nice looking smallies, i bet they put up a good fight, how deep where you fishing and also i can never figure out what kind of retrieveal to use, any tips on yur sucess?

Bazzdude,thanks for the comment.We were both fishing with deep diving crank baits.We purpose fully started out with different patterns to see if one worked better than the other,there was no difference.The first person to cast to the right spot seemed to get the fish.I like to use no more than 8 # test,this does seem to help your plug work better.The steep deep banks we found out right away don t produce,you want to find shallower water with a flatter bottom,say 2-6 ft deep seemed to be best.We were also making really long casts trying to keep the boat off the fish.It was our first time on the lake and we just tried to cover as much water as possible.The retrieve we used was pretty much fast and steady,crank it to the bottom fast and bring in with a steady retrieve,they will smack it.I love smallmouth they are always great fighters!!!Good Luck

That's some great info, nice report. Sounds like alot of fun, heading over in a few weeks!

alright, thanks for the info really, i probably wont be making it there to banks this year but i can try that method here in spokane somewhere. stay safe out there.

Why if your fishing 2 to 6 ft of water are you using a deep diving crankbait? makes no sence

Fish-N-Fool, I have a feeling he's going to say he used a deep diving crank because he wanted the bait digging into the bottom to imitate the crawfish, as you can see in the pic its a rebel crawdad crankbait. The faster you get to the bottom the more realistic the retrieve all the way back to the boat. A medium depth will take longer to get down, and maybe only tick bottom a couple times if you get too deep.

Excellent report by the way. I passed up fishing Banks this weekend, probably a bad decision but my wallet will feel better by the end of the weekend.

Fish-N-Fool,
Good question!!! I will try to give a good answer!!! I tried to find info on bass fishing in this lake and had been planning on going to Banks for a long time.Everything I read said that crayfish are the dominant food source for bass and walleye in this lake.My theory is that crayfish are down in the rocks and not suspended.The deep digging action actually imitates a crayfish better than a plug that is rated for 2-6 ft.The plugs rated for shallow water don t dig in to the rocks on the bottom as well and tend to actually suspend,thus not a true imitation of a real crayfish.Of course this is only a theory!!!! I have used this technique theory before and it really does work.I would never second guess a fish,give em what they want,whether it makes sense or not.Thanks for the great question and Good Luck out there.

Why if your fishing 2 to 6 ft of water are you using a deep diving crankbait? makes no sence

Ok thanks for the explanation. I fish the rebel craw a lot and I just don’t consider it a deep diver is all. It only dives about 6 to 8 feet and I think that's a mid depth diver. Deep divers go down 15 to 18 ft. I also use that same bait to dig in the rocks and mud for smallies up here on the PO River.
Surprisingly I was at Banks a few weeks ago I could not get bit on my Rebel craw bait. We only got fish on tubes and spinnerbaits

Fish-N-Fool,
I was surprised the plugs worked as good as they did.Most of the lakes i fish over on the west side have been real slow starting this year and real slow presentations with senkos and other plastics are the only thing the fish have been biting,hopefully it will pick up soon.Happy fishin

I have fished the lake for several years and it seems to me that the crawdad cranks work better after the fish have moved up to spawn. The spawn is determined by water temp and is different for walleye ,largemouth and smallmouth. It seems to me that when the smallmouth move up on the flats and into the shallows they slam the crawdad cranks. We release all of the hen smallmouth at this time. I have found that it is hard to pin down a specific week or weekend that the water/ weather will be just right to have the bite be just great. But overall the last two weeks of may and the first two weeks of june have always been good to great for my buddy and I. This is the first year we have caught really nice trout as part of the bag for the day. Just trolling our Walleye/ Smallmouth gear. When we cast we use divers that will stay in contact with the bottom the longest imitating the crawdad rooting along the bottom. I'm not patient enough to fish slow with plastics yet but I'm trying.

silverking0,thanks a lot for the info.We really enjoyed our first trip to this lake and maybe next time we will find time to try for the walleye,do you have any tips on the best time of year for the eyes??

I think the water temp has alot to do with the walleye bite they seem to bite better when the temp is climbing and the barometer is rising also they seem to have no rime or reason as to where you will find them sometimes We always try to fish the weekend before memorial day or the weekend after seems to be alot less boats then and the fishing seems to always be better than ok.

silverking0,
Thank You!! I will give it a try next time,Its always nice to get some info from someone who knows the lake.I have only fished for walleye a couple of times and its always a challenge when you don t really know where to begin.This is a big help and I sincerely appreciate the tip!! Good Luck and thanks again!!!!