you ever wonder where Smallmouth go in the Summer

[Guest]

talked with an avid smallmouth fisherman for awhile and the subject of smallmouth bass and why they are harder to catch during the Summer came up...well i will share with you what he told me to try..........

everyone that fishes for smallmouth know that after Spring fishing is over that smallmouth are harder to catch...he ask if our local lake had Hybrid or Striped Bass and i said we have Hybrid bass...he said that he has learned over the years that if you find a school of feeding Hybrids or Striped Bass and you will find Smallmouth feeding under them...not on the surface with them but underneatn catching the scrap's you migh say as they fall down from the feeding frenzie from up above...he said to note the depth of the feeding pod of fish and concentrait on fishing below that depth....throw Silver Buddies and Spoons past the feeding pod and count down the spoon or silver buddy and retireve the lure staying under the striped bass or hybrids. he said he has won countless Tx on Norris using this method. he said smallmouth get kind of lazy as the water temps rise and follow schools of feeding fish to get an easy meal from someone else's hard work.......

[2golforfish]

thanks for the info snoot, good stuff

[BassinHomer]

That explains alot, probably countless trophies swimmin aroun scooping up scraps!

[Tracker1861]

Thanks for the pointer snooter although he will prolly kill you when he knows you gave up his tourney winning secret on Norris.........unless he don't fish tourneys anymore.

[alumacraft09]

Thanks for info very interesting read.

[Guest]

ahhh Tracker hes one of those that we will never see on here...i love hearing about otheres catching fish too...i can't catch'em all...love helping others..

[Tracker1861]

ahhh Tracker hes one of those that we will never see on here...i love hearing about otheres catching fish too...i can't catch'em all...love helping others..

[Stump9000]

ahhh Tracker hes one of those that we will never see on here...i love hearing about otheres catching fish too...i can't catch'em all...love helping others..

I'm on the phone with him right now telling what you said.

Good read Snoot, thanks.

[bcfishin]

WELL i was wondering where they went ... and now i know ...catching them is still the hard part though

[softbaitmaker]

you will catch alot of spotted bass in the Fall on Center Hill that way also along with some big smallies. the real trick is getting your bait through the pod and down to the Bass before the stripers or White Bass grab it........ Good info snoot.........

[Mountainman]

Thats a good point, Snooty. Another good technique is to just downsize your jigs and slow your presentation way down. If I make a summer trip to Holston, Watauga, Dale Hollw or Center Hill I always drop to 1/8 or 1/16 oz jig with a Zoom tiny chunk and hit shale banks as slow as you can stand to work it. Short hops out into deeper water.

[Donnie]

Makes sense to me.

[lunkerhunter1982]

They don't just do that in the summer, but that is one of the best ways to catch them then. Smallies are bad to do the same thing in striper lakes in early and LATE winter. I have caught some bruisers on Norris the same way during that time of year. Again though, hard part is keeping those zebra POS fish off your hook. . .

[brwnbass]

Smallies like to roam during the summer. They are hard to find because they are usually suspended 30ft deep around nothing at all in 100ft of water, just waiting for shad to pass by. I have caught alot by just slinging a crankbait out in the middle of the lake at nothing.

[softbaitmaker]

Smallies like to roam during the summer. They are hard to find because they are usually suspended 30ft deep around nothing at all in 100ft of water, just waiting for shad to pass by. I have caught alot by just slinging a crankbait out in the middle of the lake at nothing.

I did that one time down on Tims Fords Rservoir and boat was in 90 foot of water and I threw full size deep running Fat Free Shad on a long cast and caught a smallie a little over 7lbs............. Has never happened again though...........

[brwnbass]

I did that one time down on Tims Fords Rservoir and boat was in 90 foot of water and I threw full size deep running Fat Free Shad on a long cast and caught a smallie a little over 7lbs............. Has never happened again though...........

If you can find any main lake rock humps in about 30ft of water, you can load the boat in summer. After they move off the banks in early morning, at daylight, they will suspend on these. Trouble is, the humps are hard to find with rock on them, mostly just mud. Im going to start building my own . The spot i built last winter has produced very well for me.