Spring is here in the North (Michigan) and there are a few techniques that will maximize your success for Great Lakes Smallmouth.
Pre-spawn
If you haven't experienced the world renowned top ranked smallmouth wonderland (Lake St. Clair) during the pre-spawn, well let's just say you should.
Alongside my long time tournament partner John Lytle @Jalytle (twitter) and another friend whom was new to Smallmouth fishing, we boated exactly 200 Smallmouth with an average weight of 3 pounds (that means lots of 4 and 5 pounders!). If you are using the right technique and bait you can expect 40 to 50 fish per person in an 8 hour day. Some of the most important factors include clear water and sunny skies.
My top lures/techniques this time of year are as follows (in order)
● Blade Baits (Chartreuse)
● Medium Sized Crankbaits (ima Pinjack 200 in Chartreuse/Brown with a Zappu Wicked ball on the rear treble hook)
● Tubes (Provider Tubes paired w/ Gary Yamamoto Insider Jigs 1/8 oz 85% of the time)
● Swimbaits (3"-4" Optimum BLT or Top of the Line in Goby Color which has a micro gold fleck)
● Jerkbaits (ima Flit 120mm in Gold Flash)
Also see my blog on boating safety if your new to big water.
