Super User Scott F Posted September 23, 2016 Super User Posted September 23, 2016 40 minutes ago, Cranks4fun said: I am fairly new to smallmouth fishing in clear creeks/ rivers (SW Missouri Ozarks). I am actually new to smallmouth fishing altogether (2 1/2 years only). I am a relatively good largemouth fisherman and have fished lots of lakes and ponds in many states and caught lots of largemouth and some good-sized ones (8-9 lbs) too. Largemouth seem to be relatively easy quarry to me though there are challenging days (post frontal, muddy water, etc.). MY PROBLEM in these newer SM streams is figuring out the/a pattern. I go to a creek area and find riffles pouring into a deeper channel of water and boom! I load up on smallies right and left. I move 400 yards down stream and find almost identical conditions and nothing!!! Some days a stretch of creek will produce a few big brownies(16-17 inches is a big SM to me) and lots of little jumpers and then two weeks later the same creek with very similar conditions gives me only one or two small bass. I rarely have that issue in big lakes unless conditions change between trips. I appreciate and will definitely try some of the above advice, but I wonder if smallmouth move to different feeding areas often in clear rivers and streams???? Do you have any idea if there are others fishing the same waters you are? Typically, there are not a lot of prime holding spots like the one you found. Likely, others know about the same spots and may have fished them not long before you got there. Somebody probably came behind you after you did well and wondered why they didn't get anything. There may also have been a concentration of bait in one area that most of the bass were following around leaving some good looking spots void of fish I have fished the same river a few days in a row and found them on shallow flats one day and not the next. This is fishing. Bass may not be smart, but they react to things that we can't always see which can make them unpredictable to fishermen. The more time you spend chasing them, the more you can stack the odds in your favor. 1 Quote
Cranks4fun Posted September 23, 2016 Posted September 23, 2016 I did wonder if there was fishing pressure that I was unaware of. i find these textbook dream sites and nothing. Maybe they are moving up into shallow water when I am still hammering the deep stuff. I will experiment some more. The challenge keeps me in the race. Thanks for the advice. Quote
Super User Scott F Posted September 23, 2016 Super User Posted September 23, 2016 Did you have any luck in deeper water? In the rivers I fish, success for me comes near deep water not in the deep water. Bigger fish nearly always come from areas that have a deep area nearby. I don't seem to get hits when the water is more than 4 feet deep. In some rivers, 4 feet is the deep water. 1 Quote
Super User webertime Posted September 23, 2016 Super User Posted September 23, 2016 48 minutes ago, Cranks4fun said: I did wonder if there was fishing pressure that I was unaware of. i find these textbook dream sites and nothing. Maybe they are moving up into shallow water when I am still hammering the deep stuff. I will experiment some more. The challenge keeps me in the race. Thanks for the advice. Stream bank/bottom composition the same? Tree Cover on the stream? things like that can have and affect 1 Quote
mrmacwvu1 Posted October 4, 2016 Posted October 4, 2016 People seem to think of the Ohio River as river fishing to me it is more like a series of little lakes with little to no current for most of the fishing season. However if you get on a boat fish the points of the up river side of the islands with crank and jerk baits. Also from a boat almost all of the plants on the river have warm water disharges. These areas always hold batifish and hence the bass will be there as well. I like finding areas of rip rap where rock has been placed along the banks. Quote
"hamma" Posted October 4, 2016 Posted October 4, 2016 Say Im fishing the lakes region of New Hampshire, And the lake im on it seems as though I cant buy a bite. The fish are not hitting at all. If I leave the lake and go over to the river, I will usually start to hook-up. It appears that river smallies are not as effected by frontal pressure, bluebird skies, and calm winds. 1 Quote
mrmacwvu1 Posted October 4, 2016 Posted October 4, 2016 hamma I agree with you river smallies tend to more agressive especially on smaller streams the only time I would say that it is harder is when the streams get too warm and crystal clear You need to stalk them from the down river side and fish them like you would sneak up on trout Quote
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