Well, I landed my first 20 plus inch smallmouth of the season and in a very unlikely small Pennsylvania stream. The fish measured 20.5 inches of lean mean bronzeback. I don’t have any video of the fish being caught but I do have a couple of stills taken after the catch. The quality is a little off because I had to set the camera on a rock and use the auto timer. The slightly upward tilt of the camera caused the picture to “wash out” a little but the smallmouth is clearly visible.
caught the smallmouth on a 4″ Yum Dinger texposed rigged. I had been fishing the small creek without success for about an hour when I waded up on a long deep channel that ran close to the bank. The water had eroded the mostly clay bank for about 20 yards of the stream creating a wall about 6 feet high that dropped straight down into deep water like a small cliff.
Realizing this would be a very likely spot where a smallmouth bass could ambush an unsuspecting mouse or insect that had fallen over the bank, I began making long quartering casts upstream. I purposely hit the embankment with my bait and allowed it to tumble down into the water on its own.
My first few casts to the bank resulted in not hits. Then on about the sixth or so cast I got an immediate hit. The fish moved downstream with the bait. It felt like a heavy fish. Unfortunately, the fish swam under a root wad and entangled my line. I didn’t even get a chance to set the hook.
After retying a Gamakatsu EWG hook and texposing another Yum Dinger, I went back the plan. Again, quartering my casts upstream and letting the bait slip off the bank into the water. On about the third cast, I felt an immediate tick and saw my line moving steadily down stream to a holding spot at mid stream just in front of me. I reeled up the slack and felt the unmistakable “heaviness” of a big fish.
I reeled down some more and set the hook sharply. The battle was on! The fish took off upstream on a steady hard run. Again, confirmation that this was a good fish. It made a U turn and headed downstream still bull dogging hard for the bottom. I managed to turn the fish around again and then I saw her. I’m think, man nobody is going to believe I hooked a fish this big in a small stream unless I land it. The remainder of the fight is just a blur of about 5 water clearing jumps and some frantic back reeling.
Once I brought the fish to hand it was obvious that she was over 19 inches and maybe 20. I quickly got a measurement on the fish to confirm 20.5 inches and snapped a couple of quick photo’s. The most rewarding part of the sequence of events was releasing the fish to fight another day. I watched the broad shouldered fish lumber off into the depths having given me one of my most memorable afternoons on the water.
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