17.25” Smallmouth | Sunday, September 7, 2025 at 8:10 AM | Monocacy River
I caught two huge fish, back-to-back. The adrenaline was pumping trying to land this one. I definitely almost lost it.
I haven’t been able to fish for quite a while, so I was really stoked to have a great day. Caught two really nice fish along with a bunch of small ones.
The water was clear and low, but overcast in the morning with light rain. I knew I had a chance to catch a few quality fish if I could find a pocket of them. Luckily I did. Super fun.
16” Smallmouth | Sunday, September 7, 2025 at 8:05 AM | Monocacy River
This fish was just shy of 16”, but it was so close I’m just going to say it was…
I haven’t been fishing in over a month. I’ve had to travel so much for work, and along with family things, I just haven’t been able to find time to get in the river. I forced myself to make time this weekend. It felt great to be back in the water catching fish.
I’ll create another post, but I caught a 17.25” fish two cast after this one. The water was pretty low, so I found a bunch of them stacked up in a deep hole. Caught a bunch of small ones and two huge toads in the same spot within 20 minutes. Was a lot of fun.
This is by far my favorite bait for large smallmouth in the Monocacy.
Yesterday I met a friendly young fisherman and his girlfriend (I assume). I was talking with him a little, and he asked if I sell any of the baits I make. I let him know that I don’t, but I’m happy to post how I make them.
I will add that he caught a 17”-18” smallmouth on a store bought glide bait, so not sure he really needs one of my spinnerbaits, lol.
Anyway, I would say I’ve caught 80% of my 17” plus fish on this bait. The other 20% were caught on variations, primarily one that swaps the smoke back/dorsal for black paired with a gold Colorado blade.
Save for a couple of randoms, I’ve caught all of my largest fish in stained to muddy water. With my level of expertise (no a lot), large fish are way too hard to catch in clear water. When conditions are right, I normally start with the black/gold patten in the early morning when the light is low then switch to the Bluntnose Minnow pattern as the light starts picking up mid-morning.
Photo Credit: Emilio Concari
I know this is debatable, but I believe smallmouth start preferring fish as prey as they getting larger whereas smaller ones focus on insects and crayfish (though I know tube fishermen who disagree and have the receipts to prove it, lol). I also believe large smallmouth are more likely to bite on colors and patterns they are familiar with. Bluntnose minnows are the most common prey in the sections of the Monocacy I fish. If I still fished the Potomac, maybe I’d think differently.
Skirt
Trailer: 483-10 Black Death @ 2 strands per side + 133-10 Silver Flash @ 3 strands at bottom
Back/dorsal: 246-10 Smoke Silver @ full tab
Belly: 133-10 Silver Flash @ three quarters tab
I thread tie my skirts using common fly tying tools. It’s just how I started and I like the control I get with it, but I’m sure you could achieve the same thing wire tying instead.
Components
3/16oz or 1/8oz compact frame (LPO Finesse C-spin, unpainted)
#3 Colorado polished nickel
4mm Fish Skull Living Eyes | Earth
#1 ball bearing swivel
Finish
For a while I struggled to get acrylic to stick to the led in a durable way. Regular primer didn’t work well, it would chip and flake off pretty easily with use. One day when I was picking up paint at Michael’s I started talking with a local artist, also there to grab some paint. She suggested I try chalk paint. It is by far the best base coat I’ve ever tried.
From there I mix deco paint to get the color I want for the belly and apply that with a brush to the entire head as a first coat. Then I use that as a base to mix in other paints to get the back/dorsal color I’m looking for. I just rub the accents on with my fingers. I think the irregularities make it look more natural.
There is a sequence to the finish coats. I first apply a coat of Sally Hansen glitter over the acrylic before adhering the eyes. Once I adhere the eyes, then I will top coat with clear Sally Hansen hard as nails. A top coat over the eyes helps keep them in place.
I let the finish coats cure for a week or more before using the bait. The nail polish has strong off gassing that lasts a while. For this reason and others, I recommend using an attractant. My preference is Berkeley Gulp Alive Minnow.
14” Smallmouth | Monocacy River | Saturday, July 26, 2025 at 8:57 AM
It was one of those days where you catch a fish every fourth or fifth cast…
The morning started very slow, but things really picked up around 7:30 when I switched baits and got to the section I wanted to fish.
I stopped counting around 20, but I caught over 30 fish. They were all small in the 8” - 10” range, except for this one. This was definitely the largest of the day.
It was so much fun. I’ve been waiting for a day like this. I’ve caught some quality smallmouth this year, but the action has been slow. No monsters today, but it was nice to consistently catch fish.
I made this clear/silver willow leaf spinnerbait a while ago for days when the water is hot and clear, but I never really used it. The conditions today were exactly right, so I tied it on and started catching immediately. It delivered over and over again. I will give it more love in the future. I’m going to make a version with solid black lateral and slightly darker dorsal to more closely mimic a bluntnose minnow. A closer mimic may make it better for larger fish.
16.75” Smallmouth | Monocacy River | Saturday, July 19, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Quality fish today, conditions were just about perfect.
The water was murky with overcast skies, exactly how I like it. It’s so much easier to sneak up on large fish with low visibility.
I caught a +/- 15” smallmouth on my second cast. I didn’t get a picture (or measure) because I hooked myself landing it. Luckily the barb didn’t get completely buried, so I was able to get it out easily. Definitely a bone head move on my part.
This was my second fish. It was one of those magic casts, when it lands exactly where you wanted and you know you’re going to get hooked up. It fought so hard. I was really surprised it was under 18” when I measured it. It fought harder than the 19 inch’r I caught last month. It had a bizarrely large tail for its length. It doesn’t show well in the photo, but it had beautiful color. It reminds me of this 15” smallie I’ve caught several times that is absurdly huge for its length.
I caught three more that were 13” - 13.5”. Really great day of fishing. I love the black/clear w/ gold colorado blade when the visibility is low, especially early in the morning. I caught my two largest fish early on the black bait before switching to the smoke/clear “bluntnose minnow” color when the light came up. I caught the smaller fish on that. Probably should have stuck with black. The water was getting dramatically clearer as I fished, but it was still mucky.
15.25” Smallmouth | Monocacy River | Saturday, July 12, 2025 at 7:28 AM
Very slow again today, but it’s amazing how quickly your perspective changes once you catch a decent fish.
I tried everything and I could think of, but nothing worked. It was luck that this fish bit.
I tried several different spinnerbaits before switching to a floating 2 1/2” silver/black jerkbait, which this fish hit on the third cast.
It fought surprisingly hard. It was a lot of fun, but I was reminded how much I hate landing smallmouth hooked on jerkbaits. I fear of those treble hooks.
Anyway, I thought I was onto something with the jerkbait, so I threw it for a while without anymore luck. After 30 mins I switched to this weird clear/gold spinnerbait I made and caught one about 10”.
On that note I decided to head home earlier than normal, wanting to leave while still feeling good about the couple nice fish I caught.
Small ones today | Monocacy River | Saturday, July 5, 2025 at 6:42 AM
Caught eight smallmouth today, but none big enough to brag about. The largest was about 12”. Most were 8”-10”.
The morning was absolutely beautiful. Perfect temperature, the water was a good height, clarity was good, but the fishing was very slow. You can never complain catching fish, but it was a grind. I thought the fishing would be good, but I just couldn’t figure things out. I tried multiple baits and approaches, nothing seemed to work. I feel like I was catching randoms here and there. They seemed to be spread out all over and didn’t want to bite anything in particular.
It’s possible there was a lot of action in the river yesterday on the 4th with people tubing and fishing. Last weekend the fishing was so good, maybe they’re just taking a break. Lol
16.25” Smallmouth | Monocacy River | Saturday, June 28, 2025 at 9:56 AM
Fun day in the water, caught a bunch of nice sized fish.
The river has been consistently high this year. I wasn’t able to fish the last two weeks. Today it finally fell enough that I could access some of my favorite spots. It felt great to fish some sections I’ve been missing.
The morning started really slow, but switched to steady action once I figured things out. The water was a lot muddier than the gauge suggested. It was also very cloudy in the early morning, so I switched to a black/clear spinner bait with a gold colorado blade to slow things down and be more visible. That did the trick.
The fish were bunched up very tight. If I hit one I’d catch another two or three in the same spot. I pulled six fish out of one little pocket along the bank.
I lost count of how many fish I caught, but more than 12. Most were 10”-11”, but caught two close to 13”.
This toad was nearly 16 1/2”. It was an angry fish and fought much harder than its size. I’m terrible at taking selfies, but it was nearly impossible with this fish shaking the entire time. It was heavy.
Today was a blast and I was so happy to be in the water. I must say I’m concerned by the lack of grass in the river this year. I’m very familiar with this part of the river, there is typically a lot of grass by now. Not sure why there’s so little this year, but I assume because of how consistently high and muddy it’s been. Hopefully it can grow back quickly if the rain starts letting up.
17.5” Smallmouth | Monocacy River | Saturday, June 7, 2025 at 7:07 AM
Not sure why I’m so terrible at taking selfies….this is me trying to smile. lol
Being waist deep in muddy water with a thrashing smallmouth in my hand may have something to do with it…
The fishing was great this morning. I’ve never caught so many large fish in such a short amount of time. I started with a 19-1/4” fish, then caught three ranging from 10” to 13” (which most Monocacy anglers would consider good size), then caught this beast. All within 25 minutes. It was crazy.
This fish fought harder than the 19 inch’r. It didn’t jump, but I haven’t had a fish strip line like this in a long time. I actually thought it was bigger until I measured it.
Smoke/clear compact spinnerbait rarely fails me.
I fished another hour after landing this one. They were holding in pockets along the bank. The current was pretty strong, so that’s not surprising. I caught a few more about 10”, but the rain just kept up, the river started rising, and I was getting cold. By 8am I was ready to call the day a win and head home while I was still stoked about catching these huge toads.
What a great few hours fishing (that almost didn’t happen).
19.25” Smallmouth | Monocacy River | Saturday, June 7, 2025 at 6:43 AM
I almost didn’t get in the river today, sure glad I did!
The Monocacy has been frustratingly high all spring. I’ve been hoping the rain would hold off this week so it would drop by Saturday. We had a few days of no rain, and as of Friday night things were looking 50/50 that the river would be safe.
I was upset to wake up this morning to light rain.
After coffee, I checked the gages and saw the river looked doable, barely, so I got in the car and headed to my spot. The rain picked up hard as I was driving. I was sure the river would quickly swell again. Dejected, I turned around and headed back home.
At a stop light I double checked the weather and it looked like the rain would slow down. The gage forecast showed the river holding a few hours without rising dramatically. Something told me to turn back and give it a go.
I parked, hiked to the section I wanted to fish, got in the water, and caught this monster within 20 minutes. Classic smallmouth fight the whole time, jumping, stripping line. It was a phenomenal experience I wont forget.
As it jumped, I thought it was the 20 inch’r I’ve been hunting. Not quite, but what an incredible fish.
In the photo it doesn’t look much bigger than the 18” smallie I caught last August, but it was significantly larger. Look at the size of its tail, what a beast! The largest smallmouth I’ve caught in the Monocacy, by far.
The Bluntnose Minnow compact spinnerbait strikes again, it is my G.O.A.T. bait for sure. I make a few variations of this that mimic bluntnose minnows and spottail shiners, which are common prey in the Monocacy. For whatever reason this one works the best for large smallmouth. I typically switch to a similar black/clear bait in the early morning or when the turbidity gets above 50. Sometimes I’ll switch to dark green/smoke or all black when it gets pea soup.
15” Smallmouth | Monocacy River | Monday, May 26, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Conditions were difficult today, but I was stoked to land this fish. It fought hard through some very strong current. I thought it was going to break off several times.
I caught another nice one about 12.5” and a bunch of little ones.
Bait of the day was a black & clear 3/16 oz compact spinnerbait with single deep cup colorado blade. I had to methodically pick apart the bank to find the fish. They were holding very tight in pockets along the shore to escape the current.
River depth and flow were at my absolute limit, and I wasn’t able to access my favorite spots in the section I was fishing. A couple times I got a little too deep and water started leaking into my waders through the chest pocket.
It was a cold, wet, and tiring morning, but super fun. I’ve been flooded out for several weeks, so I was happy to get in the water and catch some fish!
Four fun ones | Monocacy River | Saturday, April 26, 2025 at 8:22 AM
Caught a few today. Nothing to brag about, but a nice way to spend a few hours this morning.
3/16 compact spinnerbait was working. Started with a 1/8 oz Bitsy Bug then switched to a 2.75” floating jerk bait, no luck with either. Started catching on the smoke & clear spinnerbait pretty consistently until I had to head home. Seeing in the photo that this spinner is pretty beat up from last year, may be time to retire it. I like the smoke/brown scale/clear pattern when the water is just a little stained like it was today. This is definitely my favorite bait for the Monocacy. I catch most of my fish on 1/8 oz and 3/16 oz versions of this bait, by far.
Couple small ones | Monocacy River | Saturday, April 19, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Caught two about 11” on 2 1/2” floating jerk bait. I’m surprised the fishing wasn’t better.
Water height, flow, etc weren’t bad. I thought it would be decent, but couldn’t put it together to find the fish. The water was a little cold and clear, but I’ve caught decent fish in worse conditions before. It just wasn’t my day. Still better than sitting on the couch, lol.
14” Smallmouth | Monocacy River | Saturday, April 5, 2024 at 9:40’sh AM
Caught the fish on a 2.5” suspending jerk bait, natural green shad color w/hackle treble. I didn’t take a pic. Given it’s spawning season I wanted to get it back into water asap.
Gage height and discharge were pushing it for me & 3.2’ / 780 cfps.
Couple small ones | Monocacy River | Saturday, March 29, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Start of the season for me. Caught a couple under 10” on 3/16 oz spinnerbait. Water was low, warming up but still cold, and very clear. Tough conditions for me. Should’ve stuck with suspending jerk bait.
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