Last week my boys and I were smallmouth fishing a catch and release lake that sees a lot of fishing pressure. We were doing well catching our share of 14-20 inchers. One smallie I caught hit my top water fly hard but when it felt pressure from the line, the fish pretty much swam to the boat and opened its mouth. The fish did not go through the line ripping behavior that I expect from an 18 inch smallmouth. My son said that it must have “known the routine” after being caught so many times over the years. None of the other smallmouth we caught acted like that. The fish appeared healthy and well fed so I do not think that the health of the fish was an issue. Has this happened to any other of you? If all the fish I caught behaved that way, I might give up fishing altogether. Perhaps this is the beginning of a new fish conspiracy designed to take away the fun of fighting a fish. LOL
caribe
Maybe he was hanging out with the Walleyes!!!
A friend and I fish a spring fed private pond that has been stocked with smallies. The owner uses minnow traps on a nearby stream and feeds the smallies about daily. We have fished this pond for three years and could put names to the various smallies. At times these fish will follow but not take anything you throw at them…but if you put a worm or a minnow and a bobber on and throw it out to the middle you can see the wakes in the water from the large fish going after bait. They know they will be caught but are rewarded with the feeding. By the way, we only fish that pond when the local steams are too muddy to fish. It’s not what we are looking for but it’s still a fish pulling at the other end of the line. Catch and release only.
I love the walleye comment. My kids call them wet rags with scales.
caribe