Power Fishing for Lake of the Woods Smallmouth – September 2022
Heading up to Lake of the Woods, we were fortunate to have the counsel of Elite Series champion Jeff Gustafson as well as our tremendous guide Reuben Gibbins. I also had Hanna and Jennifer Combs in the boat to help dial in the bite. Those two fished hard for three straight days and their efforts played a substantial role in our success. In fact, after catching a bunch of smaller smallmouths the first day on crankbaits (after first working for some walleye filets), we took boats out in the evening after dinner and it was Jennifer who discovered how much those fish wanted to kill any vibrating jig that got in their way. Armed with that knowledge, we went out on Day Two and proceeded to absolutely wreck ‘em. We figured that our best five weighed a little over 20 pounds.
As we idled away from the dock on Day Three, Reuben half-jokingly suggested that the goal was to catch 21 pounds by 10am. Hanna got the ball rolling with one in the 5-pound range on our first spot, and things stayed strong from there. Forget 21 pounds – we had over 24 by 9:30.
The key was the vibrating jig. Those beautiful smallmouths, which I figured had to be at least 15 years old each, acted like they’d never seen one. You could throw a spinnerbait or swim jig in the same spots and garner the occasional bite, but it was rarely with the same ferocity or frequency as when you put some chatter in their faces.
Hanna had the hot hand much of the time, regardless of whether she was in the front of the boat or in the back – they clearly wanted her Stanley Racket Blade more than anything else.
Jennifer came close to keeping pace with a Strike King Thunder Cricket.
I mixed it up with a Delta Lures Thunder Jig, a Z-Man Jack Hammer and an Original Chatterbait.
The key seemed to be lighter colors – white, chartreuse or a combination of the two, with a shiny metallic blade. Eventually we lost several of our limited stock of baits to toothy critters and had to cannibalize spinnerbait skirts to keep on going. I got a few bites on an all red Thunder Jig, but I could not get them to touch anything in green pumpkin or watermelon. On Day Three when my supply was anemic I switched to a black and blue Jack Hammer and probably had my best session for numbers, but it didn’t produce the same oversized brown fish as of the lighter colors
Power Fishing Notes
The fish were not line shy. The women used braid and I used fluorocarbon and it didn’t seem to make any difference.
The best trailer was a Strike King Rage Swimmer 3.25”, although a Super Fluke and an Ultra Vibe Speed Craw also enjoyed some success.
I really thought that a spinnerbait would be deadly, but except for a few smallish smallmouths and some pike on a War Eagle Screamin’ Eagle, it pretty much hauled water.
I caught some fish on a ¼ ounce Brovarney Swim Jig in “Gringo” and “Lite Brite,” but the vibrating jig seemed to be slightly more consistent.
Fishing Strategies
The best smallmouths were typically dirt-shallow. Occasionally one would hit halfway back to the boat or even under it, but generally you’d kiss the bank with your lure, make a crank or two and the rod would load up.
Chunk rock was typically key, but the best areas for big fish were often where that rock met pencil weeds. Indeed, these smallmouths were more weed-oriented than any others I’ve caught. We found them not only around reeds (particularly if there was a boulder or two among them) but also in lily pads.
Most of the bass related to textbook points and very rarely was there more than one over 4 pounds in a single spot. The one bank where we did catch multiple quality fish was almost entirely reeds, with a handful of scattered boulders.
A steady, moderate retrieve worked best. A sudden pause was most likely to produce a pike.
Crankbaits that Worked
As noted above, we did have decent multispecies numbers on Day One cranking plugs that ran 5-10 feet deep. We abandoned that once we discovered that the Chatterbait game was more productive. Nevertheless, a week or two from now that cranking strategy could be the deal. Here are the ones that worked best for us:
Rapala Shad Rap #7 – Crawdad
Bandit 300 – Brown Craw Orange Belly
SPRO RkCrawler DD50 – Green Craw
PH Custom Lures Skinny P — Nasty 2.0
