I went back to the river early this morning in an attempt to catch a few smallies before the heat became too much. The water had receded about 2 feet in the past few days and the water was running very clear.
I threw a Whopper Plopper 90 most of the trip, and caught all my fish on it. I also threw a fluke around a few areas but only managed to fool 1 small fish to eat it but he threw the bait on the jump anyhow.

I ended up catching 5 quality fish, 2 little rats and a BEAST all on the Plopper.

The big girl was a special fish. She hammered the bait halfway back on my cast and immediately cartwheeled completely out of the water.... this fish was a full grown, old warrior.
She then went nuts all around me stripping drag and she fought really hard in the current. She finally tired and we got to spend a few minutes together. What a thrill!


It was another fun morning wet wading the river like a kid again, and to catch a few top water small jaws was like being a fat kid in a candy shop.

Here’s some pics of a few of the morning’s fish:

The River Dragon



One more angle on that beautiful river smallmouth. She was long and built right!




Here’s one of the other solid ones



Another quality top water bass