passaic river smallies

[mack]

i started out with a yellow buzzbait in the morning around sunrise and after 3 casts, caught a 10 inch dink...this was my first fish on my new baitcaster combo and my first smallie on a buzzbait..my friend caught a few on a white jitterbug..after an hour with the buzzbait with no strikes, i then switched a yellow sonic roostertail and the action started..catching smallies left and right...then my friend tells me "slow your lure down, a bass is following it.." i slowed it down and i feel a bang and i set the hook...my drag starts peeling out..then a nice 2 - 3 pound bass comes flying and spits the hook..disappointing, but i moved on..lost a few nice smallies about 15 inches or so that also jumped (those big bass sure do know how to get a hook out of their mouths lol)...i started throwing a white bitenbass beaver with red flakes and caught a decent 12 inch smallie...caught a few more dinks then switched back to a roostertail..i then hooked and landed a 13.5 inch smallie. caught a few more dinks then left..caught 23 smallmouths in total..pretty fun day...here are pictures of the 12 incher and the 13.5 incher...

[PowerBass]

Nice smallies Mack, congrats!

[Fishie1]

I have that old abu your friend has...lol.
Nice fish

[Vabass22]

Nice fish man, how do you fish your buzzbait, for some reason, I can never get results from them.

[mack]

a steady retrieve at the top so its making a commotion..i do a reel slow retrieve as opposed to burning it back to the boat..it works better for me and i think they hit it more than miss...cast it along trees and timber...if they are missing the lure, put on a trailer hook...good luck...

[Vabass22]

Thank you, kind sir.

[mack]

oh and also, use a reel with a high gear ratio...the more line put on the spool per crank makes it easier to keep on top..

[ironman]

Good tip I will have to try that!