River Smallies Testing My Patience 2024
Preytorien reply :
My favorite fishing hole has now become the bane of my frustration. The smallies have started to stage in the deeper pools and those fella's will NOT hit a thing. I've thrown the entirety of my tackle at them....nada. I THINK I got a bite on a senko, but it could've been the hook slightly catching a rock or something. Tough time of year.
Anything else I could try?
Snakehead Whisperer reply :
Try being more stealthy. Think like a trout angler.
If they are holding in a relatively deep spot and there is little surface distortion to the water above them, they can see you from a long ways away. Try being conscious of your shadow and stay low.
You also might want to try something with a really small profile like a 3-4" soft plastic, and fish it sloooow.
Just an idea.
Scott F reply :
I've been fishing considerably farther north than where you are and we've been doing very well in shallow water. I would not waste my time fishing for deep inactive fish when the big girls are feeding shallow. I've been getting them in all the spots you would expect a bass to be sitting. Along current seams, next to downed wood, even in fast riffles. From where I am in Northern Illinois all the way to the UP, me and my smallmouth club buddies are catching some big river smallmouth right now.
bowhunter63 reply :
This year on the river has been awful for Smallmouth.Largemouth and spots are hammering but smallies are few and far between.It rained all spring and we had major floods.Going this weekend gonna try Rage craws,War Eagle spinner baits and whacky worms.Hope i can find some.
Hogsticker reply :
You're not alone. Then again I never do very good for smallies this time of year. Late August through mid October anyways. I know they're there, they just don't want to play. Try downsizing your Senko type bait to a trick style worm or flick shake type. Use the lightest weight you can get away with or weightless if possible.
roadwarrior reply :
http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/163835-its-on-at-pickwick/
FryDog62 reply :
I have found the river smallies in my area to really relate only to rocks, boulders, rip-rap in the Fall. Other times of year I do fish around wood, brush, lay-downs, etc. But I catch squat in those areas once the leaves start to turn. Again, we're talking Minnesota, your area may be different.
The other thing is I switch off between 2 baits. One is a 5-6 inch sucker minnow, the second is a white 5 inch Yamasenko. In the darker river water and lower light conditions of the Fall, that light/bright color (officially called Blue Pearl Silver Flake) has actually outfished the live bait on more than one occasion. Smallies seem to be more oriented to the color white than largemouth in my experience. I've been hammering them lately... maybe worth a try. All the fish below were caught in the last week on that worm when other options were not working...
PatrickKnight reply :
I hit the river near me last weekend (Great Miami about 50 miles up stream from the Ohio) and the only thing I could get any bites on were 4 inch green pumpkin grubs on 1/8 oz jig heads. I would cast up stream and reel just fast enough to keep them off the bottom, all my bites came as the grub smacked a rock.
smalljaw67 reply :
I fish the Susquehanna river and right now the water temps are fluctuating in an extreme manner, mid to upper 60s by late afternoon and falling into the low 50s by daybreak, and it is making for fish with a serious case of lockjaw. Scott F is exactly right, if there are going to be any active fish, they will be shallow, look for shallow pools and flats near riffles and run a shallow crank and as a back up I'd keep a wacky rigged 3" senko, the crank will pick off the most active fish and the senko will get the less active fish.
Spankey reply :
I have not thrown a crank bait or spinnerbaits in weeks. Slow things down with some soft plastics. If you think your going slow enough. Slow down a bit more. The smaller or juvenile fish seem to hit harder. The larger fish when hooked seem to be slower but noticeably heavier. 3" to 5" plastics has been my choice. Worms, craws and grubs in baitfish type colors. Will be out in the am hopefully this is still the case. This is how I'm starting out.
bigbill reply :
The rebel crawfish crankbaits the smaller ones run shallow or deep. In chartruese the bass love them in rivers and streams. I find the panther Martin's #4 silver blade yellow/orange dressed with the red teaser. I scale down my bait size. I cast out farther then my target hole, backwash or exposed rock and bring my bait to it. Depending on how big your river is. Smallies like the joesfly in his 1/4oz bass size in firetiger apache. Just reel it slow enough to spin the blade.
Spankey reply :
Though I don't fish it very often anymore (idiot for not fishing it more often) I wish I had a dollar for every smallie I caught on my Black with Chartreuse Belly craw floater diver.
smalljaw67 reply :
On 10/29/2015 at 7:03 AM, Spankey said:Though I don't fish it very often anymore (idiot for not fishing it more often) I wish I had a dollar for every smallie I caught on my Black with Chartreuse Belly craw floater diver.
The Rebel craw that was all black with the chartreuse belly was a known secret in the late 80s and early 90s on the Susquehanna and Juniata rivers. If you were fishing and it was tough, that bait would catch fish, I got away from them for 2 reasons, the first reason is Rebel discontinued the color, I traveled to 24 different tackle shops across the state to buy all the ones I could find and I managed to only get 11 of them as most river anglers knew of that color pattern. The other reason I got away from them was they were notorious dink magnets, I loved them when we couldn't buy a strike on any other bait because it saved our day quite a few times but all the years we fished it I only caught 3 decent sized bass on them but perhaps it was due to me only using it on the toughest of days. You are the first person I ever saw mention that bait on a forum, it brings back a lot of memories for me.
Spankey reply :
You are dead on they were a dink magnet. But, there were times I caught 30 smallies with it before 9:00 am. I'm not complaining it was fun. I think back on it many a day. I'm glad I didn't give them away. I have 2 of them.
I like to talk colors. Lures, patterns.I have nothing to hide. I hope this site is more open than others, I don't have anything to hide as to where I fish either. Public water, public ramps.
River Smallies site was great years ago. That site is ruined now days. It has nothing compared to here.
Junebugman reply :
Try a drop shot rig with a big fathead minnow use a circle hook you wont hook em deep this way or for the shallower ones 10 ft or less a #1 thill center slider with a circle hook I bought some mustad ultra point circle octupus #4s had real good luck with those. Good luck! P.s. I know a lot of you are against live bait but rigged right you won't deep hook fish all my smallies have been top of mouth or side of mouth.
scaleface reply :
Rocket Shad , I like to let it sink to the bottom , then simply , slowly reel it in .
Hurricane reply :
Spinnerbait, crankbaits, and the ned rig..
jjnosal@msn.com reply :
3" senko on drop shot worked in Pa.river this week
Preytorien reply :
All great suggestions, I've had varying luck with most of these ideas.
We're in strange conditions here in Indiana.....mid 60's tomorrow....I'll be wading the river the next morning. While the water will be cold, the air will be warm.
Not sure what to use now...I'm even more stumped. Ha!
everythingthatswims reply :
On 12/11/2015 at 3:16 AM, Preytorien said:All great suggestions, I've had varying luck with most of these ideas.
We're in strange conditions here in Indiana.....mid 60's tomorrow....I'll be wading the river the next morning. While the water will be cold, the air will be warm.
Not sure what to use now...I'm even more stumped. Ha!
Shad rap!!!
Preytorien reply :
On 12/11/2015 at 10:11 PM, everythingthatswims said:Shad rap!!!
Eh river is very shallow right now. Even a shallow squarebill will be digging up trenches on the bottom.
everythingthatswims reply :
On 12/12/2015 at 1:11 AM, Preytorien said:Eh river is very shallow right now. Even a shallow squarebill will be digging up trenches on the bottom.
On 12/12/2015 at 1:11 AM, Preytorien said:Eh river is very shallow right now. Even a shallow squarebill will be digging up trenches on the bottom.
Get a rebel floater in the small size, has the same tight wobble as a shad rap and runs super shallow. If it's that shallow the smallies have probably headed to a wintering hole, if you find them you find them all.
Preytorien reply :
Oddly enough, a 1/4oz white colorado bladed spinnerbait was the winner. They seemed to love it. They were up close to the banks, out of the flowing water, which was odd for this time of year, but the water WAS a bit under 50F. Who knows, our weather this year probably has them a bit mixed up. Works for me though!
HoosierHawgs reply :
On 12/11/2015 at 10:11 PM, everythingthatswims said:Shad rap!!!
"Dock Talk" near me is that the Shad Rap on a slow retrieve is getting the job done.
Josh Smith reply :
On 12/15/2015 at 9:45 PM, Preytorien said:Oddly enough, a 1/4oz white colorado bladed spinnerbait was the winner. They seemed to love it. They were up close to the banks, out of the flowing water, which was odd for this time of year, but the water WAS a bit under 50F. Who knows, our weather this year probably has them a bit mixed up. Works for me though!
What, if any, trailer?
Josh
Preytorien reply :
On 12/18/2015 at 1:29 AM, Josh Smith said:What, if any, trailer?
Josh
I didn't use a trailer. Just a plain ole' 1/4oz white spinnerbait.
webertime reply :
On 10/17/2015 at 5:48 AM, FryDog62 said:I have found the river smallies in my area to really relate only to rocks, boulders, rip-rap in the Fall. Other times of year I do fish around wood, brush, lay-downs, etc. But I catch squat in those areas once the leaves start to turn. Again, we're talking Minnesota, your area may be different.
The other thing is I switch off between 2 baits. One is a 5-6 inch sucker minnow, the second is a white 5 inch Yamasenko. In the darker river water and lower light conditions of the Fall, that light/bright color (officially called Blue Pearl Silver Flake) has actually outfished the live bait on more than one occasion. Smallies seem to be more oriented to the color white than largemouth in my experience. I've been hammering them lately... maybe worth a try. All the fish below were caught in the last week on that worm when other options were not working...
Relating to rocks as the temperature drops is a common trait. Rocks hold heat more/longer than wood. Bait will relate to the warmer area.
Buckeye Ron reply :
Here in NW Ohio we're having record temperatures into the high 60's. Wouldn't surprise me to find smallmouth congregating around clumps of boulders or even near the banks eating worms that are available now.
Mosster47 reply :
Every region is different but white in the winter is the ticket here. A 3" white with silver flake tube T-rigged on an 1/8th of an ounce rarely fails. Fish it slowwww.
related Smallmouth Bass Fishing topic
previous topic
© 2024 - fishing.qciss.net. All Rights Reserved.