Captain America Posted February 25, 2015 Posted February 25, 2015 Hey, The itch to fish right now is way too strong for how frozen everything is... The river that runs through town has great smallmouth fishing, but I have never tried them in the winter. (This is a real live northern winter). Do any of you guys have experience with winter river smallies? How/ where do you catch them? Quote
EvanT123 Posted February 25, 2015 Posted February 25, 2015 I have experience with fishing the river but don't have any experience catching lol. Hopefully someone will be along to help you out. 1 Quote
Steveo-1969 Posted February 25, 2015 Posted February 25, 2015 I have experience with fishing the river but don't have any experience catching lol. Hopefully someone will be along to help you out. Ditto. I've been fishing my river every weekend and haven't caught a smallmouth since October 26th. Not that I'm keeping track or anything. Hopefully someone can help you. 1 Quote
MrM_vs_Wild Posted February 26, 2015 Posted February 26, 2015 There is an article posted on Bass Resources by a man named Jeff Little. Its called Afflicted: A Primer for Winter Smallmouth. He produced a good video too if you can find it on youtube. The key to catching winter smallmouth is locating where they go for their winter haunts. What this means for anglers is that it is important to fish that river extensively in October and November, recording data on where you are catching fish. What Little has done, is every time he caught a fish, he put down a way point. When you put all of the way points together on a map of the river, you can see exactly how their locations migrate towards a consolidate area. Now obviously the knowledge of knowing where the fish go doesn't guarantee that you will catch them... Warmer or rainy days will often lead to more action. Little gives a much more thorough explanation, but if you are interested in getting into winter smallies you gotta put in the work. Quote
MSWV Posted March 3, 2015 Posted March 3, 2015 I love to fish for Winter smallmouth! I struggled for years on getting the hang of it but I feel like Im getting better each year. I dont really think there was any major contributing factor that helped me start catching them but there were several small factors.. Ive learned what kind of holes hold winter smallmouth.. I used to fish a lot of pools that were actually empty during winter.. Also, Ive learned to slow down.. During a spring or summer float I may fish all day and cover 6-12 miles but during winter, Ill float 1-3 miles in a day and really only concentrate on 2-3 areas.. Id say the most important factor to catching winter smallmouth is having confidence that they can be caught. Once I got the confidence, I felt like I could get bit on the nastiest, coldest days of the year.. Quote
Ozark_Basser Posted March 4, 2015 Posted March 4, 2015 Find some deep pools with no current. If they have boulders or any wood cover, you should find some fish. I've been doing all right on jigs fished SLOW. Quote
BigSkyBasser Posted March 4, 2015 Posted March 4, 2015 Up in Montana the smallies will suspend on deep jagged rock ledges and we usually target them with Jigs and drop shot in the winter. And reiterating that fishing slow is crucial. The cool part about winter fishing is you will find yourself catching less fish, but they will be significantly larger on average than in any other season. Once the water starts warming up I'll toss lipless cranks in a brown or dark red and slay em. Quote
jhoffman Posted March 4, 2015 Posted March 4, 2015 If you can find a power plant on the river or treatment facility that has a warm water discharge it will stack every bass in the river for miles. I know of one that no joke three men including myself hooked over 200 bass one morning. The fish were sooooo aggressive I caught one on a piece of pepperjack cheese off a sandwich and a red piece of a plastic bag. I have never in my life seen anything quite like it. I talk about going every year but its a 2.5 hour drive from my house and my fear without having liquid water at home is the boat wouldnt crank. If I had a fuel injected motor id not worry nearly as much. Im sure you think I am lying, I mean who would believe what I just told you. But I lived it, if you can match that condition it will be a day you will never forget. Quote
Preytorien Posted March 4, 2015 Posted March 4, 2015 I've had zero luck. Mine all suspend in deep pools, facing upstream. According to the old timers around here, if those fish are facing upstream, you're better off throwing your lure into a swimming pool to catch fish. Quote
jhoffman Posted March 4, 2015 Posted March 4, 2015 I've had zero luck. Mine all suspend in deep pools, facing upstream. According to the old timers around here, if those fish are facing upstream, you're better off throwing your lure into a swimming pool to catch fish. The majority of fish face upstream in moving water, it requires less movements to hold position. Fish pitch and yaw like a plane in current to maintain position. A fast current is actually less taxing on a fish than stagnant water. In water thats not moving, every fin must work to maintain position. When it appears a fish is not facing upstream in water its usually a tumble or eddy effect below the surface that is pushing the water up current. Quote
Preytorien Posted March 4, 2015 Posted March 4, 2015 The majority of fish face upstream in moving water, it requires less movements to hold position. Fish pitch and yaw like a plane in current to maintain position. A fast current is actually less taxing on a fish than stagnant water. In water thats not moving, every fin must work to maintain position. When it appears a fish is not facing upstream in water its usually a tumble or eddy effect below the surface that is pushing the water up current. That makes sense. I figured it had something to do with expending as little energy while in winter. What techniques work for these guys? I've tried jigs, tubes, flukes, etc. and all fished painfully slow. Nothin..... Quote
jhoffman Posted March 4, 2015 Posted March 4, 2015 I think its like anything you gotta get one to bite(fire up the school) and then you can lay into them. I dont fish a lot of cold moving water for bass but id go ultra small and slow moving if theres no warm water to up the appetite. My first choice would be a tube or suspending jerkbait on smallmouth. When I was on them at the warm water discharge we drop shotted them. 1 Quote
Super User roadwarrior Posted March 5, 2015 Super User Posted March 5, 2015 Rage Tail Baby Craw T-rigged. Quote
Zach Nute Posted March 5, 2015 Posted March 5, 2015 It all depends on current, also it depends on water clarity. If the river has a slow flow, I would throw a hair jig.. If its moving a little quicker, I would throw a Reins 4" FAT Rockvibe Shad on swimbait jighead. I live in CT so our winter has been rough as well. If you have any other questions feel free to message me!! Quote
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