Quest For The 4 Lb Creek Smallie

[wuchr20]

I've never caught a creek smallie but my friend has caught a cutthroat trout that was 18 inches

[everythingthatswims]

  Judging from the posts in this thread, creek smallies tend to max out at a certain size dependent on the body of water (a size that is below what they can reach in lakes and larger rivers), and the 4lb fish you are hunting is definitely a high caliber of fish to target for your area.

 

  I fish a small river/creek near my house and each spring I have a location that will produce half a dozen or so smallies in the 17-19" range but NEVER anything over that. I usually get them the last week in April and the first week in may, then they get on beds and I leave them alone. Won't be much longer now!

[gall]

actually depending they can get bigger or in my case they push in from the river for a period of time and the venture back out to the river and vice versa and the Susquehanna is a known smallmouth water system that has large smallmouth 

[danno054]

Awesome thread. I'm on the same quest. It will be 10 years this summer since I broke 4lbs mark on small mouth in an Arkansas creek. People in other parts of the country don't understand why we get pumped up about catching a 3 pound Smb in a creek around here. Good Luck!

[Ozark_Basser]

Awesome thread. I'm on the same quest. It will be 10 years this summer since I broke 4lbs mark on small mouth in an Arkansas creek. People in other parts of the country don't understand why we get pumped up about catching a 3 pound Smb in a creek around here. Good Luck!

It's been a good while for me as well. Hopefully break it again this summer when I float Rush to Buffalo City.

[danno054]

It's been a good while for me as well. Hopefully break it again this summer when I float Rush to Buffalo City.

Very nice. Are you going to do that in 2 or 3 days? Deeper water on that end.

[Ozark_Basser]

Very nice. Are you going to do that in 2 or 3 days? Deeper water on that end.

I plan on doing it in late June or early July, so depending on water levels, it could be anywhere from 3-4 days. Should be fun.

[Drew03cmc]

Awesome thread. I'm on the same quest. It will be 10 years this summer since I broke 4lbs mark on small mouth in an Arkansas creek. People in other parts of the country don't understand why we get pumped up about catching a 3 pound Smb in a creek around here. Good Luck!

You are exactly right. For some reason, perhaps the relative infertility of the streams, the top end size is anywhere from 19"-22".

[danno054]

So i tied my first jigs to help me on my quest. I'm messing with colors, pumpkin and tan with brown patches is what a lot of the craw fish in our creeks look like. The reason I'm doing this is because the selection for small jigs that are high quality and in good colors seems to be very limited. These are 1/4 and 3/16 oz heads in like 1 and 2 books. Just wanted to get you guys thoughts. They are about 44 strand jigs. I think they are a little bulky and I'll probably end up in the mid 30s.

Cut me some slack these are the first jigs I've ever tied!!

[Ozark_Basser]

Those will work for sure. I make my own too. I like an even thicker skirt to slow the fall sometimes. Like 60 strands depending on color lol. Probably too thick sometimes, but I have a bunch of different ones with varying strand counts, one of the benefits of making your own I guess.

I'm going to hit the buffalo at night sometime this weekend. I'll probably start out with this color with a beaver trailer in gp.

[danno054]

Those will work for sure. I make my own too. I like an even thicker skirt to slow the fall sometimes. Like 60 strands depending on color lol. Probably too thick sometimes, but I have a bunch of different ones with varying strand counts, one of the benefits of making your own I guess.

I'm going to hit the buffalo at night sometime this weekend. I'll probably start out with this color with a beaver trailer in gp.

What side head and hook is that? That's a great color

[Ozark_Basser]

That one is probably 3/8 oz with a 4/0 and its an arky style head. This is also my favorite size for throwing in the creeks. It's a little heavier than most people throw around here, but I like it for a lot of reasons. I can bomb it in long, deep holes with a medium heavy. This is especially good when fishing from shore. It doesn't get washed away in the current as easily. The 4/0 hook will make it harder to hook the smaller ones, but oh well lol. If they aren't big enough to eat it, I don't care to catch them. The splash is kind of a downside, but if I can get in there pretty softly, or I'll just skip it in. Also, the arky head makes it a lot easier to skip.

[danno054]

Exactly. I'll tie that size on if I'm floating. I always get a funny look throwing my bait casting rod out of the canoe!!

[Ozark_Basser]

Let em look lol. If they've never took a baitcaster out there and thrown some bigger baits, they are missing out.

[clayton86]

I get them every year here's a couple I've got wading and kayaking te same creek.

[Ozark_Basser]

Those are some nice fish! I wish our creek fish got that fat. Usually an 18" fish is 3 lbs and a 20" fish is 4 lbs. It really doesn't deviate from those length to weight ratios very often. On the lower Buffalo River, you can catch some with some girth, but I've yet to see one as fat as those fish in your pictures. What is their main food source?

[clayton86]

Crawfish I'd guess and gobies. These are all caught in johnsons creek it's off Lake Ontario in Orleans county ny. That 4-12 hog was caught about .5 mile from the mouth of the creek meets the lake. Mostly 1-3' deep and maybe 30' across at the widest spot.

[Ozark_Basser]

That 4-12 is a toad no matter where it was caught. We don't have gobies here, but we have sculpins. They sorta look like gobies.

[danno054]

Very nice that's a fish to be real proud of. Like jiggin said those fish are tall and fat and we're a bit jealous.

[danno054]

Jiggin' how's your creek jig rod set up?

[Ozark_Basser]

Jiggin' how's your creek jig rod set up?

Rod: North Fork Composites 709 HM. I built it.

Reel: Curado I 7.2:1

Line: 50-60# braid with a 14-16# fluoro leader

It's the same setup I use to throw jigs everywhere. I fish from the bank a lot in ponds and I also fish the lakes when my boat is running lol. If I had a jig set up just for the creek it would probably be a 6'6" MH with everything else the same.

[danno054]

Rain rain go away

[Ozark_Basser]

Rain rain go away

No joke. Its getting about that time for me. Crooked Creek is calling my name. I have the Rush to Buffalo City trip planned for July. I hope there will be enough current. I'd hate to paddle 23 miles straight lol.

[danno054]

No joke. Its getting about that time for me. Crooked Creek is calling my name. I have the Rush to Buffalo City trip planned for July. I hope there will be enough current. I'd hate to paddle 23 miles straight lol.

do you think the crazy water fluctuations have jacked with the spawn?

[Ozark_Basser]

do you think the crazy water fluctuations have jacked with the spawn?

I'd say so. I caught a nice fish in late June one year that was full of eggs, probably due to high water in the spring. I'm sure in some parts of the river they've found somewhere to spawn without current though.