South Branch Bronze!

[iamtheavalanche]

Hit the South Branch on 6/8/2015 in some of my usual spots. The river was perfectly stained and with the prefrontal conditions the river was perfect. Hit the bridge by my house at noon and hooked up almost immediately on a smallie I caught last year. It weighed 3.11 last year and now 3.3 figuring she was spawned out. Then was going to go to a retention pond for largemouth but upon inspection the wind shifted the muck cheese looking stuff so I couldn't punch and frog in the area I wanted to so I went back to the river. Hit another spot north on the South Branch that is a lot deeper. Immediately started throwing cranks and spinnerbaits. There is nothing like bouncing the bottom with a crankbait and a smallmouth just slams it. Through a bunch of stuff like shakey head worms, jigs, and a few swimbaits but the crankbait was the ticket. I thought the shad patterns were the right move but one hit a old Fat Rap in a craw pattern. I used to fish the same spot after school years ago in high school and would use shiners and catch lots there. Those river smallies are opportunistic feeders eating a lot of stuff that comes down in the current.

Baits I used...
1/2 ounce Booyah Snow White spinnerbait with a custom hammered silver blade
Glass Fat Rap number 5 in crawfish with KVD 2xshort 1x strong hooks
Bomber 4A crank Tennesse Shad with KVD hooks again

Get out there and try catching them they fight like no other!

[kcritch]

Nice set o smallies there bud. Great report...pics plus solid info on what was working and what was not. Love fishing for those guys in the river and find myself falling into the trap of using the same stuff all the time. Whether it's working or not. Great to hear what others are trying...might just get me to tie on some of that other stuff I spent a ton of money on but rarely use! Thanks for sharing the details.

Nicely Done.

[iamtheavalanche]

Originally Posted by kcritch

Nice set o smallies there bud. Great report...pics plus solid info on what was working and what was not. Love fishing for those guys in the river and find myself falling into the trap of using the same stuff all the time. Whether it's working or not. Great to hear what others are trying...might just get me to tie on some of that other stuff I spent a ton of money on but rarely use! Thanks for sharing the details.

Nicely Done.

Yea I hear you thats the way I used to be but I noticed I was stuck in this mentality of the fish in the river are smaller so use smaller stuff but noticing the size of shiners and crawfish they were bigger then my lures haha. The south branch has some big smallies in it and fishing with normal bass lures catches them but its not every time. Yesterday I caught 4 fish and put in a lot of time but that in my experience is a amazing day. I've noticed if you just fish a stretch and constantly retie lures you learn more then if you fish a spot do not get bit and leave to go to another spot that looks good. Putting the time in one spot first you know it then next time go to a different and do the same thing. I've had days of catching tons of little river rats but its funner chasing the bigger ones. Sometimes you see them but they cruise around and literally they are there one day and gone the next.

[Jhunter1]

Some nice smallies there. It's easy to stick with what you know and say they weren't hitting when you catch nothing. What separates the average guy from the avid is finding those hard to catch fish and tieing on lures til you find what is working.

[AndyS]

Some really nice river bronze !!! Thanx for sharing !

[FASTEDDIE29]

They are very strong in NJ rivers no doubt. Battling other predators and fighting flood waters makes them strong. Great looking fish buddy! Like the way you mixed it up with the tackle. Good stuff!