Enjoying the thrill of Smallmouth Bass fishing with a fish finder.
Hi everyone, this is Isono, VARIVAS Field Tester, sending you a fishing report from Lake Nojiri, Nagano Prefecture, which I visited at the end of July.
In late July, the bass is everywhere from shallow to deep in Lake Nojiri. In this trip, I tried to chase the bass by narrowing it to 8-10m (26ft-32ft) deep.
I first read the movement of the bass in the fish finder, then sent a light Carolina Rig to the point where I assumed they’d swim to.
Waiting for the bass to find the worm that you left behind as an ambush appears un-exciting, but it’s actually a very thrilling fishing method for me.
Although I’m looking at the bottom of the lake through the finder, you can feel the excitement of “come on, come on… there!” — because you’re watching bass move on the fish finder in real-time.
The key to this fishing is understanding the fish finder and reading the movement of the bass. I enjoy the sharp pull of the Smallmouth bass by reading the bass movement and letting them bite.
For this style of fishing, the line touches the bottom of the lake; so it’s necessary to have a line that is strong enough for obstacles and has excellent wear resistance that can withstand the small and sharp teeth peculiar to the Smallmouth bass.
I’m using 2.5 lb VARIVAS Ganoa Absolute Fluorocarbon line. Together with a Nogales Death Lock Wide (ULTRA FINE WIRE) #3 hook that can hook securely even with light line. These two are an essential combination for Smallmouth Bass fishing. In the coming midsummer season, we can enjoy fishing with a different setup; so I’ll definitely come back again.
Tackle used:
- Rod: 6.8 feet
- Reel: No. 2500
- Line: VARIVAS Ganoa Absolute [Fluorocarbon] 2.5 lb
- Hook: Nogales Death Rock Wide (ULTRA FINE WIRE) #3
- Lure: FLASH UNION Abacus Shad 2 inch
The original article was published in Japanese by Morris Company, Ltd., August 8th, 2020. Field Report by Tsunejiro Isono.
