Still getting the job done

[TJAndrews]

My 331's, that is. It's time for our annual fishing trip to the St. Lawrence River near Ogdensburg, NY, and these are the fish I've caught in the first 24 hours there.

All smallmouths. The two I'm holding, from last evening, are a 15-incher and a 16-incher. And the one on the boat seat,lousily positioned, with the 331 in the foreground, is 17 inches, my personal best. My notoriously inaccurate tackle box scale puts that one at 4.5 pounds. Gave me a heck of a fight, feeling like a walleye twice its size.

The first two were caught with a 331 I bought on eBay three years ago, while the big one was with the 331 I've owned for 50 years.

[foakes]

Good job, Sir!

Thanks for sharing.

Nice fish caught with a capable fisherman and solid tackle.

Best, Fred

[philaroman]

nice chunks...  what's the rod -- old Conolon?

[TJAndrews]

nice chunks...  what's the rod -- old Conolon?

Nope. That's one I made myself, something like 25 years ago. It has an Ugly Stik blank, 7 feet long, with handle and guides rescued from another rod I had made myself that met with an unfortunate boating accident.

It was the last time I was to climb out of a boat while carrying a fishing rod.

[Gfish]

Nice bronzebacks! Summertime must be good on the St. Lawrence for those guys.

I'll go ya one better(worse), climbing into the boat and stepping on my Sage fly rod.

[happyhooker]

Nice smallies!  That must be a super place to fish.

Frank

[TJAndrews]

Nice smallies!  That must be a super place to fish.

Frank

The pros seem to think so. There was a bass tournament in Massena, NY about a month ago. That's about 30 miles downriver from here. Videos all over Youtube.

A BassMasters Elite tournament was based in Waddington last weekend, about 15 miles downriver, but the pros ranged all the way to Lake Ontario. That was much to the chagrin of the town, who wanted to keep them more local than that.

And there's another tournament in Massena starting Thursday. This morning the area was crawling with bass boats, as the pros tried to scout things out. I noticed some things about that: They were fishing the same general areas where we like to fish; their technique, though different, had some remarkable similarities; they were working a lot harder at it; and they weren't catching any more fish this morning than I did.

Fewer, in fact. I caught a 19-inch walleye.

[philaroman]

pros tend to "catch less visibly"
they seriously don't want anyone to know they're catching
and bring 'em in quicker, to move on to next fish ASAP

[TJAndrews]

https://www.bassmaster.com/tournaments/2021-bassmaster-elite-st-lawrence-river

[TJAndrews]

pros tend to "catch less visibly"
they seriously don't want anyone to know they're catching
and bring 'em in quicker, to move on to next fish ASAP

Well, unless you're using an oar for a fishing rod, I don't know how one might catch a decent-sized smallie up here and not show it.

This is my catch this morning, out in the drizzle. The walleye is 21" and the bass are both 15.

First day of the tournament so the pros are out here and there, fishing the same spots where we often go, but I'm not seeing them catch much, at least not here. But, it seems that some of them are doing well somewhere, because the leaders already have catches of over 20 lbs total.

[TJAndrews]

BTW, as always, our plan is to filet the nicer fish, put 'em in the freezer, and enjoy them through the winter.

[foakes]

Smallmouth Bass are tough fighters, TJ —

Nice work!

Best, Fred

[mo65]

Nice smallies! Those 331s are a great reel for walleye/smallmouth...great fishin'!