how to catch big smallies

any tips on catching big smallies!

ive found my favorite smallie spot.

this year I WILL GET AT LEAST A 4LBSER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i know they are in this spot! saw them yesterday and seen pictures from this spot of 5lbsers

deep water drop shot and spoons / blades. or try using a bigger bait. you won't get as many but may get the bigger one. just need to weed through the small ones sometimes if there's a lot of them.

throw jigs and drop shots. jerk baits can be killer or spinnerbaits

I've had luck on white chart spinners and buzz baits for smallies on Spot Pond.

i have won multiple smallmouth tournaments throwing a dropshot until i get 5 decent fish and then throwing a chompers hula grub for the rest of the day

A tube, spider jig or Football jig dragged in 25+ feet of water around perch schools. Find the bait on your graph and the smallie arches should be there.

I have caught tons of 4-5lb smallies as well as some big largies up to 6 lbs on the drop shot. The spider jig is also a great big fish bait.

A tube, spider jig or Football jig dragged in 25+ feet of water around perch schools. Find the bait on your graph and the smallie arches should be there.

i should start believing in my fish finder. i dont know how accurate it is. it shows fish shapes. when they are deep and im marking fish, i dont bother with em. so those fish shapes could be a school of fish, i dont know. next time i mark fish deep ill give em a shot.

A tube, spider jig or Football jig dragged in 25+ feet of water around perch schools. Find the bait on your graph and the smallie arches should be there.

i should start believing in my fish finder. i dont know how accurate it is. it shows fish shapes. when they are deep and im marking fish, i dont bother with em. so those fish shapes could be a school of fish, i dont know. next time i mark fish deep ill give em a shot.

here are a couple images. the 1st one is with the fish symbols. You want to turn that function off if you can. Boost your sensitivity till you start to get screen clutter, then back off 1-2% till the cluuter almost goes away but not completely. depending on the depth you are in and the cality of the water you will be someplace between 75% and 90%. The deeper and clearer the water the higher the sensitivity. The 2nd image shows bait pods and fish around them. The bait pods are the cloud like images and the fish are the arches. If an arch has some color in the center of it.... its a BIG fish.

So Rich, are you saying that the fish symbols are inaccurate or that there is just more information available when the symbols are turned off?

i like the arches so much better then the symbols! i dont think i can turn off symbols on my portable finder. ill screw around with it.

i only use it to find depth,some structure and water temps.

it was reading my anchor the other day as it ws dropping to 25 feet. it came as fish symbols and the rope was getting marked as well.

So Rich, are you saying that the fish symbols are inaccurate or that there is just more information available when the symbols are turned off?

it's a lot clearer and more obvious what you're seeing with just raw returns. also don't forget to change the speed.

i got the hummingbird fishing buddy. $130 bucks at dicks sporting goods.

any tips for getting this thing working accuratly. i never fooled around with fish finders before!!!

So Rich, are you saying that the fish symbols are inaccurate or that there is just more information available when the symbols are turned off?

Yes the fish symbol function is not very accurate. It also steals power from the unit that could be used for more bottom definition. The fish id will identify anything as a fish. Things like debris tall weeds or even minor interference will show up as fish. It's not always wrong but You are MUCH better turning it off, turning up the sensitivity and learning about what you are seeing on the screen

even your rope / anchor will show up as fish symbols.