All living creatures respond to seasonal changes. As water temperatures will plunge throughout October month, we must respond accordingly and slide deeper to the depth levels where smallmouths will be.

  The invasive Round Goby invasion of the Great Lakes in the 1990’s shaped smallmouth fisheries forever. Their abundance and blanket of the lake bottom transformed what were once pedestrian and average 2-to-3-pound fish into megalodon specimens now surpassing 7-and-8 pounds. Their infinite food supply continues to this day, where gobies fuel the smallmouth’s sustenance,

  “Assuming it’s safe to get out there, how late in the year is smallmouth fishing still potentially good?” asked a Lake Ontario-based angler, at one of the many Facebook smallmouth fishing pages I follow behind the scenes.

  Trip after trip, and the later we got into September month, the smallmouth bite was steadily improving it seemed.

  We’ve all observed that guy shore fishing from the river bank, or standing at the front deck of his boat, who’s brought with him all the gear he owns. He’s got so much shit laying around everywhere, that he doesn’t know what to do. You’d wonder whether he has a hoarding problem, or didn’t