Door County Smallmouth Report

Hooked – is how I feel about the kids I had up to Door County this weekend. We hosted one of our annual group camping trips, in which there are a lot of kids (and a few adults) that don’t get to fish very often. With the smallmouth on the beds and cruising the flats, I was able to get everyone out sight fishing.

I should note that we were very critical on how the bedded fish were handled and everyone that joined me this weekend was very good about handling these fish with a lot of care. We made a few photo oppotunities, and all were released back over their beds. It also was a good chance to educate the kids on the entire spawning cycle.

The weather and fishing pressure really threw us a curve, and fast adjustments were made frequently. Saturday, the water temps were averaging 69 degrees. Sunday morning, the water temps had dropped to 54.5, and fluctuated into the low 60’s on Monday. In addition to the changing winds and water temps, the fishing pressure in all the bays we visited was heavy. At any given time, we had 6 to 18 boats around us.

It was key to understand the body language of the fish we saw. Having a different presentation than everyone around us made for very fast action. I set everyone up with a Quantum Superlite 7′ spinning rod 8# Cajun Red Cast, Gamakatsu 1/0 drop shot hook rigged with a 5/16 drop shot.

Natural colors such as watermelon, rootbeer, and black were taboo baits. With all the pressure these fish have seen in the past week, they would get very spooked as the bait would come near them. So we focused on the odd colors that traditionally are not used frequently. RipTide Curltailers, B Fish N Tackle Gold Cracker & Great White paddle tails, and Chartuse/Pearl Gulp were the hottest baits we found.

This is really an awesome time of the year to get kids involved in fishing. It is so unique for the kids to be able to spot the fish, pitch a bait, and watch a bass inhale a 3″ to 5″ bait. Time after time I heard every kid talk about how awesome this is. “It was so cool how that bass sucked in my bait”. It is memories like this that will spark a lifetime interest in fishing. Just look at the smiles….but the photos don’t do it justice. I got to see these smiles in the boat for 3 days and every night around a campfire.

We did find larger bass staged in deeper water on isolated structure. Since my focus was on the kid’s experience, I didn’t spend too much time seeking out isolated pigs. At the few stops I did make going from bay to bay, I did find a mixed bag of females that are already spawned out, and some that have not started yet. My largest fish of the weekend was 6#, but this little gal was our best fish! She was sitting in 1 fow and jumped over a foot in the air to to intercept a white paddle tail that was being pitched beyond her bed. She gave everyone in the boat a great memory of that trip!