Sunday, May 9, 2010

5/9/10 Eggs and Fry

Went for a wade on another micro flow. Water was low and clear. So clear, the first stretch up to dam was devoid of any fish. I mostly walked out and was thinking of somewhere else to go when I spotted a nest with newly hatched smallie fry in it. They were about a micron long. Flipped the underwater camera mode on and kept my fingers crossed.

I don't believe I've ever seen how big smallmouth eggs are. Spotted a few more nests being guarded and left them alone. Walked up the the center of the stream and spotted a nest behind a bolder. The 12" male spooked off when he saw me. It was a good spot for a nest because there were no other fish nearby.



I looked closely and saw eggs, snapping this picture:


You go, guys! Little cutties.

Now I've been throwing a new bait recently. The River2Sea 3" jointed V wake bait. It really runs about 8-18" under the surface. The bait works great and totally replaces those riggy plastic swimbaits. I used the clown color today. Finish is great, runs great, doesn't foul much at all, catches fish. Does somethings the WC can't do, a little deeper, same great lively wobble. 3" 3/8th oz- $7.50!

Was about to turn around when a 15" fish nailed the R2C, then a bigger one smacked it and missed at the next eddy. I threw on the 2" chatter bait and got him dragging it across the current and down to the bottom. Saw the fish follow across the stream to nail it. Went 18"!


Not too long after a 16.5" shot from under some shade and nailed the bait, fought like a lion spawned out. Could see it all from a distance. The R2C really lands softly and allows for subtle casting in small confines.

The more I worked the bait the better it got, with 3 more 15"ers and some dinks before hitting another nice 17.25" smallie:


Lots of chasers and bass summoned from the depths. Also saw a few good ones guarding beds and couldn't get anything going on tubes down in the rootwads.



15 SMB (18", 17.25", 16.5", 4-15"ers) 1 Goog in about 4.5 hours

2 comments:

  1. Very cool egg and fry pics!
    Crap now you're making me want one... :)

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  2. Haven't tested on bigger water yet, but for smaller water- a keeper! Get two!

    ReplyDelete