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No fishing for me this coming weekend so I decided to hit the LMR to try for some of this topwater action. I hiked to the same area I scouted this past weekend. It's amazing to me how you can have an entire stretch of prime river, from horizon to horizon, completely to yourself on a weekday evening. It makes you feel like you are much farther from civilization than you really are, and that's nice.
I started with a chartreuse buzz bait, casting it 90 degrees to the current, working my way down the run. I only had one nose bump for my efforts. I then switched to a white spinnerbait at the bottom of the run as it opened into the pool, thinking the fish would key into something a little lower in the water column. I was casting to subsurface rocks and eddie lines. No fish with the spinnerbait presentation either.
For my walk back upstream I decided to fish a topwater bait I've yet to use, a Reaction Strike Topwater TW 110. I received it in the mail through Tackle Grab, a tackle of the month program. It's a walk the dog type of topwater with amazing action. It spits water as it changes direction. This thing cast a mile on my gear which in my opinion lends itself to a stealthier approach.
The first fish to fall for the lure was a chunky little fish who was obviously looking for a big meal. He hit the bait in slack water.
The second, only other, and much larger smallie hit the lure in faster water. He slammed the bait once, no hookup. I kept reeling. He then slammed it a second time, then a third time I finally hooked him on the fourth strike! I was bringing this lure in with the current and was having trouble keeping slack out of the line to get a solid hook set. It was really cool seeing the smallie unleash his aggression on the "fleeing" lure.
A new reel with a higher gear ratio is on the wish list.
I started with a chartreuse buzz bait, casting it 90 degrees to the current, working my way down the run. I only had one nose bump for my efforts. I then switched to a white spinnerbait at the bottom of the run as it opened into the pool, thinking the fish would key into something a little lower in the water column. I was casting to subsurface rocks and eddie lines. No fish with the spinnerbait presentation either.
For my walk back upstream I decided to fish a topwater bait I've yet to use, a Reaction Strike Topwater TW 110. I received it in the mail through Tackle Grab, a tackle of the month program. It's a walk the dog type of topwater with amazing action. It spits water as it changes direction. This thing cast a mile on my gear which in my opinion lends itself to a stealthier approach.
The first fish to fall for the lure was a chunky little fish who was obviously looking for a big meal. He hit the bait in slack water.
The second, only other, and much larger smallie hit the lure in faster water. He slammed the bait once, no hookup. I kept reeling. He then slammed it a second time, then a third time I finally hooked him on the fourth strike! I was bringing this lure in with the current and was having trouble keeping slack out of the line to get a solid hook set. It was really cool seeing the smallie unleash his aggression on the "fleeing" lure.
A new reel with a higher gear ratio is on the wish list.
