Pacemaker Fishing Forum

As the title says, this Wednesday I met my goal of catching a 20" river smallie.   The goal became more serious and felt more reachable after a couple of month stretch last summer of catching some big smallies, including a 19.25".  And then this year I already caught 3 from 19.25-19.5".

I texted Leon last week with a plan to meet up this Thursday for a float.  Then I had something come up for Thursday so checked with Leon and he was good for going a day early.  I guess that retirement thing allows for a more flexible schedule 😂.  So we met up a little early Wednesday, loaded up everything in my vehicle and drove up to the start to fish a new stretch of river for Leon.  Unfortunately had a little hiccup before the kayaks even hit the water as the Rav wouldn't start back up to move it up a little bit to the parking spot.  So we pushed it forward a little bit & hoped it wasn't a sign of things to come.  Spoiler alert, it wasn't 😁

We had about a 5 mile float so we started floating downstream right away. Water was back to being low and color was great.  A little downstream of the start is a potential winter area with some deeper water and pretty rocky bottom with a shallow flat near the bank.  I had a couple of swipes on the fluke but couldn't connect.   Started throwing a white buzz bait on the shallow flat and after a few casts, had a big one come up and slurp it down.  Then I felt the weight and knew it was a big one.  After a few anxious minutes of fighting it, got the net under it and the lure popped out RIGHT AFTER it was in the net.  Hightailed it to shore to get pics and a good measurement so it wouldn't flop out into the river I knew it was at least 19" and then when it was on the board I had to look twice to make sure I met my goal with a 20.25" smallie!  I couldn't believe that I had my 20", it felt so good to land a smaller that big.





That fish took the sting out of the car not starting and was an amazing start to the day for me.  I couldn't believe I had caught my 20".  We kept floating down to what will be a great winter area.  I believe Leon got his first one in that area on either a swimbait or senko.  I landed 3 or 4 on a small Zman swimbait along a deep water seam.  I believe Leon picked up a few more in the area.

We paddled through a traditional deep water area that is usually void of fish to get to the next higher quality area.  Each of us picked up a few more in that area, primarily on the smaller swimbaits.  We continued to paddle through those dead areas and focus on areas with current that were around or in winter areas that I'm familiar with. 

I ended up with 12-13 with all but the first one on swimbaits, either the small Zman or slightly bigger reaction lures green.  All of those averaged probably 12, with one going 15.  I believe Leon ended up with 16-17 he said, which I was glad to see. 

When were were done and loaded up, Leon dropped me off.  The car thankfully started, with some hesitation, so headed right to AutoZone.  Bad battery, so got a new one and they installed it.  Didn't know batteries increased so much since 2017!!! 

Thanks again Leon for being flexible and joining me. Glad you caught some fish on the outing, especially since I suggested that float.  Look forward to the next outing.