Pacemaker Fishing Forum

Hard to believe that in 2026I haven't caught a small mouth yet, so yesterday afternoon I hit the river to try to solve that major problem. I went to an area that is really good In the spring To see what would happen yesterday. I knew it was gonna be rough with the falling temps But I gave it a shot.

About 30 minutes in I managed to pick up the first one on a swim bait In a little eddy next to a ripple area It felt really good to finally get one in the kayak no matter The size. And then that was it for smallmouth but the day wasn't done as I managed to get a few bonus species out of the area.

I was throwing A suspending jerk bait in the same area and when it got into the riffle I felt dead weight. I knew it wasn't a smallmouth because there was no fight to it and when it got closer I realized that it was a nice-looking I knew it wasn't a smallmouth because there was no fight to it and when it got closer I realized that it was a nice-looking wall-eye. I've caught 1 or 2 out of this area in the past, but this was the biggest (till a little later)


Then in a little bit I was throwing that jerk bait behind a little scrub island in an Eddie area and Felt dead weight again. This time after a little bit more fight this 19" walleye was in the kayak.


I moved to a fairly deep hole After that to see if I can find anything a little deeper. I was throwing a Ned rig and felt a distinct tick Set the hook and it took me about 5 seconds of dead weight to realize I did not have a small mouth. It just stayed deep And then I saw the brown body in the Catfish roll. Landed my 1st flathead catfish out of the river


I hate 1 more riffle/Eddie area on my way out and was throwing the jerk bait again and felt the mouth familiar dead weight with not much fight on the end of the line.3rd walleye of the day That was just over 20". It's a shame that the rivers been so dirty In the past because these all would have been great eating size fish.


And that was it. As much as I would have liked to had a few more small mouth, I did get the 1st 1 in the kayak for 2026 so that goal is met and It was still a fun day of catching big fish.4 fish 19" plus is always fun, just a bummer that 1 of them wasn't a smallmouth