Summer time around here on Lake Michigan 1-Spybaiting 2-3” Sparkshad 1/4 or 3/8 oz jig head 3- Crankbait 4- MegaBass 110+ Wading river 1-Rebel PopR 2- Mepps 3- Zoom Fluke jr.
If your fishing Smallmouth bass then you can't leave out the Whopper Plopper 75,90 and 110. The SPRO 30 size BZ1🐀. Another great video Ben and Jeff...THANKS!
Great vid , Ben and Geoff . I watch em all in fact I have a notebook and make notes on your comments about equipment and tackle. I now am on the 4th note book and I've been fishing more than 68 years and a former guide!
I got to catch a few smallmouth one time- it was awesome. We don't have them where I live- I had to drive a few hours north- not too far, just far enough I can't go everyday- but... anyway, I loved it. It was Aug of last year- I was throwing the Jackhammer stealth blade with a Berkley "The Deal" swimbait on it- they tore it up around current seams. Then we ended up drifting tubes in creek mouths- which was boring but, man we caught a lot of nice fish. The catching part wasn't boring, the drifting part was. I had to make myself sit there, like a lump on a log drifting down the river- but then you'd see your rod just double over and be like "Oh yeah, it's on! ".
Thank you for a most timely presentation on smallies. I’m at Pinetop for a spell and plan to fish for smallies at Show Low And Fools Hollow lakes. Not so hot here.
Jackall Dera Break finese chatterbait in the 1/4 oz size, with a 4 inch deps Death Adder with a half inch chopped off. Little buzzsaw in the water, and the smallmouth come running for it.
Many of these are right in our wheelhouse here in Maine, at this time of year when the fish tend to move to deeper water, so the dark sleeper paddle tail swim baits and the drop shot are all good choices during the day, and walking baits poppers and Whopper ploppers are all the rage early morning late evening. The one bait you have in your arsenal that I just haven't had any luck with and as a result I have zero confidence in is a jig for smallmouth. I just can't seem to catch fish on that technique.
Spinnerbait on the bottom, weightless soft plastic caffeine shad drop it down to 10ft or less they’ll smoke it if they’re around it, TINY ploppers, worked slow, not fast, and miniMAX , okay and maybe a regular size 110 or I like a KVD j200 ..but I catch 3,4,5+ lbers all summer long never tieing these lures off from July- mid August….once in a while I’ll get them in a biffle bug type bait on a biffle head, I like the DOLIVE craw on that as well. And leech baits work all year around .. the Nikko Zaza leech is truly a year around bait last year I caught them from January from the river Lock walls, through summer through fall…they just don’t resist a leech and Nikko has some great baits and great colors as well
I just picked up a couple of the Deps Pulsecod jr. in the Pink Scale color from ya'll. I know they will work great because SMB's HATE pink/bubblegum! Keep up the great work guys!
Take that Jamaican Boa or any other 1/2oz buzz bait in river current and reel it as fast as you can physically reel it. I use a ABU Garcia Rocket on 20lb flouro and that is all I use that setup for every year. The other 10 months it collects dust. If you are doing it correctly, you will need to take a break about every 10 minutes to get the burn out of your forearm. The topwater explosions this technique produces are mind blowing!!!
Sculpin are an extremely common forage all over the country and are kinda misunderstood or misused as a type of forage to imitate. The sculpin are the main fish that the gobies have taken the place of in the Midwest, but sculpin still exist in the rest of the country and the dark sleeper does a fantastic job imitating them as well
The heat index where I live was 115 two days ago- actual temp was 99 F. We keep having days with like 98-100% humidity- even when it's not raining, which isn't very often. It's turned into a tropical rainforest down here basically- it's miserable some days.
Here in Michigan I usually just stick to 5 baits in the summer pattern. Dark sleeper, dropshot hazedong, deep x or deep 6 cranks, and last but not least, free rig with 4” bottle shrimp on Gami hybrid worm hook
Jackall Iprops and Gancraft Jointed Claw 70 kill them for me in current! Going to try the OSP bent minnow, MB Dog X-Coayu, and Jackall Piku Piku this summer!
River smallmouth Finesse Jig, Whopper Plopper 75! BBz1 30 or 40 size. Thats my line up, however the Evergreen SB-105-260. has been hard to beat lately. I'd say fishing here in the T.V.A has been a little bit like Arizona fishing, really yall have had way more rain than us this summer.
Hah, I wrote that first comment before even watching.. seems like we are on same page just about.. only in current, on the Mohawk, a top water worked slow, not necessarily slow but adding some longer pauses in between action… more so even at night time, sometimes I’ll let a popper sit for about 20-30 seconds before I move it again- at night: but twitching a 75 size plopper has caught me multiple 5s, a pair of 6s and countless others .. open water- still throwing the 75, there’s something about the noise both in River2sea and also berkley the 75 in the ticket for smallmouth especially giant smallmouth and I have 500 pics to show it on fishbrain ADKyakman, also here on TH-cam
I thought Griff would mention Ned but since he didn't... Big TRD with bronze willow leaf spinner plugged in the tail slow rolled kills on Great Lakes... And Savage Gear salamander fished Ned.
I've found I can crush em on Deep cranks Specifically the G87 for the most part. I Go find schools of perch on deep weed lines and then just go fish the cranks ultra aggressively through the perch schools. As the perch schools break up I move or take a break and come back. After a while the perch schools migrate and I just find a different spot. I don't worry about hitting the bottom. They come up and get it. Shit why did I post this here??? Whoops.
You ever fish at night - with braid and top water, and get bats 🦇 on your line EVERY cast and you shake them off and they sit there smacking in the water and a few minutes later you hear SPLASH. Smallmouth love rats, and bats. Your welcome for that incase this hasn’t happened to you ..because they smoke anything sitting in one place in distress- at night
Don't know what you think you're doing by swearing like you are on your channel but l can tell you one thing l will not buy any thing from you because my kid loves bass fishing and trying to learn how and then you pop up on TH-cam.
![NISAMANEE - TADA (ท้าดา) [ OFFICIAL MV ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/hcQHEPMmJpU/mqdefault.jpg)
Summer time around here on Lake Michigan
1-Spybaiting
2-3” Sparkshad 1/4 or 3/8 oz jig head
3- Crankbait
4- MegaBass 110+
Wading river
1-Rebel PopR
2- Mepps
3- Zoom Fluke jr.
That Dark Sleeper is also the bomb for Brown Trout when they're feeding on sculpin! And it has the weight to get down in those deep river pools.
Literally on the Sacramento River right now small mouth fishing with this exact tackle. Fish after fish. Must’ve put 250 in the boat yesterday alone.
need to get over there... Anything over a 2lbs?
Griff nailed it!
If your fishing Smallmouth bass then you can't leave out the Whopper Plopper 75,90 and 110. The SPRO 30 size BZ1🐀. Another great video Ben and Jeff...THANKS!
Great vid , Ben and Geoff . I watch em all in fact I have a notebook and make notes on your comments about equipment and tackle. I now am on the 4th note book and I've been fishing more than 68 years and a former guide!
Hazedong is pretty much my go-to year round now, it's crazy how quickly it's overtaken every other soft plastic I carry for drop shotting.
I got to catch a few smallmouth one time- it was awesome. We don't have them where I live- I had to drive a few hours north- not too far, just far enough I can't go everyday- but... anyway, I loved it. It was Aug of last year- I was throwing the Jackhammer stealth blade with a Berkley "The Deal" swimbait on it- they tore it up around current seams. Then we ended up drifting tubes in creek mouths- which was boring but, man we caught a lot of nice fish. The catching part wasn't boring, the drifting part was. I had to make myself sit there, like a lump on a log drifting down the river- but then you'd see your rod just double over and be like "Oh yeah, it's on! ".
Thank you for a most timely presentation on smallies. I’m at Pinetop for a spell and plan to fish for smallies at Show Low And Fools Hollow lakes.
Not so hot here.
Jackall Dera Break finese chatterbait in the 1/4 oz size, with a 4 inch deps Death Adder with a half inch chopped off. Little buzzsaw in the water, and the smallmouth come running for it.
Drop shot is my jam right now. "3 Spark Shad and a ZMan Trick ShotZ gettin' it done yesterday. Thanks for the video Ben. 🎣✌️
Many of these are right in our wheelhouse here in Maine, at this time of year when the fish tend to move to deeper water, so the dark sleeper paddle tail swim baits and the drop shot are all good choices during the day, and walking baits poppers and Whopper ploppers are all the rage early morning late evening. The one bait you have in your arsenal that I just haven't had any luck with and as a result I have zero confidence in is a jig for smallmouth. I just can't seem to catch fish on that technique.
Spinnerbait on the bottom, weightless soft plastic caffeine shad drop it down to 10ft or less they’ll smoke it if they’re around it, TINY ploppers, worked slow, not fast, and miniMAX , okay and maybe a regular size 110 or I like a KVD j200 ..but I catch 3,4,5+ lbers all summer long never tieing these lures off from July- mid August….once in a while I’ll get them in a biffle bug type bait on a biffle head, I like the DOLIVE craw on that as well. And leech baits work all year around .. the Nikko Zaza leech is truly a year around bait last year I caught them from January from the river Lock walls, through summer through fall…they just don’t resist a leech and Nikko has some great baits and great colors as well
I've been using the Gong, ORC, and bent minnow this summer. I've also used other lures but these are my top 3🔥🔥🔥.
I just picked up a couple of the Deps Pulsecod jr. in the Pink Scale color from ya'll. I know they will work great because SMB's HATE pink/bubblegum! Keep up the great work guys!
Always great video's thanks for your time and the experience.
Take that Jamaican Boa or any other 1/2oz buzz bait in river current and reel it as fast as you can physically reel it. I use a ABU Garcia Rocket on 20lb flouro and that is all I use that setup for every year. The other 10 months it collects dust. If you are doing it correctly, you will need to take a break about every 10 minutes to get the burn out of your forearm. The topwater explosions this technique produces are mind blowing!!!
Sculpin are an extremely common forage all over the country and are kinda misunderstood or misused as a type of forage to imitate. The sculpin are the main fish that the gobies have taken the place of in the Midwest, but sculpin still exist in the rest of the country and the dark sleeper does a fantastic job imitating them as well
Oh this is a great topic! It's hot and nasty here in chicago and I've been stalking the lake michigan shoreline for smallmouth....
The heat index where I live was 115 two days ago- actual temp was 99 F. We keep having days with like 98-100% humidity- even when it's not raining, which isn't very often. It's turned into a tropical rainforest down here basically- it's miserable some days.
Here in Michigan I usually just stick to 5 baits in the summer pattern. Dark sleeper, dropshot hazedong, deep x or deep 6 cranks, and last but not least, free rig with 4” bottle shrimp on Gami hybrid worm hook
I 've been doing some serious damage with the bottle shrimp.
Where at in Michigan?
Another dope video waiting on the one ten stick
Great video guys,well done
Jackall Iprops and Gancraft Jointed Claw 70 kill them for me in current! Going to try the OSP bent minnow, MB Dog X-Coayu, and Jackall Piku Piku this summer!
River smallmouth Finesse Jig, Whopper Plopper 75! BBz1 30 or 40 size. Thats my line up, however the Evergreen SB-105-260. has been hard to beat lately. I'd say fishing here in the T.V.A has been a little bit like Arizona fishing, really yall have had way more rain than us this summer.
Hah, I wrote that first comment before even watching.. seems like we are on same page just about.. only in current, on the Mohawk, a top water worked slow, not necessarily slow but adding some longer pauses in between action… more so even at night time, sometimes I’ll let a popper sit for about 20-30 seconds before I move it again- at night: but twitching a 75 size plopper has caught me multiple 5s, a pair of 6s and countless others .. open water- still throwing the 75, there’s something about the noise both in River2sea and also berkley the 75 in the ticket for smallmouth especially giant smallmouth and I have 500 pics to show it on fishbrain ADKyakman, also here on TH-cam
I thought Griff would mention Ned but since he didn't... Big TRD with bronze willow leaf spinner plugged in the tail slow rolled kills on Great Lakes... And Savage Gear salamander fished Ned.
Ben Geoff and Griff need to come up to Ontario!
Best all around colors for the dark sleeper. Is it the 3 or 3.8?
New hampshire is loaded with them here. Right in my backyard is the pemigewasset river. Lol
What's the hook up tackle opinion on: ichikawa rick clunn rc king kong shad
No one has done a review on this bait.
Keep up the great videos
🎣 fish on
What rod would you be using for the Deps head lock jig ?
X-Bites
Still need to try the BATRA X!
Trying to sell the last Gong. Hustle and flow.
Let's goooooooo!!!!!
looks like another 1v1 is in the work!!
lol those two Griff lures I despise...
Junk fishing, its the time of year you become a pro at reading the changes from one cove to the next
I've found I can crush em on Deep cranks Specifically the G87 for the most part. I Go find schools of perch on deep weed lines and then just go fish the cranks ultra aggressively through the perch schools. As the perch schools break up I move or take a break and come back. After a while the perch schools migrate and I just find a different spot. I don't worry about hitting the bottom. They come up and get it. Shit why did I post this here??? Whoops.
You ever fish at night - with braid and top water, and get bats 🦇 on your line EVERY cast and you shake them off and they sit there smacking in the water and a few minutes later you hear SPLASH. Smallmouth love rats, and bats.
Your welcome for that incase this hasn’t happened to you ..because they smoke anything sitting in one place in distress- at night
its all about the night time pompador
Ben we've got to see another 1v1. Your reign has gone on too long. Griff needs a chance to take you down.
What does the word fuck mean?
Don't know what you think you're doing by swearing like you are on your channel but l can tell you one thing l will not buy any thing from you because my kid loves bass fishing and trying to learn how and then you pop up on TH-cam.