Pacemaker Fishing Forum

After fretting over predicted ominous weather, we were blessed with blue skies and big bass for nearly all of a week on Lake Champlain followed by a week in the Northern Adirondacks (6/9-6/23).  Our numbers, besides the prolific panfish, weren't phenomenal, but the quality of the smallmouth and the diversity of species was impressive. Except for a few late bloomers on the colder NY side of Champlain, the bass were done spawning and even the sunfish wrapping up their springtime affairs during the weeks of our stays. Highlights of the weeks included some huge untargeted white perch on the big lake, tons of hard hitting rock bass, hoards of shallow water yellow perch, a chain pickerel and a stray walleye caught on topwater.  And many, many more panfish caught from shore and boats on the fly rod.  All of us were impressed by the strength of the pike and I for one will be focusing more energy on those toothy brutes in the future!

But the two most memorable stories of the week involved two of my brothers.  The first brother, Chris, a non- and very nonchalant fishermen hooked (I used the term very loosely as he never actually sets a hook!) what was clearly a monster smallie.  I announced that it was the largest I'd seen in person as the fish jumped behind the boat.  As the 5+ lb. fish got closer to the boat, it dove under, stripped more drag and then circled back around and out from under the boat swimming directly at me as I lay across the bow.  Usually I cradle the smallies under the belly with one hand, and with a quick lift bring them into lipping position, but with the lunker lunging directly toward me, I slid my right hand under her belly and my left under the tail lifting her to be face-to-face with me.  Within a split second the hook fell out with Chris announcing the potential loss of control.  While I didn't move much, the flinch that surely ensued caused the fish to aggressively flip right out of my hands and back into the clear Champlain waters.  So, no pic, but a fish that will never be forgotten! 

My younger brother, Mike, who's a very good fishermen even though he calls fishing "merely a pastime" as motor cycle racing is his first love runs a sweet Skeeter 20 with a 225 Yami SHO and will nearly always catches when the fish are present.  After two full days of fishing, he had not one smallmouth from the main lake (I had a handful of 3+ pounders), so frustration was setting in as his "SmartStrike" fish finding software was failing to deliver.  On a tip from a local guide we tried a rocky area between two islands, and damn did it deliver for Mike!   In a 20 minute period he landed 6 SMB in the 4 lb. class on a whopper plopper, a lure that he had never previously caught a single fish on! I was relegated to fish lander and handler.  The best aspect of the story of course was that I brought him to the stop, suggested we both fish topwater, and even switched to a similar whopper plopper and did not even experience a follow or blow up the entire time!  That was the beginning of Mike's dominance for the week as he routinely connected on first casts at many stops during our running and gunning.  Often it's those that care the least and can chill into the fish that have the greatest success.

Good fishin'! 

John