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Fall 2019
page 84
Once the thermocline is established by late summer, smallmouth behavior becomes more predictable. They might move around, but they’ll move along the same contour line and not to deeper water immediately. If they held on a specific point, utilizing side imaging can help anglers to find along that contour quickly.
Frost’s extremely proficient at using his electronics to process smallmouth behavior.
“If you aren’t using side-imaging, you can’t efficiently fish a transition,” he said.
Utilizing the side-imaging feature on his Humminbird Helix Gen 3 units at the bow and console, he’ll searching for prime areas scanning up to 100-feet to each side of the boat. Once he sees a bottom composition worthy of further exploration, he’ll decrease the distance by half. To paint the best picture, he prefers the amber color palette and factory settings with minor tweaks to sensitivity and sharpness.
When smallmouth relate to a clean bottom, nothing outproduces a tube jig fished on a G. Loomis IMX PRO 853S JWR rod paired with a Shimano Stradic Ci4+ spinning reel spooled with 5-pound Power Pro braided line. He’ll run an 8-foot leader of 8-pound fluorocarbon line.
When they’re feeding on bait, he’ll opt for a grey or translucent colored tube, green pumpkin when they’re feeding on gobies and crayfish during parts of the year and laminate patterns when gobies are the target. Upon establishing the tube color, he’ll fine tune the flake colors by rotating through different sizes, shapes, and colors. Tube jig heads ranging from 3/8- to 3/4-ounce to keep baits on bottom.
Frost fishes a dropshot rig vertically when smallmouth suspend near the bottom. He rarely shakes
his rod tip’ but will cast and retrieve a Jackall Cross Tail Shad, Berkley Maxx Scent Flat Worm, and Megabass Hazedong Shad rigged on a 1/0 Gamakatsu Dropshot hook when smallmouth act skittish. Paired with a G. Loomis NRX 822 DSR dropshot rod he’ll fish the same reel and braided line but will downsize his fluorocarbon leader to 6-pound-test. Frost fishes a Woo Tungsten weight as it best transmits the bottom composition.
When smallmouth develop lockjaw, he’ll opt for a Ned Rig. Making super long casts with a G. Loomis Conquest 902S SJR spinning rod, it’s the same rod he’ll use when reeling a dropshot rig in 40-feet of water. It’s extremely sensitive, packs a punch, yet tires the fish by absorbing their power. •