat the heat humidity.  We have had some showers here and there during the week, but nothing major, so the river was low and fairly clear.

As usual, I tied on a Heddon Zara Puppy on one rod and a Reaction Innovations Little Dipper on the other.  They are usually my go-to lures so why not?

Well the Little Dipper was getting a ton of attention from what I think were small sunfish.  It was almost comical.  I could see the lure in the water, then it would go sideways with a fish grabbing it.  Then letting it go.  I'm sure there was one point where five casts in a row were like that.  Finally actually hooked one and it was a sunfish barely bigger than the swimbait.  Maybe some kind of scent to spray on the lure would entice the fish to stay clamped on longer, but considering the size of the fish, I'm not sure if it's worth the effort.

A dink smallmouth bass that hit the no-name
spinnerbait.  I think increasing reel speed may
have enticed the fish to be more aggressive.

The Zara Puppy had some interest but I think more of the same with little sunfish that should have been chasing a lure that size (and that Puppy is maybe three inches).

Hit my three usual spots with the perky nibbles but couldn't find a smallmouth.  When I got to the turnaround point, I did a 180 on lure selection, too.  Off went the swimbait on the lighter rod/reel (St. Croix Avid-X with a Daiwa Tatula 2500), and on went a hair jig that I had picked up ... somewhere.  On the medium rod/reel (BPS Extreme green with classic Mitchell 3-0-0), the Zara Puppy was replaced with some random small white spinnerbait that I got ... somewhere.

And wouldn't you know it, the spinnerbait enticed a legitimate smallmouth bass to bite.  And the hair jig enticed ... well ... a sunfish.

Lots of follows on those lures, too.  Even though the spinnerbait wasn't very big, the profile compared to a swimbait is bigger, and the sunfish thought better of actually trying to bite it.

On the way back to the car, a guy on a bike stopped to ask me if I was fishing for smallmouth bass.  He said his dad caught a 19-inch smallmouth on the Patapsco River a couple years ago.

Smallmouth smashing a topwater and smashing my personal Potomac best

A 20-inch smallmouth?  If not, it was
really close and easily my personal
best on the Potomac.

Possibly a 20-inch smallmouth on the Potomac?  If not, really, really close.

Headed up last night to meet with Karen to stay overnight at Antietam Creek Campground.  I got there around 7:30 p.m. so didn't have much time to do some real fishing -- just drowned some lures behind the campsite for 20 to 30 minutes.  With a family a couple campsites away causing a ruckus in the river, I didn't think fishing would be very productive.  

It wasn't.

Saw baitfish just in front of the tip
of the line of rocks closest to the weeds.
With no bites, then made a cast near
the overhanging branches in the
center at the top.

This morning, I suited up and went upriver to near where I caught my personal best Potomac smallmouth -- 17 inches -- almost five years ago.  Maybe 100 yards upriver from that spot is a rock formation that creates a set of rapids protruding almost the width of the river.  The water in front is smooth as glass, but the current is pretty fast.

As I ambled down to the water, I saw baitfish activity on the surface just in front of the rapids.  A few small fish jumping here and there, some feeding from the top.  Then there was a boil from a larger fish -- a smallmouth? -- so I made my first cast with a Rapala X-Rap Prop and churned it through there.

Nothing.

I made another cast.  Nothing.

I was casting toward the center of the river, so I turned 45 degrees and fired the lure upriver under the edge of overhanging branches.  The twin propellers frothed the water for about two seconds before a fish slammed the lure.  I waited a half second, couldn't see the lure anymore, and set the hook.

Fish on! Only issue was that I was in fairly fast current.  Even dink smallmouth bass can use the current to their advantage.

The fish didn't jump but shook its head a couple times out of the water.  The fish was going for the rapids, which is definitely something I didn't want happening.

Usually I bring a lighter rod for jigs and swimbaits and a medium rod for larger lures like topwaters, jerkbaits, crankbaits, etc.  Instead of grabbing a medium power St. Croix rod with a cork handle and a Pflueger reel, I grabbed a medium-light rod with a cork handle and a Pflueger reel.  So now I was battling this bruiser in current with the lighter rod and wondering why I wasn't making much progress.

Basically I held ground and finally muscled the fish along the weed bed.  There was still strong current but it wasn't even ankle deep, so the fish couldn't swim anymore -- just dragged it along the water until I could grab its lower lip.  With me clamping on its mouth, it wiggled enough so part of the treble hook went into my thumb (notice the small blob of red in the picture at the top).  If it started thrashing, I was going to be in trouble.  Fortunately, it stayed calm -- the hook wasn't embedded too far and came out easily.

It was a nice smallmouth.  A beast by Potomac standards.  I didn't have a tape measurer so eye-balled it next to the rod and figured I would measure the rod after getting home.  It looked to be an easy 18 inches, possibly more.

After that, I lost a smaller fish on a Reaction Innovations Little Dipper, and that was it for the next two hours.  No bites or anything.  

But it was worth it.

After I got home, I immediately took the rod and headed for the garage to get a tape measurer.  While standing in the river, I had put the fish's tail against the butt-end of the rod, and the nose went to a logo on the main shaft ahead of the cork.  With the tape measurer, this was 19-3/4 inches.  This was just holding the fish by the jaw and not measuring properly -- the mouth wasn't closed, and the tail wasn't squeezed to narrow it the length of the tape.  If it wasn't 20 inches, it was really close.

From the bottom of the rod to the "RS" logo ...

... 19-3/4 inches!  Not measuring it "properly" with
a closed mouth and squeezing the tail so it wasn't
fanned out.

Finally photogenic fish

First smallmouth this morning.

Looks really fishy but not much activity.

The results over the last two days of fishing -- this time near Fifteen Mile Creek -- were similar to Friday's exploits.  Caught some dink fish, although these stuck around to have their picture taken.  I only took two pictures of fish.

Similar conditions from Friday.  No rain or anything, but the weather was much better, and the water was flowing low and clear.

Luck in this area has been hit or miss.  There was one time I caught 10 fish over two days, similar to yesterday and today.  Actually, other than that, it has been mostly miss.  Usually the thing to look forward to fishing this area is trying to spot a muskie lurking in the creek. 

First and only smallmouth yesterday.  They almost
always seem to get hooked in the corner of the jaw.

Fished the exact area as in 2017 (linked in previous paragraph).  Looks really fishy with protruding rocks and slow eddies but could only muster a smallmouth and a sunfish yesterday, and two smallmouth this morning.  The two this morning I think hit the Reaction Innovations Little Dipper because it basically landed on their heads, and they were angry for being disturbed on such a peaceful morning.

The smallmouth from yesterday was also tricked into biting a Little Dipper.  The sunfish was landed on a Heddon Zara Puppy as it followed it out of a slow eddy trying to slurp down the forward treble hook.

Still, it's better than a good day at work, and way better than the best day at my previous job (which I left on Thursday).

Dam fish, saving a turtle and a summary of a transition day before my next job

No fish pictures.  Just trees.

Yesterday was my last day at my current job and planned to take today off before starting the new job on Monday.  What I didn't realize is that since the new job is working as a contractor for the government (U.S. Air Force) that I couldn't start on Monday because it's a federal holiday.  Should have said I would start today and then gotten paid for the holiday.  I opted to just make it a four-day weekend.

The background picture of this blog,
this is the tree that has the 
overhanging branches.  Definitely has
some stories to tell.  Probably laughs
at the smallmouth I lost eight years ago.
Shut up, tree.

Tried to get on a boat with Susquehanna Smallmouth Solutions, but since it was last minute (gave two week's notice last Monday), there weren't any openings.  So I decided to just hit a few spots on the Potomac River.

First stop was McCoy's Ferry.  Ah, McCoy's Ferry.  Where I will never forget the fish I lost ... geez ... eight years ago?!  Basically a smallmouth bass ANNIHALATED a Heddon Zara Puppy, charged right at me standing on shore.  Let me say that again, the fish charged at me while I was standing on shore!  It jumped a few times, and the line broke.  Probably at least a 16-inch smallmouth.  

Anyway, I think of that every time I'm here.  I think about that every time I tie on a Zara Puppy.  So what did I try today, eight years later?  A Zara Puppy.  And a Reaction Innovations Little Dipper.

This section of the river, because of Dam 5 just downstream, has almost a lake-like quality.  There's some flow, but it's really slow.  Which is why I like using topwater lures here because they don't hit the current and float away.

There were a couple guys fishing in a boat just off shore when I got there.  By the time I tied on my lures and everything, they had shifted more toward the middle river and eventually floated away.

Lots of fish were roaming near the bank, but they were small.  Some sunfish, a few smallmouth and even largemouth bass.

Other than a tiny sunfish trying to slurp the Zara Puppy, the lure had zero strikes.  Caught one smallmouth on the Little Dipper, but it released itself after I was about to grab it when I pulled it out of the water.  While I couldn't get a picture, those are probably the best.  Don't have to perform surgery to remove a hook.  The fish doesn't try to impale you with spiked dorsal fins or the hook in its mouth.

I eventually switched from the swimbait to a Z-Man Finesse TRD worm, AKA, the Ned Rig.  I don't know who Ned is, but he probably stole the presentation from somebody else and just slapped his name on it.  

Searching for some dam fish.

The Ned caught one fish that looked like ... yes ... I thought it was a largemouth?  But it also wriggled free just as I was about to grab it.  No surgery.  No stabbings.

Headed back to the car and drove down to Dam 5.  I used the roads -- the Subaru Crosstrek isn't an amphibious vehicle.  Stopped and helped a box turtle complete it's journey across the road.

The river at Dam 5 was really shallow.  We had heavy rains for brief periods the past few days, and I was expecting high water, but the level seemed like ideal summer flow.  Other than right at the overflowing waters at the face of the dam (which is hard to get to), it was ankle deep for a long stretch.  I finally found a nice, small pool just off current.  

Let's try that Heddon Zara Puppy again.

First cast, a smallmouth ICMB'ed out of the water.  I try to refrain from my excitement of a topwater strike and pause before setting the hook until I don't see the lure anymore.  The fish jumped again, and I wasn't sure if the lure was still floating, so I set the hook, and the fish was on!  It jumped a couple times, and it looked like it was barely keeper size (12 inches ... but I've never kept a smallmouth anyway).  Got it to shore, pulled it out of the water, and it also wriggled free before I could grab it.

No surgery.  No stabbings.

The next cast, another fish went after the Zara Puppy but didn't get hooked.

Reaction Innovations swimbait and Heddon
Zara Puppy with the 1960s Garcia Mitchell reels.

Eventually I caught one more fish on the Little Dipper.  It was really funny, just as I was pulling the swimbait out of the water, this fish zipped in from out of nowhere and grabbed the rubbery bait.  Basically exactly the length of my rod to my left where the water met the shore.  I pulled the rod up, and the fish was on, but I wasn't sure if it was actually hooked or it was like a terrier not wanting to release a squeaker toy.  The fish wriggled free and splashed down into the water.  An easy release with no surgery or stabbings.

I thought today was supposed to be nicer but it was 95 degrees at this point, so I called it quits.  Hopefully there will be another entry on Monday because Karen and I are going camping Sunday night.

A Wee smallmouth

Rebel Wee R that was slightly smaller than the
smallmouth bass it hooked today.

You would think that getting two hits within the first five minutes would lead to a stellar day of fishing.

But it wasn't.

Fished the Potomac River at the mouth of the Monocacy River, a spot that I had not fished for a few years but have had pretty good success in the past.  I started off with a River2Sea Whopper Plopper on one rod and a Rapala Shadow Rap on the other rod.  Water was fairly low but stained enough that I had to watch my footing as I waded out into the current.

On my second cast with the Whopper Plopper, a fish hit the lure as it churned across the surface.  Nothing like a topwater bite to start things off!  No more luck after a few more casts, so I switched to the Rapala jerkbait.  I think it was the third cast that a fish clamped on but did a self release after a few cranks on the spinning reel.

This was going to be good!

Remnants of wood deposited on shore after the
river had overmatched its banks.  Almost scary to 
think of the height of the water to create this logjam.

Nothing at all for the next two hours.  Moved down river and hit a few protruding logs and timber.  No bites.  Moved back upriver and cast a Rebel Wee R a few times.  You might remember this lure as it (not the exact one -- it got donated to the Potomac River a couple months later) caught the eye of the biggest smallmouth I've landed on the Little Patuxent River ... geez, four years ago.  This one is a crawfish pattern that was scored off eBay because the little crankbait is no longer in production.

It's a shallow-running squarebill crankbait, but easily goes down three-plus feet.  I could feel it ticking off the river floor.

I was about ready to call it quits when a fish slammed the lure.  But as I started reeling, it seemed like the fish had gotten off?  Kept reeling because smallmouth sometimes are tricky like that.  The fish had stayed on but it was a tiny smallmouth bass.  Like so small that if I had another the same size and put them together it wouldn't even equal a legal-sized 12-inch fish.

Kind of disappointing considering the start of the day but one fish is better than zero fish.

Passive non-aggressive smallmouth

Sorry if I'm giving away the exact location where I fished.
Just pull over to the shoulder and walk down to the river!

Fished the Little Patuxent River today and had better success than the last time -- a bit further upstream than before.

We had heavy rain the previous weekend, and the river had been really high (5-6 feet, which is close to overflowing its banks).  But while there was moderate rain the previous couple days, the water level was close to normal and surprisingly the clarity wasn't bad either.

The second fish of the day and the only one that
found the Zara Puppy worthy of an attempted meal.

This part of the river has three or four good spots and a few more that are worth checking out.  This section is where I caught my first Little Patuxent smallmouth and the first 15-incher a few months later.

I tied on a Heddon Zara Puppy topwater lure on my trusty Bass Pro Shops "Extreme" rod with an old 1960s-era Garcia Mitchell 300.  The other rod/reel combo I brought -- a more conventional St. Croix AvidX with a Daiwa Tatula LT reel -- had a Reaction Innovations Little Dipper swimbait.

The Little Dipper had the most interest throughout the three hours or so I was on the river.  Lots of passive non-aggressive fish, though.  Because the water was fairly clear, I could see fish ambushing the rubbery swimbait, but in most cases, they wouldn't stay clamped on.  Nip at the tail, swipe at it but not actually bite, whatever.  Most weren't that big so it wasn't as frustrating as seeing a big fish get away.  One little redbreast sunfish followed it and attempted to pounce as I lifted the lure out of the water.

Always like the variations of coloring -- this
smallmouth bass was exceptionally dark.

I managed two smallmouth bass on the Little Dipper -- both under 12 inches, but I had one that was easily 12-plus that did an SDR (short distance release) just before lifting it from of the water.  Not a lot of interest in the topwater lure until one wee smallmouth bass pestered it and finally got a hook in the side of its jaw.

Weather was overcast and close to 75 degrees.  I actually saw one fisherman getting out of his car as I was ambling to the water trail.  I think he was after trout because he asked if the river had been stocked recently.  Sorry, bro, rather fish for smallmouth bass that have been here for a hundred years instead of stocked trout.

One of my "tricks" -- removing the rear treble
hook.  Smallmouth almost always get hooked on
the lead treble hook.  The rear treble is more akin
to going into their eye or gill or whatever. Also
the failfish and sunfish slurp the entire rear treble
into their tiny mouths which means minor surgery
to remove those fish.

Milestone birthday Lake Erie search for smallmouth footballs

Since I (re)started smallmouth bass fishing a few years ago, one of my bucket list items was to fish Lake Erie.  Well actually my bigger bucket list fishing spot is La Reserve Beauchene, but Erie or even Lake St. Clair is more attainable.  Like how my dream car is a Ferrari F40 but an FD Mazda RX-7 is more likely to end up in my driveway.

Anyway, Karen started pestering me about what I wanted to do for my milestone birthday.  I immediately thought of Lake Erie.  The only thing hindering such a plan, especially this time of the year, is weather.  We actually fished Lake Erie a few years ago on a charter for perch.  It was late October and with the weather, it was like fishing on the ocean.  Huge waves tossing the boat, all the land lubbers aboard getting seasick.  

Karen started searching around for a guide and contacted Corey of A2Z Guide Service.  This time of year, he starts off in the Detroit River, which connects Erie and St. Clair, and he moves from there.  If the weather is bad, he shelters in the river.  If the weather is decent, he moves up to St. Clair or Erie depending on where the action is.

Karen booked the trip and circled the date -- April 30, a Saturday 10 days after my birthday.  It was like being a kid counting down the days until Christmas morning.  

Corey's boat, a 2020 Ranger with a 
350HP Mercury.  Super quiet with good power.

Checking the weather in the days leading up, the forecast was up and down.  Fifty degrees and rain, 60 degrees and no rain.  High winds.  Low winds.  That Thursday, the forecast for April 30 called for mid 50s and a chance of light rain later on in the day.  I don't mind fishing in the rain because the fish don't care -- they are already wet.

We headed out Friday -- roughly an eight-hour trip from Maryland.  A little scare with the Crosstrek when the TPMS light came on somewhere on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.  The left-front tire was a little low, we filled it back up, but the TPMS light came on again about 30 minutes later.  We pulled into a service area, and the tire pressures were EXACTLY the same.  The warning light blinked and came on at various intervals throughout the rest of the trip, and after Googling symptoms, chalked it up as either a dying battery or a faulty TPMS sensor on one wheel.  (I've driven the car to work this week and the warning light hasn't come on).

Old school jigging blade.

Anyway, stopped at a brewery that had awesome wood-fired pizzas.  Kept driving.  Got stuck in a traffic jam about 10 miles from the hotel around 10 p.m. because of a weird accident.  And then made it to the hotel.

The next morning, after maybe four hours of sleep, we were ready to hit the water.  We met Corey at a boat ramp on the Detroit River.  The forecast called for high winds but at that point things were rather calm.  Corey said we could go upriver and chase walleye or venture into Lake Erie and try for smallmouth.

I didn't have to think much.  "Smallmouth."

We motored down and setup in about 15 feet of water among scattered rocks that peppered the lake floor.  Corey tied on a Buckeye Lures Jiggin' Blade for me and Karen.  This lure is about as old-school as they come.  It's basically a flat piece of metal shaped like a baitfish with a weight on the front. Cast it out, let it reach bottom, lift or rip it up, let it flutter down.  Rinse, repeat.

We did OK with that lure, but Corey was doing even better with a swimbait.  Catching walleye.  While trying for smallmouth.  He was texting and calling other guides who were actually trying to catch walleye, and he was having better luck than them.  While targeting smallmouth bass.

Double smallmouth! What's it mean?!

The smallmouth were on par with the fish we had caught on the Susquehanna River but they were noticeably chunkier.  All 15-plus inches but FAT.  I caught an 18-incher that Corey said might be around three pounds.  It tipped the digital scale at 3.75 pounds.  Which is probably just an average size for Lake Erie.

Karen and I landed about six smallmouth each while Corey caught the same number of  smallmouth and walleye, the latter going in the livewell.  

After about four hours and going through a dry spell of not catching anything, the wind picked up.  This made it difficult fishing because we were basically jigging off the bottom, and the wind numbed the feel -- boat rising and sinking with the waves, wind catching slack in the line.

Corey suggested either trolling in the same are or heading upriver and out of the wind to jig for walleye.  Trolling doesn't really appeal to me -- unless I'm fishing for food, I would rather catch fish with more skill instead of dumb luck.

Crispy walleye fillets.

We headed to Canada, which would be my second time in Canadian waters, although I've never actually set foot in Canada.  We hit a few spots with no luck.  Even our guide was getting skunked.

Off to another spot, and we drifted down current and didn't get anything.  We motored back up a little further and Karen caught a small (eater size) walleye, so at least we had something to contribute to the livewell.  Then I caught another walleye about the same size.

Professional guide: 6 keepers
Two amateur fishermen: 2 keepers

We headed back to the ramp just after noon.  Corey loaded the boat up then filleted "our" walleye.  I was worried he would keep his fish but he generously put all the fillets into one bag for me and Karen.

It was a fun trip but I think there's unfinished business on Lake Erie.  I'm looking forward to going back with more stable weather whether it's Erie or Lake St. Clair.  Or fishing around Bell Isle on an Indycar weekend.

It's in the net! Corey unhooks a smallmouth bass.

Even searching for Lake Erie monsters
you don't need heavy tackle.

You will never guess what I caught on the Little Patuxent River *click bait* read more here!

Never caught one of these before you will never
guess what it was read below to find out! Or just
hover your pointer over the picture for the tl;dr answer.

First outing of the season and not exactly worth writing home about.  Or blogging from home.  Or something.  But temps were in the low 70s, sunny and clear, so at least the weather was nice.

Went to my secret spot on the Little Patuxent.  For some reason, fish have been hard to come by the past couple years here.  One of the first times fishing this spot, I landed a 15-inch smallmouth and think of that on every visit.  Probably have had a few instances of four or five fish in just a couple hours, too.

But not today.  Although I ended up with only one fish, it was a rarity and the first ever of its species I have caught.

The river looked like its usual self in this section.  Low and murky.  Other areas of the Little Patuxent are really clear but it's never like that here.

I switched between the usual suspects -- Z-Man TRD Finesse worms on 1/10th ounce jigheads, Reaction Innovations Little Dippers on the home-grown eBay special jigheads, and a Heddon Zara Puppy -- all in assorted flavors except for the Zara Puppy which was of course the usual bull frog pattern.

There were some followers on the Little Dipper swimbaits but small fish from what I saw.  Like would rather not even handle those fish because the danger of them stabbing me with their dorsal fins outweighs the glory of catching a fish.

Zero interest at all in the Zara Puppy.  Not even a nice topwater blowup to get the heart pumping.

I had a bite on a Z-man worm but the fish didn't get hooked.  Then finally a fish did clamp on.  As I was reeling in, noticed the silver coloring and thought it was a failfish.  But then the body didn't look right.  Maybe a really pale smallmouth?  None of the above -- it looked to be a white perch, which I don't think I have ever caught.  Poking around on the interwebs, they are common in the Chesapeake Bay, so not out of the ordinary to catch one on an indirect tributary.  

I know the Patuxent River has chain pickerel and keep hoping to catch one on the Little Patuxent.

Ferris Bueller's Day Of Dinks

BFOD -- Big Fish of the Day! An 11" 
smallmouth bass!  OK, maybe it was 10.5 inches.
Or 10.  But it was HUGE!

I haven't been fishing much the last year or so because I'm trying to get my autocross Camaro running.  It actually runs and makes #Merica noises but hasn't been reliable, even failing while trying to load it on the trailer the Friday night before an autocross. Even routine maintenance on the tow vehicle has been a chore.  Work the past couple of months has been a huge grind stapled to a desk answering phones, so like Ferris Bueller, since life moves pretty fast, I took a "sick" day for fishing this Friday morning.  No phones.  No people.  No stupid cars.

FFOD: First fish of the day, a surprise
largemouth bass.  This seems to be
the ideal size on the little Maryland 
rivers -- nothing over 10 inches.

Weighing the options, I decided on the Patapsco River, which I haven't fished in [searches blog] five years.  Parking in this area on the weekend is usually sketchy, but since it was a Friday, I was hoping it wouldn't be a problem.

Sure enough, easy pickings.  And of course nobody else was fishing.  

It looked to be ideal topwater time, but the trusty Zara Puppy didn't get much attention at all today.  The other trusty lure -- Reaction Innovations Little Dipper*-- had the little smallies swing batter batter batter swing.  

The water was really clear and low.  I basically waded up the middle of the river casting to spots close to shore on both sides.  A protruding rock here, shaded area from over-hanging trees there, some fast ripples.  Fish to the left of me, fish to the right, here I am stuck in the middle.

One previous time I was in this section [searches blog, can't find a writeup], I had encounters with some meaty smallmouth, but not this time.  I landed six smallmouth bass and one largemouth, and they were all of the dink variety.  Really soft bite on the swimbait.  One smallmouth might have been 11 inches.  Maybe.  Didn't even see any big fish but a lot of small bass were cruising the water, and had three or four fish that got off before pulling them out of the water..

I'm pretty sure I haven't fished here since at least the last flood that devastated the area and since the Bloede Dam was removed, so I'm not sure if the smallmouth population is in a recovery mode or what.  The terrain seemed a lot like the Middle Patuxent River -- flat water and not many hiding areas -- so maybe it is what it is.

* Seriously, follow this link, choose whatever of the 31 flavors of swimbaits you like and fish them.