Dog Day Smallies 8/1

I stepped into the river at 6 and caught my first fish of the morning on my 2nd cast, a spunky 12” starter with an attitude.
I continued to pick a part that area and caught two more similar sized fish without ever taking another step. After a few minutes I decided I needed to continue exploring and worked my way out into deeper water where hopefully the bigger fish would be willing to play.

Steadily I picked up one here and one there all on top water, as I made my way along the channel, Some fish slurped in the bait and others exploded on it with violent hits.
I also missed another 4 or 5 hits but you rarely get them to hit again once they go for it.

I ended up with nine fish for the day but no bigs, but I did land some solid ones that all fought great in the current and jumped like crazy which made it well worth the effort to get to them.

I covered about a mile of river today before it got hot and it was time to head out. It had been another successful, exciting and very productive top water adventure.


A few pics:

Nice going Jon!

That first pic is very cool.

Another great trip Jon. You’re definitely putting your time in, and mixing it up. Great job!

That 1st pic is really cool.....with the “seagrass” background it seems like it should be a southern or tropical saltwater species in that pic.

Another great report Jon, as always thanks for sharing.

way to go Jon-

Great photos Jon!

Nice report Jon. Those smallies are sure fun.

Nice report and pics, you are on them.

Great trip. Thanks for sharing details. You consistently do well. Interesting that you did very well with top water. I fished the CT north of the Farmington and have had little to show for it the last few trips. I fish the opposite of how you do. Fishing from a boat, I drift and try to focus on covering literally miles of water. Fishing this way, I only get a cast or two at prime structure and between the drift and my retrieve the lure is usually moving at a speed more suited to catch bonito than smallies. Doing the same thing each time and expecting a miraculous turn around is beyond crazy and just plain stupid. Next time out, I will follow your example. I will go to the area that I know holds fish and instead of working it like reading Playboy while my wife turns the pages, I will anchor up and work the area completely. The Windsor area has a ton of eel grass which should have some water over it by the weekend courtesy of Isaias. I will try fishing less water better and see how it goes. When we are safe Covid-wise, I will invite you to fish with me on the boat as you have got this small mouth thing down. Thanks again for the help your reports provide.

Tight lines,

MikeV