Winter Crik Smallie Advice

[gall]

at my local crik ive still been fishing for smalles but now the water is down to around 42 degrees. my question is what baits would you throw and where would you work ive been trying to stick to the deeper waters which is anywhere from 4-8ft deep in slower current waters any advice would be great thanks

[d3bf48]

Hair jigs, case helgies, and tiny paca craws have worked for me in cold water (less than 40).

[gall]

i used a lot of baby paca craws over the summer with great results and for the craws and jigs how do you work them? and lastly what are case helgies i know helgies i use smaller ones for trout

[Bluebasser86]

i used a lot of baby paca craws over the summer with great results and for the craws and jigs how do you work them? and lastly what are case helgies i know helgies i use smaller ones for trout

It's a brand of plastic hellgramites. In really cold water everything moves slowly. Usually lots of soaking and dragging and very few small hops will get most of your bites in the winter. You may try something like a float-n-fly also. Suspend the jig just off the bottom and let the current carry it around rocks and log jams. Don't move it or make it do anything except maybe a couple very small twitches when it comes through high percentage areas. Don't expect the bobber to shoot under, it will just dip slightly or stop drifting with the current.

[gall]

thanks for the advice i looked into the float and fly and what size rod do you run for it? i saw a lot of guys say 8ft and what not would a crappie ultra light work?

[Bluebasser86]

A longer rod makes casting and setting the hook easier. Most of the time the float and fly is used in deeper lakes where the fly may be set over 10' deep so the longer rod is the only way you can even cast it. If the water you're fishing is just a smaller creek and only 8' deep in the deepest pools you could probably get away with a 7' M/L or light rod.

[gall]

ok thank you so much for the advice im gonna have to try it out cause here in the north east water temp drops quick

[tytay89]

Use a bobber and a small bobby garland works well for me til the spring, " float n fly" don't get to caught up in the rig just attach a small bobber with a leader about couple inches too 3 foot depending on depth

[Hanover_Yakker]

Presentation size can be critical. Many of my kayaking friends in the MD/PA region use small profile soft plastics and basically dead stick them. We're talking about 2" tubes, 2.5" craws, 3" stickbaits, baby flukes, etc. They will cast them beyond the top of a seam current and let it slowly work back towards them right into the current break and wait. Another lure to consider is a LC Pointer 67/78 and be prepared for L-O-N-G pauses with very subtle twitches. Sometimes the pause is in excess of 30 seconds or more. The trick here is the concept of who blinks first, you or the fish. If you blink or twitch the bait to soon, the fish wins.

[gall]

thanks for the advice ive been throwing out a size 8 or 10 husky jerk cant remember the exact size but its small the only draw back is it slowly raises back up instead of suspending and it seems like the fall fish love it

[Crestliner2008]

A Case Helgy is a fine cold water bait, fished under a slip bobber. So is the 3" Senko, wacky rigged and presented in similar fashion. Slow & steady are prerequisites in these conditions. But even more is location. In winter, smallies tend to stack behind wing dams close to the main dam basin in deep holes. Find the fish first, then make them an offer they can't refuse!