Not quite a dinner plate

[RUGER]

I called him a 9 1/2" salad plate.
Kind of a cookie cutter but he sure was thick and for some reason I thought he was just really cool looking.
Heck of a fighter too.

 

[Iglow]

Nice!!! That's a thick necked gal!

 

[East TN Bowhunter]

Another month or 2 I will hopefully be catching some like that! Where and how do you catch them this early? Pond or lake fishing?

 

[WTM]

#bumphead

 

[RUGER]

Another month or 2 I will hopefully be catching some like that! Where and how do you catch them this early? Pond or lake fishing?

Both pond and lake.
This one came from a pond.
My go to is a 1" Berkley Gulp minnow on a 1/64th ounce trout magnet head.
I will also catch them on a little fly a buddy made up for me.
Until the water warms up some more I just use a slow steady retrieve.
When it gets warmer I will add the twitch twitch deal.

This is my rig.
Smelt color