A fishing pard pointed out a good spot and I’ve been trying it out. It’s on the main river in our drainage, one of the bigger in Michigan, and the one that the other rivers I’ve been fishing dump into.

It’s a shallow point that sticks out into the water creating a narrow “slot” of deep water up against the opposite bank.

I’ve been thinking about a MH baitcaster rig for big topwaters & pike lures but I had a big 3500 sized spinning reel so I got an inexpensive 7’ MH. I was a little hesitant to use it for anything but the biggest fish because I like the feel of em fighting on lighter tackle… been running a 6’6” fast action medium light rod for 75% of my fishing this year, and a 5’6” fast action light rod for almost everything else.

We worked the edges around the shallow water on our side and caught nothing but kept losing our worms and leeches to small fish. As light waned I switched to the MH set up and a 130 whopper plopper, which with that MH set up I was able to cast into the faster deeper water on the other side of the river.

On my first cast something huge took the lure. The water is fast and the fight went on a while; even with that 7’ MH rod it took some work to get him in. It was a personal best smallie that weighed over 4 lbs and was a solid 18” long:





I was super excited by this fish. First fish on a new rod/reel, first on a new lure size (I’ve done well on the 90), and first good one in this spot, and of course a fantastic fight and personal best!

After letting him go I cast back out and caught another good one, but not quite as good:



He also knew how to use the strong current and there was one point when I wondered if I ought to have changed out my leader after that monster.

I cast again with nothing, and a 4th time got me another nice smallie, again smaller than the one previous but still fun:



The summer doldrums have been hitting us hot and heavy with a lot more effort necessary to catch fish. I’ve been working hard to expand my repertoire to be more versatile and be able to catch fish under different conditions and I’ve learned a ton.

By far best year of fishing I’ve had since childhood. My wife even commented something like “wow honey you’ve been catching tons this year!”

Thanks for reading I hope you all have a great holiday weekend!

Nice! I love fishing rivers.

Smallies are beautiful fish and a 4 lb'er is a big one anywhere.

Beauty! It’s hard to find better than a big smallie fought in current. Congrats!

Osky

Love the pictures. SM are my favorite of all fish.

Very nice smallie!👍👍

Congrats on a really good Smallmouth and having a place like that to fish. Thanks for posting

Looks like good times there.

ALRIGHT!!!

Sweet. Thanks for sharing.

Nice smallie! My brother in St. Clair Shores has been catching a lot of really nice smallies this year out on Lake StClair. Lots of action out there.

Thanks!

Lake St Claire is a smallie mecca; I really need to get over there and try it I’m always amazed at the stories.

Nice river fish, ours seem to top out at 15" unless your on the Mississippi.

Here there is a 30 mile stretch of the Mississippi going northwest from Minneapolis that has had size restrictions for smallies for many years. It’s certainly working. 15-18” are common and many over 20” get caught and released. Love smallie fishing.

Osky

Yeah that’s similar to how it is around here. Anything over 16” is a TOAD. I’ve caught quite a few 15 & 16”ers this summer, one that I’d estimate was 17-ish, and this one. I kinda think this is, as you point out, the upper end of river fish. They expend too many calories just fighting the current.

Of course they fight like mad… can’t complain but the number of times I’ve hooked a 14”ER and said, aw yeah this one is HUGE…” so fun to catch, in beautiful settings to fish…

My son in law & I are doing a backcountry canoe trip next year in a wilderness area that is a chain of lakes with c & r restrictions on smallies and I’ve talked to guys who’ve caught multiple 20” fish in a day there… we’re spending a week…

My arm is sore just thinking about it 😍

Nice smallmouth. I grew up with the Shenandoah river in my backyard in Virginia. I remember going after school and catching 75 smallies before dark. Been fishing that river for 40 years and i have one 4 pound smallmouth it was 22"

That’s awesome! Beautiful fish. Thanks for sharing!

Great fish!!