Some Fishing Gear Notes
I didn’t get into the specifics of Mike’s Ned Rig set-up. However, I can give you the lowdown on my dropshot gear.
I like a long, limber-tipped spinning rod for dropshotting. So a 7+ footer is my deal. It needs a soft tip section and lots of backbone. If you can find a dropshot-specific rod, it might be a good thing to have.
For spinning reels, anything from a 1,000 size to 2,500 will suffice.
For this day, I used 10lb test braid as my mainline and worked up from 8 all the way to 12lb test fluorocarbon for my leader. You must remember, Lake Ontario is full of zebra mussels, so the lighter line you use, the more break-offs you will incur. 12lb is heavy, but it’s all I had. I’ll sacrifice some bites so I can convert my hooked fish into netted fish.
I like to use smaller hooks for Smallmouth, so a #6 or #8 Mosquito or Octopus hook or a dropshot-specific hook is ideal.
Finally, a cylinder weight of about ¼-ounce anchors the rig.
Black Bass vs. Brown Bass (and Roamers vs. Locked and Loaded)
The beauty of fishing Lake Ontario Smallmouth early in the season is the chance at seeing lots of fish. You won’t see them all, but you’ll see enough to blow your mind.
Some look jet black, while others are light-toned. It’s those black fish that really get anglers stirred up. They look just plain nasty and act that way, too. (Plus, they’re way easier to see cruising.)
Some fish will roam either by themselves or in groups, while others are locked onto rocks, nests, weed patches, etc.
Our favourite technique is looking for and casting to roamers. When you see a couple of black Smallmouth marauding in the shallows, your heart will certainly start pumping—I guarantee it!
On this day, Mike and I ultimately laid a beating on some big Smallmouth. It was a fun day that we both needed and a great get-together.
A lot of roaming fish did avoid us. However, we also caught our share of the more aggressive of the bunch. Single boulders had some fish, and the weed patches either had big groups of Smallmouth or my supper: Mr. and Mrs. Pike. Thanks for slinging the blade, bud!
This was an excellent day with a great friend.