Scouting the river and ended up at a connected pond. Looks like it only connects when the river is flooded. Read something on a sign that what it is intended for. Packed with hungry large mouth. Lost count how many i got on swimbaits and senkos. Got over a dozen with Majority being 12"-14". Biggest just shy of 2 lbs. A unhappy regular said he has caught 5 to 6 pounders in there but never a smallmouth. All released to be caught again.
Went back out there today. Water was very high. Less shoreline opportunity. Lots of bushwacking. Hard to locate a bite until I found a flooded shallow section where I pulled out a 15" and a 16". Stuck with senkos since whopper plopper wasn't producing. Thank god for gamakatsu hooks cause they were tricky to get out of the flooded tall grass.
The largies are more aggressive this time of year than most people realize. Maybe some folks just fail to adjust to the change in conditions and routines they get used from the summer patterns. Leaves lots of hungry fish unattended for guys like you.
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