Hit my favorite brook trout stream today and caught a couple with lice in their gills. 
It will be interesting to see if it affects the numbers of fish. I hope it doen’t hurt as the stream was finally starting to rebound after several poor years.
Matt
A friend of mine did good on pool 5 on Friday. Water temps were 38-39 deg. I’m thinking you’ll have to make it out in the next few days or its going to start icing up with the forecast weather.
Matt
Those are some horses 
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It’s interesting to me how smallies and largies have such different preferences. I got out yesterday too and all the big smallies (over 3lbs.) came on either a crank or a trap. I caught most of my fish on jigs but I never got anything over 3 on the bottom.
Matt
Brian, which pools are included in this event? 5a, 6 & 7?
Matt
Just driving around on Saturday it looked like the power plant landing was still iced in. I checked the Belvedere landing and it was open enough that you could at least get a smaller boat in and out.
Matt
I think we had 25 or 26 last year. Fish are finally starting to group up and chase bait. Should be a good event.
Matt
I would say it really depends upon the season. If you are talking spring, fish tend to group in the same areas year after year because of the spawn. I have personally taken it on the chin because I didn’t want to fish pressured fish in the spring. That’s not to say you couldn’t find a spot that no one else is fishing but the odds are difinitely against you. Even on the river those fish stack into particular areas because forage and spawning. If you are fishing later in the season when the fish spread out you will have a better chance of finding something off the beaten path.
Matt
I have had a slop n frog Legend Tourney rod for about 3 years now and have been pleased with it. It’s plenty stiff to yank fish out of the junk. My only beef is that it doesn’t work well for many other purposes.
Matt
Just though I’d post a few photos from Sunday’s weigh in.
The smallie in my right hand weighed 4.94 lbs.
I got out on 5 Saturday as well. I fished for smallies and only got 4 fish in about 9 hard hours. Size was very good though 3 of the fish were over 3 pounds and the other was probably 2 1/2. I found water temps in my areas between 42 and 45 degrees. With the high water and flow they were relating to more moderate current and jerkbaits fished slowly were the ticket for me.
Matt
I definitely agree with John that this is normally the best fishing of the year. However, this year September was hard to beat for size and numbers 
. I’ll be out at least until late November.
I chickened out because of the wind yesterday but I see a certain Ranger braved the elements. How did it go? Man the lake looked dirty and the waves massive.
Matt
What section are you looking to fish?
Congrats to BC on the finish 
. Glad to see 5a producing well after all the rain they got down there. I’m not suprised that big smallies won they’ve been on fire if you can find the right schools. Any info on who won and what was working?
Matt
Ike we had 4 smallies 
and 2 LM. What a great day and a great practice. Honestly I was really surprized they weighed that much. I was thinking more like 20 lbs, but the river has been great this year. Bring on September and the weights could get really impressive
Matt
I like the beaver too, but I’d say the yamamoto kreature is my #1. It’s a little pricy but when the fishing’s tough the slower fall it has gets the job done.
I got out for about 2 hours Saturday afternoon as well. The action was pretty strong for me. Got a 20″-21″ hawg brown on a husky jerk along with a nice 16″ fish and a few dinks as well. The small fish were lethargic but the big fish absolutely crushed my jerkbait . The slower portions of the pools did produce all my fish as well.
Matt
I’m in too.
I run a Lowrance 334c and am satified with the unit. The first one I got this spring junked out on me but it was replaced right away and haven’t had any more problems. As for a chip if you fish mainly on the river I would recomend the Navionics Northern River chip. I just got it this year and love it. All the river pools are on it and the detail is exceptional.
I would agree with most everything you guys bring up. To clear things a little I was speaking specifically of LM. As a general statement I would say a good place to start as to finding wintering areas is where the popular places to ice fish are. From my experience if an area is popular for producing panfish through the ice it generally (but not always)has a population of largemouth wintering in that general area as well. Some of these wintering areas I know of don’t have any deep water at all, the deep water is in the staging areas outside of the bays themselves. Once I find what I think is a wintering bay I then move out to the first secondary channel or where it intersects the main river. I’ve found most of my fish staging in these areas to feed until moving into the wintering areas as water temps dip into the 30’s
Matt
We’ve still been catching quality fish on the upper pools. The key seems to be fishing near wintering areas with some current and wood in 4-8 fow. Spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, and tubes fished as slow as possible have been putting fish in the boat. If you catch one fish there are probably going to be many more in the area so fish it thoroughly. Don’t be afraid to fish areas with significant current either if they’re close to wintering areas.
Matt
Thanks Blue. I seem to remember you and JC catching some pigs on them in the fall.
If you’re casting them on wingdams what weight jigs are you using? I would think a lighter jigs would work better. What about line and rod length?
Might want to check out the Gile Flowage as well near Hurley. It’s been a few years since I’ve been there but an outstanding smallmouth fishery that doesn’t have much pressure.
Another year with no love for the northern pools too. 
Congrats to John and Eric for the win 
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I can’t believe this many guys haven’t had success with a sammy. Just out of curiousity how and where are you fishing them? Water conditions can play a big role too. From my experience the sammy fishes more to the finesse side of the topwater spectrum. That being said if the water is more stained a louder bait would probably work better.
Much of it from my opinion comes down to what you personally have confidence in. No confidence typically = no fish .
kwikstik I’d be interested in the whole lot at that price. PM me colors and details .
Matt
I personally love sammy’s and would recommend them. I would agree that fancy paint jobs often are to just attract anglers, however when the water clears out especially in the fall I’ve had experiences were that finish can make a difference. Also, sammy’s have a much different action than a spook does. If you look at the bait in the water it has more of a tail down rest were as a spook sits flatter at rest. One of the biggest reasons i like high end baits is that it is much easier to stop and start their walking action in high current areas.
If you do get one it’s hard to beat the chart. shad color for the river .
Brent actually owns a spinning rod 
. Last I heard the bite was going to be off because of an alge bloom. So much for that! Great job ripping pigs . Of course this means the expectations for the Alma tourney just went way up!!! 
Matt
Out of curiosity what were the water temps there? I fished both Shell lake and Beaver Dam for smallies this weekend with mixed results for bedding fish.
Fished Beaver Dam Sunday afternoon and found a few bedding fish. Water temps were in the mid to low 60’s. Our biggest fish didn’t come off beds, but on topwaters and hula grubs worked over sharp drops and gravel points.
Monday we hit Shell and found basically the same thing. Some fish were on beds, but not nearly as many as this time last year. I also never personally saw a large female fish on a bed all weekend. Again topwaters and hula grubs on football heads took most of our quality fish on those rock points and sharp drops near large flats.
Any news on results and winning patterns from Sunday’s tourney?
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