Local ponds can hold nice large mouth given they have enough food, cover, and are not over populated. Nice 18” large mouth caught on a Wee Whacker mini buzz bait at my local pond.
Not every bass fishing trip results in catching large bass or PBs. Sometimes we get skunked, catch PS (personal small), or just catch small bass.
Recent wade trip on the Raritan in NJ, wanted smallies over 15” but only caught fish under 12” including my smallest bass ever 3” on a hellgrammite on a North Branch Tackle sled jig.
Anyone else keep a rod in their truck (or car) and some baits to get a line in when you drive by bassy water? I keep an inexpensive two piece medium heavy bait caster, an inexoensive two piece spinning rod, and a backpack with some hooks, weights, and a tackle box of “pond baits” and a tackle box of “river baits”. Caught these large mouth on quick pit stops on my way home from work and while out running errands this week.
Did a kayak float on the Delaware yesterday, we battled heavy current and strong wind gusts which made boat positioning and line control difficult.
Was able to put a few smallmouth in the boat and add a few pieces to my Bass Thumb AI spring challenge board.
Caught them on Ned rigged hellgrammites, bladed jigs, and landed my first top water bass of the year on a choppo.
How is everyone else doing on the Delaware for smallmouth? Anyone catching fishing over 18”?