Had a vacation day to burn yesterday. That coupled with the last nice weather for awhile, I headed to Sartell for one last smallmouth outing. I left Mankato before 8:00 and was on the water about 10:00. Fished until 3:00 (had to make it home in time to vote). It was partly sunny/cloudy with 70+ degrees temps. What a great day to be fishing!
The fish were bunched up. The 1st spot found them on a point next to deep water. I had my best luck casting from shallow water out to the deeper water. The smallies were holding on a drop from 8 to 12 fow. At the 2nd spot, the smallies were in 10 fow and all the way up to shore. Water temperature ranged between 47.8 to 48.4 degrees.
I started the day with 3 dozen shiners. After running out of shiners, I ended up catching them with a black 1/8oz Jimmy D River Bug. I used the following set-up for the shiners… Gamakatsu SIZE 1 Offset Shank Worm EWG hook with a #3 split shot about 18″ or so above the shiner. The hook barb was pinched down.
The biggest smallie was just under 20”. A couple fish were 19”+. There were a bunch of 16 – 18 inchers. Most of fish were as fat as footballs. I caught between 40 – 50 fish yesterday.