Hot weather = Hot River Fishing for Smally's

As spring wanes and summer begins in June, the temperatures start to heat up, and so does the smally bite on the Chemung and Susquehanna! My absolute favorite bait to use is a black ned rig, but I add a little twist to it. Brian Schmidt (of BASS Elite Series fame) makes the Ned Dreds, which is basically a jighead with some marabou and rubber skirting tied up near the head. I like to trim the rubber skirt to just below the hook shank, and then thread a Z-man Finesse TRD in Yoga Pants, or a Berkeley Max Scent Lil General in black, on the jig. I try to orient the plastic as straight as possible, but a little curve seems to also work. The bass in the rivers believe this is a Dobby (Hellgramite) ALL DAY LONG, so try and fish it like one. The heads come in a variety of weights from 1/16 - 3/8 oz, and I carry them all with me. The weight is critical for getting the right drift in the current. You want the bait to just be ticking the bottom as it tumbles down the river. Too heavy and you'll be battling snags, too light and it won't get down to the smally's. You can add subtle twitches and snap jigs once in a while, or just let it roll on down with the current. I equate it to fly fishing with a nymph, except a REALLY BIG nymph! Don't be afraid to try this bait in the deeper slack water as well, just let it get to the bottom and drag it slowly back to you. Remember, this bait is going to catch ALOT of small "rat" size bass, but it will produce its fair share of 17" plus fish as well. At the end of the day, who really cares if you caught a bunch of small ones when we all know that pound for pound, these smallys put up the best fight in freshwater!

Good luck and YESSIR!

Mike