Smallies like watermelon!

Bex first Pike!

15" smallie caught on white speckle tube

Watermelon tubes that is! I've been reading up on the early season habits of river small mouth and the general consensus is to fish bright plastics like a tube or craw fish with a somewhat slower then normal retrieve. After some trial and error with tube color and retrieve speed and technique, the fish definitely responded to a slow retrieve with either a white or watermelon colored tube. My wife boated her first pike along with a few nice small mouth. Good times.