What a Great Experience ! In my constant search for some decent bank fishing in the Spokane area, I decided to give the upper Spokane a try again .I decided to try a spot I remember going to when I was younger , though I never fished there before , A few miles upstream of Upriver Dam .Arrived about 8:00 pm to warm clear skies . I hiked down to the water , the first thing I see is some ribs someone had thrown in the water , covered in crawdads ... And these were some large crawdads . I hadnt even brought my pole on the first hike down, because I wasnt even sure if it was going to be fishable... upon seeing the crawdads i figured it was worth throwing out a crawdad colored plastic. After hiking back for my pole, I rigged up a 4 inch Power Worm , and started bottom fishing , Worked the worm for about 25 mins and didnt get a bite. All the time i was watching the crawdads feasting on the ribs, very entertaining ... I decided the Plastic wasnt working , prolly due to my lack of skill with plastics ... So i went to a jointed shad-rap , starting working it in at different speeds , within a few casts I landed a decent sized 1 pounder .. I released the fish and watched it dart away ... about that time I notice a very large smallie swoop in and past all the crawdads for a look , and then back again and WHAM ! This 3-4 pound smallie annihilates one of the crawdads right in front of me inches away !!! Wow was it awesome ! Tossed the shad-rap for a few more mins and didnt get any more bites . I switched up to a bait I rarely use, But not being used to targeting smallmouth, i decided to give it a try . I used a buzzbait , light green skirt with a 3 inch white grub tip . On my third cast SLAM ! Fish on , It came in the first time seemingly easy .... allowing me my first peek at this hog ... The biggest smallie Ive ever seen personally, 4-5 pounds ... when it seen me it peeled line off my reel like Ive never seen ... It stayed deep and I was able to bring it in yet again .. but not before two more runs of peeling line after it got close to the bank . After about a 2-3 min fight I thought it was done for ... it rolled slightly as it got within grabbing range .. My thoughts already on the pictures I was going to take with the camera I had in my pocket , I leaned down to land the fish, and with one final effort, It twisted and came free ....Lost it ! ARGH ! Fished for a few more mins untill dark but didnt get anymore bites .. Still a great time for less than two hours of fishing .. I will be dreaming of the one that got away and planning my next trip to this spot !

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