When’s the perfect time to go fishing for sloppy smallmouth? 

Simple: Any chance you get. 

And while we can hope for perfect conditions, expect to find completely different at the boat ramp. Yes, Mother Nature can be fickle, dishing out an obstacle course of variables one must navigate to catch fish on any given day. Reduced water clarity after rainfall, big jumps in water temperature, high or low water, vegetation run wild, or, floating debris in the form of dead vegetation and leaves… stuff that can make fishing many go-to smallmouth bass presentations practically impossible. 

But what’s the saying? When the going gets tough, the tough get going? Or at least kick it into four-wheel drive and improvise.

Here, Al Lindner and Mark Fisher chase smallmouth bass as late summer transitions to early fall. They encounter a challenging bite that forces the duo to think outside the box of conventional smallmouth bass tactics. Going after sloppy smallmouth bass with hollow-body frogs catch more than largemouth in the slop… they double-duty on big smallmouth bass — especially in debris-filled waters. 

Al and Fisher also take to clear, open-water areas with a new Rapala jerk bait design called the RipStop, completing a wicked one-two punch.

The perfect day to fish is any chance you get.