October 21st, 2017 was one of those days you dream about! The big smallmouth were gathered up on some deep gravel/rock mixture and they were on the feed. It's structure that I had scanned the previous year, but the fish didn't really use it until this day. I'd stop and check it at random times during the season but no fish wanted to be out on it. Once I rolled over it with my mega imaging and saw the screen light up with activity I knew it was go time. Big, thick, powerful fish waiting to chomp on the poor little baits dropped to them.
I was using a 7'3" Villain spinning rod from Abu Garcia matched with a Revo MGX spinning reel. I had 10lb braid for my main line and an 8lb fluorocarbon leader that was about 4-5' long. They really wanted a bait off the bottom so I had my dropshot setup with a Swagger tungsten 1/2 oz dropshot weight and a #4 hook approximately 15" above it. Little minnow shaped baits were the best.
Using my Humminbird 360, I"d pull up to my main waypoint and as soon as the rocks were on my screen I"d hit the spot lock on my Ultrex trolling motor. Once locked down, it was really easy to catch the fish. I'd just watch the screen, line up my cast with what the 360 was showing me, and put the bait right where I wanted it. Many times the cadence changes to make the fish bite. Once my weight was on the bottom and I felt the rocks I cast at, I'd shake the bait rapidly in place. If they didn't bite after a minute, I'd slow the shaking down. Sometimes they wanted it laying still and slowly sinking to the bottom. With a 15" leader, it would only take a few seconds for your bait to drift to the bottom on slightly slack line. By mixing up the action of the bait you could figure out the mood they wanted and take advantage of it.
Below are the results of scanning, marking, and using the 360 to put the bait right on the fish holding structure!
Using my Humminbird 360, I"d pull up to my main waypoint and as soon as the rocks were on my screen I"d hit the spot lock on my Ultrex trolling motor. Once locked down, it was really easy to catch the fish. I'd just watch the screen, line up my cast with what the 360 was showing me, and put the bait right where I wanted it. Many times the cadence changes to make the fish bite. Once my weight was on the bottom and I felt the rocks I cast at, I'd shake the bait rapidly in place. If they didn't bite after a minute, I'd slow the shaking down. Sometimes they wanted it laying still and slowly sinking to the bottom. With a 15" leader, it would only take a few seconds for your bait to drift to the bottom on slightly slack line. By mixing up the action of the bait you could figure out the mood they wanted and take advantage of it.
Below are the results of scanning, marking, and using the 360 to put the bait right on the fish holding structure!
