I launched in a kayak at Waterway 18 Sunday morning a little after 7:00. I found fish up shallow all along the north shore of the shipping canal. I caught several little smallmouth (all around the size pictured) and one largemouth (see video). Small rock bass worried my bait constantly. Sizing up my lures might have been useful to avoid catching so many of those.

I fished a drop shot setup, a Ned rig, and trolled a small swimbait while moving. Almost all the action was on the Ned rig. I found smallmouth pretty much everywhere the bottom was rocky, including along the sides of the Montlake Cut. They also seemed to like a faux-rock bottom, as I caught a couple off asphalt-heap embankments.

All the fish, of every species, had dark, oily staining on the bottom of their throats and bellies, maybe from resting or nesting on Lake Union’s notoriously polluted bed.

Here’s a short video clip of the day’s only LM:

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