creek fishing - first smallmouth!

[INFrank]

Day off today, so I ducked out before lunch for a couple hours on the creek. I haven't had much luck creek fishing in the few times I've tried. Most of those trips, however, were during the winter, so I was hoping the onset of warm weather would bring some catches.

While I didn't catch anything large, I did manage a beautiful green sunfish, a bluegill, and my first ever smallmouth. Catching a smallmouth was actually my goal for the trip, and I'm always thrilled to add a new species to the inventory. 75F and sunny, although the creek water was plenty cold. Glad I brought my muck boots to wade around in the shallows.

I mainly used a Handing Magic L 4'6" UL with a Legalis LT1000. Line choice was disappointing -- I used 2lb Sufix Nanobraid and had repeated issues with knots slipping. Originally I had on a 3lb Sunline fluoro leader, but lost that on the second cast. I then went straight braid, but knots (improved clinch) kept slipping until I started pulling the tag end tight before cinching down on the main line. Lost 6 lures overall to knot slippage and snags. Thankfully just jigs and nothing expensive.

The smallmouth was obviously the highlight of the trip, and I hope the next one is bigger!