Thank you… was a fun fighter too! I gave it to my buddy, his mom loves trout n eggs for breakfast. Plus a dinner or two.
Nice! I should of stoped to do some fishing on the way home from getting clones the other day. Oh well, I have next week off!
Anyone else use the FG knot? I started messing around with it several years ago on a trip to Costa Rica. The first video I saw used the “hold the line in your mouth” method, and it was a little tough to tie.
Here’s a better method:
FG Knot
Never heard of that. I’ve been away from the ocean for a while now. Never used braided line but I get it. Thanks.
Oh man, I finally got out on the lake with the Kayak last Sunday as it was a nice warm day. I didn’t get there till lunch and as I was unloading the kayak down at the boat launch, a couple of guys came in in there boat. I hollered about the fishing, and they said something like “naw… …but we did get this…”
and held up the biggest smallmouth I’ve ever seen. He weighed it around 5.5 lbs. They were saying they think the state record is 6lbs. or so. I wish I had gone over to get a pic of it but I was freaking out to get in the water. Btw, I didn’t get a bite all afternoon, lol. Nobody else was either. Must have been a morning rush. He held another up that looked to be 4 lbs. They were hitting red crank baits he said… I didn’t have anything red in crank bait.
I told him to make sure to try and get it in the paper as they had another guy in from last week that caught a 11.5 lb. Walleye on a worm and bobber from shore, lol… I got a picture of the pic in the paper. Crap, it’s on the phone. I’ll get it later. I hope the guy gets his in. I met other locals that weekend that have fished it for years and they all say is loaded with large fish. I’m stoked for this year, now. It’s cold this week, but once it passes the fishing should be on fire. The smallies and walleye are going into spawn this month.
I’ll look up our state record for smallmouth. That was impressive. They were catching them one after another for a while he said… they tossed the fish back at the boat ramp after weighing and photographing, to make more fish. I hope I catch him this year! lol
EDIT: Colorado state record by weight for smallmouth is 6.69 lbs. He was geting close! It was also 21+ inches long.
It is a great knot for casting lures. It slides through guides without hanging up or knocking the ring out of guides. I used double Uni Knots for years before learning the FG. The Uni would bang on the smallest guides.
If all goes well, I’ll be testing my knots on the beach Friday morning. Have camera will shoot.
5 lb Smallmouth is considered a trophy in New York state, and probably everywhere. A Stream called Schoharie Creek, not too far from where I live, has multiple 20 inch plus smallmouth bass in it. We used to go fishing for them after the season opened every June. When I got older I got more into trout fishing , but lately the small mouths are calling me again . I hear great things about fishing the Susquehanna too. The headwaters of it. A guy floated Downstream with his two kids and said he was catching massive Smallmouth all day with spinners, and his kids were catching smaller fish with worms. Fun stuff! Also the occasional walleye and Atlantic salmon.
I made the 2 hour drive to the coast yesterday morning and got to the beach before sunrise. It was not what one would call a ‘glorious morning’, but it was glorious to be back on the sand after more than a year away. I caught 3 whiting, kept 1 released 2, a small catfish, and a bonnethead shark. The forecast was for storms after 2PM, but they arrived early a little before 10A. When the thunder rumbled I began packing up.
The Gulf was stirred up and murky from all the rain this spring. I did not see any pompano caught and there were few whiting landed. The shark made a couple of runs to provide some excitement.
Nice pics
In Ontario, Canada here a 5lb er for sure a trophy for the average person. But if you have a good boat and know what you are doing its more like an 8lb er is a trophy.
Lake Ontario just opened up a pre spawn season this yr and if you knew what you are doing you could be getting 5lb ers all day.
Saw a guy post a pic of an 8+ yesteday but youre not allowed to weigh em or pose for pics so he just had screen grabs from a video.
Crazy big bass. Im sure all the great lakes are similar. My PB is from Huron and I fish St Clair a lot.
8 pounder!? What a hog! I’ve seen a smallmouth bass in Schoharie Creek that must have gone 8 or 10 lb. It had to be close to 25 inches long, no shit. Me and my friend were actually thinking 28 inches, but it must have been the water Playing Tricks on us. I threw a worm right in front of its nose and it wouldn’t even look at it. Smart old fish. You couldn’t make a cast into the area it liked to hang out in, because it was a treetop that had Fallen into the water. In order to make a cast I had to expose myself to the fish, and make a cast from Shore. There was no way to make a cast from the other direction. I’m sure that fish died of old age by now. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw that thing. I was sure it had to be a carp, but there was no denying what it was once we saw it at close range( myself and my fishing buddy.)
You’re lucky to live so close to the Great Lakes. How big is your best? I would say my personal best is close to the 5 lb mark, but probably not over that. Still very large for a stream fish.
Is that Lake St Clair all shallow water? Looks like a massive Smallmouth spawning bed on a map. Walleye too. Do the locals consider that part of Lake Huron, or a separate Lake all together?
Yes separate lake all together. Except for the shipping channel the deepest it gets is about 20ft
My PB is a bit over 20”. I didnt weigh it but it woukd have been 4.5-5lbs. I got a 20” largemouth on st clair too but it flopped off my kayak trying to get a pic.
Our largemouth dont get much bigger than 20” here though.
Wow, that’s about the same size as the one I was talking about. Very nice!
I didn’t realize they got quite that big. I already went out and grabbed a red crankbait for my next time out.
Its crappy season now in Illinois
yeah theyre some fat ones there.
That Smallmouth is epic! What a hog! That fish is the reason the expression Football Fish exists.
That last one is a total pig of a bronze back!
We definitely don’t get footballs like that here. Our master angler size is 18” and they put up a nice fight. That’s like those are one of our masters.