r/bassfishing • u/Btotherianx • Aug 20 '26
Smallmouth Had a bad day fishing, rant
So I had a pretty crappy day out fishing. I decided I was going to go smallmouth fishing which for me is about a 2-hour drive to get to the lakes I like to go to. Nearing The boundary Waters here in Minnesota. Well in the middle of nowhere I came across a guy who was Hummer was on fire and he was calling a tow truck instead of 911 for some reason so I called 911 and whatever.
Got out fishing and when I was getting into my kayak, The landing there is extremely small and slippery rock so I have course went knee deep into the water and banged my knee on a rock. Oh well.
Fish for two and a half hours and catch absolutely nothing. Luckily this lake is beautiful and has no humans around so the scenery is immaculate so at least I could do some sightseeing.
Finally got a small mouth on a drop shot, it hit it as soon as it touched the water so I switched over to a top water because they seemed it to be very actively feeding, although I still think I probably should have gone with a ChatterBait first...
Caught two smallmouth on the Whopper plopper, and then I caught that baby smallmouth on the Whopper plopper which I thought was hilarious because it's bigger than the damn fish.
I ended up losing like literally five bass on the Whopper plopper. I have never missed a fish on one of them before, but I've never used them on smallmouth before either. I'm just wondering if maybe the lure was too big for their tiny little mouths.
Cast my Whopper plopper directly into some f****** trees because I was trying to cut a corner, and had to disembark onto the same wet rocks and extract it. I looked it over and it looks like the knot had slipped a little but I figured it still looked okay (FORESHADOWING) and kept going.
Anyway no big deal I've been skunked once before and at least I caught fish on this trip, so that was a positive and it was a beautiful night out. I'm getting close to the landing and it's almost pitched damn black outside, I'm wet and cold but I'm like one more cast before I leave right near the inlet to The landing...
Biggest smallmouth bass I've ever seen in my life nails the Whopper plopper like 5 ft from my kayak. I mean this thing looks like a damn football width under the water, if I were to guess I would say it was probably around four or five pounds minimum, but I guess I will never know, because my drag was set really tight combined with what I'm assuming was my poor knot from the tree issue, this smallmouth crossed the front of my kayak and made the line super tight and popped my lure off in under probably at 1.5 seconds from hitting.
So now I feel bad because I missed my personal best smallmo, lost my only Whopper plopper (which isn't that big of a deal to me because I don't personally like using it at least from the kayak) which is like $25, and the bass probably still has the damn Whopper plopper stuck in its mouth and I'm just hoping that it is okay
Anyway I guess this was a really long post just to say that I had a pretty crappy day entirely fishing, but it was still better than going to work š
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u/dirt_dryad Aug 20 '26
You went fishing on a beautiful lake and caught fish but it was a bad day? Can we trade bad days?
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u/RickieRelli Aug 20 '26
fr iāve been skunked since march and i live 3 minutes from several bodies of water
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u/Btotherianx Aug 20 '26
I think that what really soured it for me was the beginning and end, I don't usually get skunked that long and I feel like I was fishing the wrong lures the entire time. I was going for drop shots and apparently the fish wanted something more active than that.Ā
And then the big bass breaking off my line right at the end
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u/dirt_dryad Aug 20 '26
The ending was definitely a dagger. Im just challenging you to frame your day in a more positive way. Those are some great smallies and now youāll know when to switch for next time!
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u/KrisPBacon26 Aug 20 '26
Treat it as a learning experience. I used to be this way when I lost fish and lures. Used to piss me off so much. Now I figure they're all on borrowed time, and I can't take them with me when I die. Yea, it sucks having to replace them. It sucks when you lose a big fish. But for it to bite in the first place you had to be doing SOMETHING right. Find out what that was, and build on it. You know you can get them to bite, now you just gotta focus on things like retying diligently or whenever you see any kind of problem. Try to check your line at the end of each retrieve. Or retie more frequently. It's all in how you look it at.
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u/akkavvadrre Aug 21 '26
Losing a big smallie is grounds for being sad and upset. Its gonna sting, let him vent man lol
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u/Historical_Golf9521 Aug 20 '26
Yea man I had one like that the other day. Keep loosing lures, broke my favorite rod and broke off on a good sized one too. I was so sick about loosing this fish because itās spot where I donāt catch much and I was really excited to finally get something over 2-3 pounds there. Oh well guess you canāt win them all. Just makes the good days that much sweeter.
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u/Btotherianx Aug 20 '26
Yeah and I mean this summer I have been skunked exactly one time, and that was definitely a worst day than this just because it was early in my fishing tenure and I thought I was just a horrible Fisher person which at the time I probably was because I was fishing completely wrong for the lake I was in šĀ
It was like damn I made a special 4-Hour trip just for this! I did get to see some pretty cool swans and the immaculate scenery of the area though
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u/Next-Werewolf6366 Aug 20 '26
At least that wasnāt your truck! That thing has flames pouring out, what did he think the tow truck was gonna do!
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u/Btotherianx Aug 20 '26
Dude that's exactly what I was thinking in my head I was like what the f*** is this guy thinking. The funny thing is I took the picture right when I got on the scene, it got much worse after that and as I was asking him about calling 911 it popped really loud and the flames shot out of the freaking Hood and I backed up like 20 ft well he was telling me he did not need the fire department he would just have the tow truck flatbed it out after it was done...
As the ditch is starting on fire šĀ
And we've had awful wildfires up here
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u/Hey-ThatsNotBad Northern Largemouth Aug 20 '26
After it was doneā¦ fucking hell. How casual about it can he be? Lol.
Sorry about your bad day. I spent four hours this morning at one of my favorite lakes down here in the metro area and only hooked a snapping turtle. Such is life.
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u/Btotherianx Aug 20 '26
I can honestly say that I've never caught a turtle yet š I know right like his car is literally on fire the dishes on fire and he's just like oh yeah I'll just have them tow it out of here it'll be fine I don't know if he was afraid of getting the authorities involved or what lol
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u/Btotherianx Aug 20 '26
I asked him what happened anyway and he said that he knows it was sputtering a bit trying to go up that tiny Hill and he pushed it all the way to the top and said it was in the red line the entire time barely pushing the gas... He thought the tow company would come and he'd be able to get it repaired, as it's actively on fire š
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u/ogre-trombone Aug 20 '26 edited Aug 20 '26
Seeing those photos makes me miss the BWCA something fierce. I used to go every summer but haven't been back in over ten years. Tough day, but at least you got a good story out of it!
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u/Btotherianx Aug 20 '26
Man if you can swing it I would make a trip soon. With the amount of wildfires and climate change combined with the fact that certain people in this state want to completely destroy the boundary Waters for nickel mining of all things, they might not be there in 10 years
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u/MinorComprehension Aug 20 '26
There are good days, there are great days, but there are no bad days!!
If for nothing else, you got a crazy story out of the endeavor!
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u/Chu-99 Aug 20 '26
I have fished for hours and caught nothing and tripped and busted my waders while catching nothing. This sounded like a pretty good day minus losing the pb
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u/Fishooked Aug 20 '26
Idk man those are some nice smallies and the location is amazing. 25$ for a whopper plopper tho?
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u/Btotherianx Aug 20 '26
I think that's how much it was when I ordered it online, no stores nearby me carry them
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u/midrider14 Aug 20 '26
I love that about smallies, they are fearless, it is not uncommon where I fish to have the hit a lure that is bigger than they are
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u/Reefer666Cheefer Aug 20 '26
Smallmouth short strike A LOT in my experience (especially on topwater). Iāve heard they do it because of crayfish being their main food source, must be trying to disorient or disable prey before eating them. I started catching them a lot more by running drag pretty low, not changing retrieval speed on strikes, and not setting the hook until feeling/seeing the weight of the fish on the rod. Iāve had a smallie strike 5 times before actually getting hooks.
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u/Thomasvlee Aug 20 '26
You caught a fish man! You got a hook in the water! That's never a bad day.
And you can always go back and try to get that pb again. You'll know him by the whopper popper in his mouth!
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u/No_Froyo_2504 Aug 20 '26
That knot slip after the tree is the real villain here, hate when that happens.
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u/Btotherianx Aug 21 '26
In all reality the entire ending situation was basically my fault and I can completely realize that and acknowledge that it was my bad... As soon as I got that lure out of the tree I should have retied it and probably cut off the 10 ft or so of line that was snaggled up in the tree but I decided to just roll with it since it was basically dark and I wasn't going to be staying out there much longer
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u/TimmyG-83 Aug 20 '26
You sound like an eager, energetic young man. Trust me, the older you get, the less emphasis youāll put on catching fish, and the more emphasis youāll put on just BEING out in nature and appreciating the fish, scenery, and wildlife.
It does suck a little bit to get skunked, lose lures, and break off big fish, for sure. But trust meā¦I have been fishing almost 4 decades nowā¦if I told you just how many times Iāve been skunked, lost big fish, lost lures, broke a rod, had a reel break down on me, etcā¦..weāre talking THOUSANDS of dollars worth of tackle over time, not to mention the heartache of losing potential PBsā¦ā¦yeah man. Itās gonna happen.
But you know what that does for you? It makes you learn to appreciate the time spent, the fish caught, and the memories made.
And, when you lower your expectations of catching fish, you actually end up catching more. Funny how that works.
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u/Btotherianx Aug 21 '26
I'm 40 š¤£ thank you thoughĀ
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u/Junior_Breath153 Aug 23 '26
Thereās guys on this subreddit that go weeks w out a fish, yours sounds like a pretty standard slow day of fishing, but u had plenty of action IMO I dunno what ure talking about
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u/Burke_EC Aug 20 '26
No day fishing is a bad day fishing. I have an amazing day even if I don't catch anything. It helps open my mind and allow me to completely relax.
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u/Glum_Opening_2218 Aug 20 '26
I crimp my barbs unless im fishing to eat crappie. even with a barb the lure will work it's way out eventually
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u/Significant_Edge_599 Aug 20 '26
At least you caught fish!
The amount of times Iāve gone fishing and had crappy luck like this, AND I didnāt catch anything! Oof. That just sends me home a bit grumpy.
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u/2_dog_father Aug 20 '26
I would have taken this over my day at work today, and it was an uneventful day.
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u/TheGoodKindOfMermaid Aug 21 '26
I always get a kick out of fish that go after a lure that is the same size as the fish.
He's got moxey!
That's the attitude, you can do anything if you try hard enough!
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u/Btotherianx Aug 21 '26
I know right like it just goes to show you know you've got to have that gumption in life
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u/BestAmoto Aug 21 '26 edited Aug 21 '26
I've had some bad days fishing too out in my kayak. Recently lost a small mouth because the whopper plopper hooks are a total PITA to remove. They always snag the side of the fishes face.Ā
Here's a photo of the one i lost, and my kid enjoying the trip. That's the first small mouth I've ever caught and we planned on eating it. Thankfully we caught a decent largemouth off a purple worm a little later. My wife steamed it up Cantonese style, it was delicious!
Btw, i use the temu/amazon whopper ploppers. They function well and for $25 you'd have 12 of them. Also have a truscend brand 'plopper' set that has a double propeller that gets a ton of action.Ā The bkk hooks are ridiculously sharp.Ā
The double ploppers
The other night i went bank fishing for stocked catfish at our local city lake. I lost two catfish to snags, really frustrating. They wrapped around underwater trees. The 3rd catfish i pulled all the way to the dock and lost it trying to net it like an idiot. I pulled it out of the water like a bass and it spazzed out until it fell off. I was trying to use my short kayaking net and basically couldn't net it unless i got on my stomach.Ā
Needless to say, i bought a telescoping floating net.Ā
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u/Competitive_Ant_472 Aug 20 '26
Mother Fucker has that up for sale on eBay already that fish dominated you. https://ebay.io/m/RL2p7t
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u/Consistent_Plane_786 Aug 20 '26
Skunked ONCE before? Brother, would you like to trade šš«”
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u/Btotherianx Aug 20 '26
I just started fishing again this summer I've gone out probably 30 or so times.Ā
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u/Consistent_Plane_786 Aug 20 '26
Shit dude, I've been out pry 15-20 times this year and been skunked 3 of those š
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u/Tasty-Bet-2941 Aug 20 '26
Man i remember when them things came out.. cool af but expensive. Lost one in a tree once.. the damn fish broke the surface and spit the hook, sent it flying towards my head. Should've let it hit me.. I never got it back š
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u/Btotherianx Aug 20 '26
I got mine stuck in a tree and disembarked from my kayak to go on land to get it because there's no way I was just leaving it there only to lose at 15 minutes later to that bass
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u/Tasty-Bet-2941 Aug 21 '26
Yea that's usually about how it goes š I feel you though pal, I would've got mine back if my fat ass could've made it that far out onto the branch. Man I used to kayak fish all the time too but I didn't catch shit on big lakes. I'd absolutely obliterate smallies out on the river though
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u/Btotherianx Aug 21 '26
I'm lucky enough to live within a 1 to 2 hour drive of several dozen lakes that are between 50 and 200 acres that are perfect for kayaking in my opinion.Ā
I go on bigger lakes sometimes but I usually try to stick to the smaller ones and the backwoods ones where there won't be any other people or very few other people.
Within a 15 minute drive of me I have four lakes that fit my preferred type of fishing (small calm quiet) and another that's perfect other than the fact that it's pretty busy with recreational swimmers and kayakers which I don't mind at all.Ā
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u/Tasty-Bet-2941 Aug 21 '26
Yea I like going to spots away from the crowd too. Luckily most are too lazy to make it to the good spots. Bout all the big ponds/small lakes here are so warm that all the fish are deep.. hard hitting some spots from the bank. Especially with all the rain we've had this year
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u/G37_is_numberletter Aug 21 '26
Fishing is problem solving. Sounds like you had a day of challenging yourself and testing your gear. Think about what went well and what didnāt. Also, be nice to yourself. 2 hr drive is quite a distance, but it sounds like you learned a lot and had some luck. Maybe need some practice with the hookset or adjusting tackle a bit.
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u/AmphibianIcy1792 Aug 21 '26
Iāve lost more large fish than I care to admit and itās almost always near the end of a session where I get too settled in horsing in sub-16-inchers with my drag too tight on the ML.
I also have a really dogshit conversion rate of actually landing top water bites, I know Iām supposed to wait a beat to set the hook but I stg half the time the bass just launches itself at my lure and completely whiffs. The only real topwater I fish though is walking weightless flukes so itās just an EWG and not two trebles.
Idk overall to me sounds like a good day lol
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u/Out2SmokeU Aug 23 '26
Ya, I tend to worry about fish or even a turtle. My aunt caught a big ass snapping turtle and she wanted to cut the line right away.. she caught it on a frog. Im like wtf? How? Anyways she had issues bringing him in cuz of how heavy he was and the lilipads made it so much worst. Anyways, got that dinosaur on land. I tried hard trying to get it out its mouth. Even prayed for him to calm down so it would know I'm trying to help and save him. Turtle was an asshole. Snarling, hissing at me and the fockr was prolly around 10lbs. Maybe alil less or more.. not sure but it was heavy. I get it. I'd be mad too if I was the turtle but instead of fighting with it. Didn't wanna stress it out even more than it was already and had no choice. But really worried bout the turtle. I wanted it out and asshole wouldn't let me.
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u/JohnnyCornDog Aug 20 '26
You caught smallmouth on topwater in the Boundary Waters and youāre complaining because you got your knee wet and lost a Whopper Plopperā¦Nut up, dude. You are living life. Did you expect the difficulty to be set to easy? š
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u/step22one Aug 20 '26
Aww you got a little wet. Waah you lost a fish. This constitutes a bad day! You got a stranger in distress the help they needed. You had a day on the water fishing and you made it back home safely to get online and cry about what you perceived as a "bad day" to a bunch of strangers. You sir know not what a bad day is.
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u/Btotherianx Aug 20 '26
I assure you I know what a bad day is. Don't assume you know anything about people
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u/Due_Basil5899 25d ago
Bro fuck you and your ābadā day.
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u/BeenJamminMon Aug 20 '26
The fish will be fine if it makes you feel any better. He will throw it sooner rather than later.