I spent 3 hours (in the fog) sat morning on 7…I was lucky to stumble upon a school of 16-17 inch smallies chasing shad. Spooks, flukes, pop-rs all worked, but it seemed better to switch after catching one fish. Sand/weeds/heavy current. It is a pattern I use often around labor day, and was pleasantly surprised to find that on saturday. Its a sign of things to come for fall smallmouth fisherman. Big fish schooled up on shad, willing to eat any topwater bait I throw

As a newcomer to FTR, I figure I can add something to this post, so what better time to make an entrance. I was Mr. Samo’s co-angler in the BFL in Clinton. Yes you are correct we were wet. But more importantly we were alive. We hit into two waves…the first we were very wet, the second we almost sank. Two of his rods broke in half and went from the deck, over our heads and hung up on the jack plate/motor. I had water up to my stomach as I was sitting down, so water filled the entire sitting area, deck to deck. Thank god for double bilge and strong handles. As to Curtis’s performance on Sat…..of course not giving any spots away….patience won that tournament. 4 of the fish came from a 20’x 20′ area that he cast to 100 times if not more. He knew they were there from practice, and he bet the whole tourney on it. Word also was that 15 boats had been through there before us. We sat patiently as the water temp rose and so did the three pounders! As for my luck…not the best day for me. I lost a hog 4-5 lb on that spot and one other 2 lb to end up the day fishless. I will say, fishing these as a coangler is a great way to advance from an average fisherman to an excellent one.