Hi Folks, Man, the bass fishing has bee really good for the last 3 days. Lake and river fishing for smallmouth. Ran my boats with clients yesterday and guided a crew of 4 for big river smallmouth fishing today. Water temperatures are above 70 degrees with the lower Lamoille reading 72 today and the lake I was on last 73 degrees. Hot humid air has been persistent for a few days and last night and today were cloudy, perfect! Chasing smallmouth in clear lakes is tons of fun. Long casts are necessary in order to avoid the spook factor (big profile standing in boat). The good old floating perch Rapala was the ticket . We did mix in a little 5" Senko action for good measure. The smallmouth were all over the Rapala as sat motionless or with little twitches. Most of the takes were pretty much like slurps and gulps. The biggest fish of the night was 17.5" with several other 15" plus bass landed and lost. Popper fishing was okay. Every fish was around beds of milfoil in 12' to 15' of water. We were able to spot quite a few fish cruising and you certainly could see fish rising to slurp in the Rapala. Fun sight fishing for smallmouth. On a interesting note, their were multiple rising rainbows gulping something on the surface in deeper water. Much of the surface activity was happening in 40' to 60' of water. No idea what the trout were eating. The river fishing for bass today was ridiculous. The water is still up and we waded and walked a pretty rigorous section of the Lamoille that is riddled with giant boulders and rocks. We hooked well over 50 fish between 4 anglers. Mostly chunky strong river bass, though the prize of the day was a 3lb. walleye. It was interesting that the first hour of fishing in the early am was fairly slow. Only two takes on a popper. We actually did not land a fish on a popper until mid afternoon. The two walleyes of the day were caught on a perch colored Big "O" crank bait. We focused on large primary pools. It appeared that there were pods of smallmouth holding together in certain spots in each hole. We would hook 4 or 5 nice bass on 6 or 7 drifts in pretty much the same location. It was true in 4 of the 5 holes we fished. The 3" and 4" Senko in green and green flake was the ticket. The fishing was pretty much consistent all day. What river bass might lack in the size compared to lake fish, they more than make up for in their hard fighting abilities. Off to do it all over again tomorrow. Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home. Have Fun, Willy
