Downsizing for fun and profit. Are Smallmouth eating small food?

                                    (Sammy 65 is the small one)

Spooky fish, small baitfish, fewer big fish than in the past. I hate to say it, this year I'm going to throw smaller baits. Painful admission. With stream bass fishing, the power of observation should win over the power of stubborness every time IMHO.

I'm not too pleased with fishing results the last 9-10 months. Lots of work and lots of learning should mean better results? There have been successes, but they don't improve upon past success. Notably, numbers continue to drop.

The larger baitfish on many smaller Indiana flows seem to be in hiding. Throwing the 7/32 oz Sammy 65 the other day, watching the Smallmouth destroy it for an hour. The bait clearly closer matches the size of the minnow hatch I've been seeing the last two years. Plus, it lands so silent, it attracts attention versus spooking fish.

Last year a 3" fluke was key for better numbers days. 5" got ignored. I'm going to throw small baits and see what the results are until fish populations start to recover. That doesn't mean I won't pull out the old standbys and try them each time out.

3" flukes, 3" tubes, 2" 1/8 oz chatterbaits, Sammy 65, maybe some tiny torpedo action. Should be a cool experiment. I fully believe bigger baits are a better option, given a food supply that compares. That's not what I'm witnessing after 2008 floods. Still trying to find that magic flow that has been unaffected...

In downsizing, I'll be going with 10 lbs yellow braid. All of the fun of casting a lure on 2lbs test, without the line weakness. As spare, I'll care 15/4 and 20/6 in case a day of tube rage breaks out down in your deepest cover.