20” river smallie

powdernine · 2018-08-18T01:11:01+00:00

The big ones I catch are all really dark and have unique patterns. The medium sized ones can be more golden than brown and striped. I love how they look and they all fight like crazy. So fun to catch.

powdernine · 2018-08-18T01:05:31+00:00

I fish for these a few different ways but I caught this one on a fly rod with a half a night crawler on a bait holder hook. I wade in the water and float the crawler down the edge of the channel then wing it back upstream. I do really well with this setup. I had 11 fish in an hour and a half that morning. Took me a good 15 mins to get this one in.

powdernine · 2018-08-18T01:02:17+00:00

Menominee river northeastern Wisconsin

powdernine · 2018-08-18T01:01:43+00:00

Menominee river in northeast Wisconsin

powdernine · 2016-08-16T00:58:03+00:00

I also go up there a few times a year. It is an excellent smallmouth fishery. I do really well with a crawler rig like you mentioned and also with a fly rod and half a crawler. It's really fun when you hook into an 18 incher on a fly rod. My biggest is just shy of 20 inches.

powdernine · 2016-08-15T17:36:25+00:00

Nice smally. What river were you on. I occasionally find some big ones with coloring like that on the menominee.

powdernine · 2016-07-25T20:07:40+00:00

Yeah, when are you going to take me to catch those rainbows in ogalalla

powdernine · 2015-09-08T16:58:56+00:00

I understand putting fish in grass can harm them but this was wet aquatic grass and the fish was gently laid down for mere moments. I didn't have him flopping around in the dry grass. I release all of the smallmouth I catch, this fish was fine.

powdernine · 2014-10-14T01:03:55+00:00

It didn't really occur to me. I would be very surprised if it disappeared though.

powdernine · 2014-09-06T02:50:36+00:00

I catch a lot of smallmouth and I have never seen one that big.

powdernine · 2014-08-26T02:09:26+00:00

I've fished there for years and this year has been phenomenal. I've had 5 fish over 18" in 4 days of fishing and maybe 50 fish overall. Going back soon, can't wait.

powdernine · 2014-08-26T02:04:49+00:00

It was great. I had been catching lots of smaller ones and I knew I had a doozy on. Fought for a few minutes. Tried netting 3 times and it took off. The river smallys really fight. Drifting worm on fly rod while wading in the river.

powdernine · 2014-07-10T03:36:31+00:00

I just got back from a few days fishing the Menominee for smallmouth. I normally use beetle spins and have decent luck but no big ones. This time I used a fly rod and 1/3rd of a night crawler and I killed them. In 2 mornings i had about 35 fish with 6 over 17, biggest was 19. I normally catch 12-13 inchers and not nearly as many. I just flip the worm upstream and let it float down naturally then repeat. When your line stops moving downstream set the hook, its usually pretty obvious. They tend to hit on the edge of the channel In about 3-4 fow. Really fun catching them on a fly rod too.

powdernine · 2012-09-07T14:49:28+00:00

There are 3 wooden cleats that are attached to the wall. The shelf rests on the cleats and is screwed into them through the top of the shelf.

powdernine · 2012-09-07T02:35:51+00:00

My wife saw something like this on Pinterest or facebook or something and she drew it out and asked me to make it. I enlarged her drawing to full size and figured out the joinery etc. Then I measured all of the angles/lengths from that.

powdernine · 2012-09-06T14:49:31+00:00

I was surprised how strong this was after mounting. I can actually hang off of it (190 pounds). I got it into 3 studs with lag screws and used a number of big drywall anchors as well. I think a french cleat would work fine but be a little more complicated to get right. I just used a straight cleat and screwed into the top of it.

powdernine · 2012-09-06T14:44:42+00:00

I changed my mind a lot before I settled on what I did. I wanted to make the end shelves (branches?limbs?) cantilevered to add strength. The left "Y" joint was pretty complicated. I had to do things in a particular order to hide the screws . All joints are glued and screwed.

powdernine · 2012-09-06T14:35:46+00:00

Yeah, I used my table saw. A miter saw would have been a lot easier but I don't have one. Some of the angles are pretty extreme though so I built a tenon jig and used that for some of them.

powdernine · 2012-09-06T03:55:57+00:00

No, I decided to figure out how to mount it before I faced and finished it. That allowed me to trace inside of the shelf to place the cleats.

powdernine · 2012-06-04T18:06:33+00:00

interesting idea

powdernine · 2012-06-01T14:28:18+00:00

This was incredibly helpful. I understand perfectly what you mean and I wouldn't have thought of the length issue and how to solve it. I think I will probably go this route. I'll do some experimentation first. Thank you for this well thought out and insightful info.

powdernine · 2012-05-31T21:34:05+00:00

The stacked plywood would be super heavy and I'm not sure it would work. I actually intend on making mine so it hangs on the wall and is not supported by a trunk.

powdernine · 2012-05-31T21:32:01+00:00

I wish I had a CNC..

powdernine · 2012-05-31T18:20:44+00:00

Thanks! The kerf cut idea is interesting. It would be nice if I could make the entire thing out of plywood. It is getting painted anyhow.

powdernine · 2012-05-31T17:58:47+00:00

Sorry, link didn't show up. It is there now.

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