Prespawn river fishing

[stk44]

I haven't fished rivers much within the past 3-5 years and I'm trying to get back into it. Would someone please be able to point me in the right direction as far as fishing this area in the pre-spawn?

Currently, the water is 50 degrees and it's your standard mixed and matched spring weather. Where would some typical pre-spawn spots be? I was thinking to fish the downstream points of the islands to start. What else is worth hitting? Also, where would the bass go in this particular area to spawn?

 

This point SW of the islands may be worth looking at as well:

 

Thoughts?

[sprint61]

Don't over think river fishing. Just go out and fish current breaks and you will catch fish. 

[Turkey sandwich]

Pay attention to current as well as depth. Winter bass may stay deep, but they're really seeking out slow current.  As they feed in cold water, they'll move towards the current seams bordering slack water (that point comes to mind, but also pay attention to structure like islands that break current on or near a bend).  

 

As bass move into pre-spawn, they're most likely going to be pushing from the slack current into some of the more prime feeding positions around current moving towards ideal spawning ground.  Ideal spawning ground is slow to moderate current in 2-6' of water over gravel beds.  It's important to know where they're coming from and where they're going.  

So, the two things the map doesn't show that makes a huge impact are water level/current flow and bottom composition.  These are also things that can change year to year. So, the shallow side of Sycamore Island may be used for spawning, but unlikely if that water is less than 2' deep and super fast.  I would check out the outside of Nine Mile Island and the back of the island where it tapers into the main pool. Similar, I would check the bottom of Sycamore island.  For spawning area, I probably wouldn't overlook those docks, either.

 

Pre-spawn is all about finding feeder areas close to those bedding areas.  My thpughts on pre-spawn: the bottom of the shallow run above Sycamore Island, the side of Sycamore Island exposed to the channel, the east side of 9 Mile Island, the docks,  and possibly that point.  

 

 

 

[stk44]

On April 5, 2016 at 11:16 PM, Turkey sandwich said:

Pay attention to current as well as depth. Winter bass may stay deep, but they're really seeking out slow current.  As they feed in cold water, they'll move towards the current seams bordering slack water (that point comes to mind, but also pay attention to structure like islands that break current on or near a bend).  

 

As bass move into pre-spawn, they're most likely going to be pushing from the slack current into some of the more prime feeding positions around current moving towards ideal spawning ground.  Ideal spawning ground is slow to moderate current in 2-6' of water over gravel beds.  It's important to know where they're coming from and where they're going.  

So, the two things the map doesn't show that makes a huge impact are water level/current flow and bottom composition.  These are also things that can change year to year. So, the shallow side of Sycamore Island may be used for spawning, but unlikely if that water is less than 2' deep and super fast.  I would check out the outside of Nine Mile Island and the back of the island where it tapers into the main pool. Similar, I would check the bottom of Sycamore island.  For spawning area, I probably wouldn't overlook those docks, either.

 

Pre-spawn is all about finding feeder areas close to those bedding areas.  My thpughts on pre-spawn: the bottom of the shallow run above Sycamore Island, the side of Sycamore Island exposed to the channel, the east side of 9 Mile Island, the docks,  and possibly that point.  

 

 

 

 

Thank you very much for the help. I will pick a few of the spots that you've mentioned and fish them after this cold front passes. I fish out of a SOT kayak so I try not to fish much below 50 degrees or alone for that matter. I'll let you know how I do! 

Also, what do you think the best search bait is around the 50 degree mark? I was thinking to have a rod with a husky jerk, one with a grub and one with a lipless crank. Thoughts? 

[Turkey sandwich]

3 hours ago, stk44 said:

Thank you very much for the help. I will pick a few of the spots that you've mentioned and fish them after this cold front passes. I fish out of a SOT kayak so I try not to fish much below 50 degrees or alone for that matter. I'll let you know how I do! 

Also, what do you think the best search bait is around the 50 degree mark? I was thinking to have a rod with a husky jerk, one with a grub and one with a lipless crank. Thoughts? 

Those are good options.  A lot comes down to conditions and personal preference.  Don't rule out Crankbaits in a craw pattern, perch, or fire tiger patterns (depending upon water color) or spinner baits. Let me know where you're finding them!

[stk44]

On April 7, 2016 at 1:03 AM, Turkey sandwich said:

Those are good options.  A lot comes down to conditions and personal preference.  Don't rule out Crankbaits in a craw pattern, perch, or fire tiger patterns (depending upon water color) or spinner baits. Let me know where you're finding them!

Well, it's late prespawn, water temp is 59 degrees. I hooked into ( yes only hooked into...) 2 nice smallmouth on a 6th sense 50x in craw. The one was in about 8 feet of water 2/3 of the way down 9 mile island on the east side. The other was in a small barely visible island just 50 yards north of 9 mile island in about 12-16 inches of water on a tube. I'm going to try the channel side of 9 mile, I received word that that side is rockier. 

Would the bass spawn around the shallows of the island? Or would they prefer being closer to shore? 

[Turkey sandwich]

You want a soft, shallow bottom (3-5' is ideal) protected from current, but with close access to current and depth.  Position your boat in the shallow, slow water and fish the current seams bordering deeper water.  That's where you're most likely to find the females who are either just about to spawn or resting/feeding during the spawning process.  

[stk44]

4 hours ago, Turkey sandwich said:

You want a soft, shallow bottom (3-5' is ideal) protected from current, but with close access to current and depth.  Position your boat in the shallow, slow water and fish the current seams bordering deeper water.  That's where you're most likely to find the females who are either just about to spawn or resting/feeding during the spawning process.  

How soft of a bottom are we talking? I don't think a mud or silty bottom is what your talking about right? 

[Turkey sandwich]

It can be, depending upon the river you're fishing.  Ideal spawning sites are all relative to the water you're fishing, but smallmouth are willing to travel if better areas are available.  Mud and silt can be good if there's also cover.  For example, soft bottoms with weeds in slack current with near proximity to depth/current can be great.  Gravel with weeds can also be really good.  Think soft to small rocks with vegetation over boulders.  (I kind of wish I shot video of this over the weekend)

 

So, places worth checking out:

-soft bottom or gravel shallows protected by points or islands.  Big bonus if there's rocks, trees, weeds along the current seam. (Females will stage in these areas and feed pre-spawn, but also use them to rest and feed while males guard the bed)

- a shallow oxbow can be excellent so long as it's not barren. 

- creek mouths - great staging point earlier in pre-spawn.  look for creeks with reasonable depth, slower current, and soft bottoms where they enter the river.  Spawning may take place up the creek along cover lined banks.  

 

 

[Turkey sandwich]

 Both of those islands are mud along the main channel, but have shaped out a bit more since this picture was taken to provide more of a break from the main current.  Not far off the main channel side (the right side in the pic) the soft bottom extends 10-25 feet off of the main island until it hits current.  The river drops from 2-5' on the mud/weeds to 6-10' in the current with large rocks, logs, etc providing current breaks along this line.  The current breaks are visible as eddies and surface swirls.  

 

Also, that channel dissecting the island is worth fishing as well as the entire tail section on the channel side of the bottom island.  The channel dissecting the island is gravel, but the backside of the first island is washed out mud with windfall and weeds.  

 

 

 

 

 

[Turkey sandwich]

Also, I somehow forgot to mention a small jig and craw.  Last weekend a Bitsy Bug and Bitsy Craw put something like 5 fish in the boat between 16-19.75".

[stk44]

Thanks for the advice. This is very thorough and I feel like I'm learning a lot with these in depth responses.

I tried to fish all around 9 mile island today. We had a slight cold front and the water slipped from almost 60 degrees on Thursday to 56-57 degrees today. I fished every part of the island from 1-10 feet. I tried an 8 feet CB, a 3-5 squarebill crank, HJ 08 and HJ10, 1/2 oz spinner bait. No luck and I fished for about 4 hours.  I started shallow flats along the island, then I fished the current seams at the drop offs. I fished every piece of cover that I could find- logs, lay downs, etc. Not sure what I'm doing wrong lol 

On 4/29/2016 at 8:27 AM, Turkey sandwich said:

Also, I somehow forgot to mention a small jig and craw.  Last weekend a Bitsy Bug and Bitsy Craw put something like 5 fish in the boat between 16-19.75".

I'm going to have to give a jig n craw a try. I don't have many finesse jigs, would a 3/8 Picasso spider jig be effective for catching SM? Or would smaller profile be the ticket?

[Turkey sandwich]

I'm glad these are helping you get a better picture.  Current and depth dictates jig size, but 1/8-3/16 cover most scenarios.  The craw trailer should match local crayfish size. It can really help to match the hatch. 

 

Also, fish are going to look for the best spawning sites. We floated 5-6 miles of river and were only getting hit on 3-4 spots.  A big part of pre-spawn into spawn is just finding fish.  Other spots worth watching are those docks and the current seam off of that point.  You should look at the river within a few miles of these islands if this area isn't producing.  

[stk44]

Thanks. I fish out of a kayak so I cant cover a ton of water, but it sure beats fishing one spot from shore. 

I am going to try sycamore this week and then try the docks and that point. Thanks again for the help! 

[Turkey sandwich]

Any luck so far?

[stk44]

 

I haven't been out yet. Hopefully I'll have time this weekend. 

[stk44]

My buddy and I went out today. We fished about 8 hours-first full fishing trip this year. We caught close to 20 fish total and lost probably 10 more including one musky that I lost on 8lb test. Only had 3 fish around the islands. Went to a different shoreline close to the island where my buddy caught three fish when switching to a minnow style crank. Once I switched to a minnow rap, I hooked a Muskie on the first cast and caught maybe 6 or 7 more smallmouth. Lost a couple that looked to be 12-14 inchers. It was a great day! 

The bass were mostly around 10 inches. They looked to have little guts on them like they had eggs? The water temp was between 56-58. Degrees, could they be spawning? They were caught in 6-10 feet of water. 

[Hurricane]

On 4/7/2016 at 1:03 AM, Turkey sandwich said:

Those are good options.  A lot comes down to conditions and personal preference.  Don't rule out Crankbaits in a craw pattern, perch, or fire tiger patterns (depending upon water color) or spinner baits. Let me know where you're finding them!

I had the day of my life here on the Niagara River last year throwing a red craw DT6 during the pre-spawn... Seemed like every other cast i caught a beast Smallmouth.. It was unbelievable.. my brother in law couldnt believe it..

[Turkey sandwich]

18 hours ago, stk44 said:

My buddy and I went out today. We fished about 8 hours-first full fishing trip this year. We caught close to 20 fish total and lost probably 10 more including one musky that I lost on 8lb test. Only had 3 fish around the islands. Went to a different shoreline close to the island where my buddy caught three fish when switching to a minnow style crank. Once I switched to a minnow rap, I hooked a Muskie on the first cast and caught maybe 6 or 7 more smallmouth. Lost a couple that looked to be 12-14 inchers. It was a great day! 

The bass were mostly around 10 inches. They looked to have little guts on them like they had eggs? The water temp was between 56-58. Degrees, could they be spawning? They were caught in 6-10 feet of water. 

That's a better start!  Can you take some more screen shots of that stretch, like covering more river?  Spawning bass may move miles from their winter holes if the spawning areas are that much better. You're catching fish, but you should be getting some bigger ladies.  

 

What pattern did you notice with the crankbaits?  (6-10' of water, but what was the current like? Where was the closest seam?  How fast was the current?  What was the bottom composition?)

[stk44]

 

 

OK, here are some other screen shots, the first one ( deer creek) is productive at the mouth, and bass spawn there but its a small area and 1 person with a lounge chair and live bait can take up the whole spot, so I tend to avoid it. There 2 other pictures upstream of sycamore. I've included the sycamore screen shot again, and also 2 screen shots downstream.

The flat sided bomber in baby bass color caught 2 bass in about 6-8 feet of water between sycamore and shore. It was in a current seam but not very visible other than my kayak would keep getting pushed to this spot. Boat control was difficult and couldn't get many follow-up casts in the same area. Bottom composition had some rocks, but I don't get much detail nor am great at reading my garmin echo 150.

When fishing along shore, I would position my kayak in about 8-9 feet of water and cast to the bank. The current was pretty slow, all fish caught were associated with some sort of cover in the area, laydowns, overhanging trees, a branch sticking out of the water, etc. The bottom composition was a semi-firm muddy bottom with a descent bit of gravel, ranging from pea to grape sized.

 

[Turkey sandwich]

Awesome!  You got some good info to work with.  You likely found the bottom composition you want.  Did you try following your search bait with a jig? (I like small bass jigs w/low to moderate action craw trailers or a small tubes)

 

The Navionics maps are awesome!  The only thing they don't provide is detailed info on bottom composition, flow, and current.  Flow and current, you can at least get a feel for from the shape of the river.  The bottom composition part is trickier.  

 

Areas catching my eye: with the water level likely up, the areas in and around the break between 13 and 15 mile islands may be very productive.  On that same map, the oxbow may also be worth checking out.  Plum Creek's mouth, the downstream point it creates, and the point across the creek may be productive as well as the current protected areas down stream within proxitimity of the seam.  The bottom map has the two obvious points and the oxbow, but upstream of the points there are some "rolling shallows" (for lack of a better term) - if there is cover to create current breaks, these could be really worthwhile, too.  If I were to pick one screen shot not knowing anything about river flow, cover, weeds, or bottom structure, I'd take a closer look at that first map. 

 

As for for help with current and seams...  Do you have an anchor trolley set up on your kayak?  You're going to want to set yourself up to fish both sides of the seam.  Some fish are going to be in each stage of the pre-spawn/pre-spawn cycle, so don't be surprised if you get hammered behind rocks in the current off the seam while you're seeing males guarding beds in the protected shallows.  Also, to make finding changes in current easier, watch bubbles/film/debris and pay attention to where you see differences in speed.  Watch instructional videos of someone drifting nymphs or dry flies and you'll get a ton of information about how to properly fish seams, eddies,  and changes in current.  Most bass fisherman are absolute garbage at it.  

[stk44]

5 hours ago, Turkey sandwich said:

Awesome!  You got some good info to work with.  You likely found the bottom composition you want.  Did you try following your search bait with a jig? (I like small bass jigs w/low to moderate action craw trailers or a small tubes)

 

The Navionics maps are awesome!  The only thing they don't provide is detailed info on bottom composition, flow, and current.  Flow and current, you can at least get a feel for from the shape of the river.  The bottom composition part is trickier.  

 

Areas catching my eye: with the water level likely up, the areas in and around the break between 13 and 15 mile islands may be very productive.  On that same map, the oxbow may also be worth checking out.  Plum Creek's mouth, the downstream point it creates, and the point across the creek may be productive as well as the current protected areas down stream within proxitimity of the seam.  The bottom map has the two obvious points and the oxbow, but upstream of the points there are some "rolling shallows" (for lack of a better term) - if there is cover to create current breaks, these could be really worthwhile, too.  If I were to pick one screen shot not knowing anything about river flow, cover, weeds, or bottom structure, I'd take a closer look at that first map. 

 

As for for help with current and seams...  Do you have an anchor trolley set up on your kayak?  You're going to want to set yourself up to fish both sides of the seam.  Some fish are going to be in each stage of the pre-spawn/pre-spawn cycle, so don't be surprised if you get hammered behind rocks in the current off the seam while you're seeing males guarding beds in the protected shallows.  Also, to make finding changes in current easier, watch bubbles/film/debris and pay attention to where you see differences in speed.  Watch instructional videos of someone drifting nymphs or dry flies and you'll get a ton of information about how to properly fish seams, eddies,  and changes in current.  Most bass fisherman are absolute garbage at it.  

Thanks! I only had two rods with me. A medium moderate St. Croix bait caster and a ML XF avid X spinning. Once I switched to the small minnow crank, I could only cast it with the ML, and the 7'4" glass cranking rod wasn't going to cut it with a 7/16 finesse jig. I didn't get a good feel of the bottom other than my crank grinding the rocks, gravel, etc. I don't have an anchor trolley, I'll have to get one, because anchoring is a pain in a kayak.

Are you recommending the first screenshot because the island's are on a bend? Also, I'm curious if the bass would be more likely to be relating to the islands or to the actual mainland shore. It would obviously depend on bottom composition, but would a shallow flat have to be present for the fish to relate to one side or the other?

[stk44]

Also, would these jigs work well for small mouth?
 

[Turkey sandwich]

Learning to fish a jig in the river will make a huge difference in the numbers and quality of fish you're boating.  As for that jig, probably.  What's most important is 1) weight (right now, you want something likely under 1/4oz depending upon depth and current), 2) shape of the head (there are a million posts on here for jig head shape, and where they apply, 3) color, 4) rattles/no rattles, 5) hook (without a MH fast, or at least Med XF Rod, you're going to want to stick to lighter wire hooks).

 

Bends, pools, island, shoreline, etc it kind of doesn't make a difference.  What matters is the deep water with current breaks located near shallow (likely) mud/gravel bottoms in 2-5" of water protected from the current.  

 

[stk44]

1 hour ago, Turkey sandwich said:

Learning to fish a jig in the river will make a huge difference in the numbers and quality of fish you're boating.  As for that jig, probably.  What's most important is 1) weight (right now, you want something likely under 1/4oz depending upon depth and current), 2) shape of the head (there are a million posts on here for jig head shape, and where they apply, 3) color, 4) rattles/no rattles, 5) hook (without a MH fast, or at least Med XF Rod, you're going to want to stick to lighter wire hooks).

 

Bends, pools, island, shoreline, etc it kind of doesn't make a difference.  What matters is the deep water with current breaks located near shallow (likely) mud/gravel bottoms in 2-5" of water protected from the current.  

 

My designated jig rod which I use for largemouth is a dobyns champ 705 mag heavy. Which is basically just a heavy powered rod with a fast action. I usually run 50 lb braid on it with a 16 lb flouro leader. I'm sure I could drop down to a 12lb flouro leader for river fishing.

 

I don't have any jigs under 3/8,  so maybe I'll have to hit TW again and buy some smaller jigs(my wife is going to kill me.) The current breaks make perfect sense.

This is probably a stupid question, but what is the benefit of being near the deeper water? Most of the bait fish I see this time of the year are in the shallows. I have a hard time figuring out exactly what the bass are doing, and maybe that's part of the problem. I assume they are cruising the shallow flats preparing to spawn and some are already spawning I'm sure. But do they stay shallow, go into deep water, and keep transitioning or do they stay in relatively the same place? Do the bass like deeper water access in case of a cold front, predators, etc?