Where are all the river smallies?

[Preytorien]

I’ve spent so much of my time studying the habits of largemouth bass in static bodies of water, and their seasonal habits that I rarely make the same study of smallmouth in my local small river. Shame I know.

 

That said, I got out wading this morning in the river. Water temps in the mid-60’s, somewhat clear water, not moving too fast, and if it weren’t for a school of particularly aggressive rock bass I would’ve been skunked.

 

Where are the smallies in this situation at this time of year and what are they doing?

[TnRiver46]

I caught 5-6 in an hour yesterday under similar conditions, just letting a tube tumble around in the rocks. They should be eating like sharks at 60 degrees unless they are locked into spawning. Although if that were the case I think you would see them. Is there a dam upstream of where you are fishing?

[Mbirdsley]

12 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I caught 5-6 in an hour yesterday under similar conditions, just letting a tube tumble around in the rocks. They should be eating like sharks at 60 degrees unless they are locked into spawning. Although if that were the case I think you would see them. Is there a dam upstream of where you are fishing?

Ned rig also works good this way too. just throw it upstream and let the current take it down stream reeling slack as it goes down.  Once it gets just past where you standing reel it in and repeat.

[Preytorien]

In this particular river, specifically where I’m fishing, about 90% of the bottom is covered in rocks and boulders, the smallest being baseball sized. Initially when I started fishing here I had high hopes for Ned Rigs and tubes but found I was spending all my time getting un-stuck. Even a Senni is a gamble because it works well as long as you keep your focus and never let it get too deep or it’s back to spending time freeing up. I’m limited by either topwater or VERY shallow cranks (1-2ft) - and those are the ones that didn’t do any good 

[soflabasser]

I caught most of my river smallies behind rocks near deep pools or eddies so maybe similar areas to these are good where you fish.

[Bdnoble84]

If you are getting hung up with ned type rigs/ jigs, you either need to go lighter or bulk up. This is something i struggle with quite a bit in my home stream. Try spinnerbaits and jerkbaits right now also. Those have been dynamite for me this time of year. They absolutely love a chartreuse/white spinnerbait burned accross the current this time of year.

[TnRiver46]

11 hours ago, Preytorien said:

In this particular river, specifically where I’m fishing, about 90% of the bottom is covered in rocks and boulders, the smallest being baseball sized. Initially when I started fishing here I had high hopes for Ned Rigs and tubes but found I was spending all my time getting un-stuck. Even a Senni is a gamble because it works well as long as you keep your focus and never let it get too deep or it’s back to spending time freeing up. I’m limited by either topwater or VERY shallow cranks (1-2ft) - and those are the ones that didn’t do any good 

Sometimes I rip a finesse worm in half and wacky rig it. Or Texas rig a senko weightless and just let it tumble when getting hung too much

[James Janousek]

The Ned rig should work. Go 1/10 or lighter and use a steady retrieve. Swim it a foot or two under the surface. Do not bounce it if the bottom. If you want to fish the bottom, try a zoom mini lizard (4 inch I think) in cotton candy color on a slider spider head. Go light again, 1/8 or less. You can Texas rig it so it’s weedless. 

 

Last option is a floating rapala minnow, small size. Silver with black top. On all of these use ML or L spinning gear, 6-6.5 length. Light line, floro or braid to fluro with a long leader. 

 

Last point is is if you are wading you are going to be very limited in the area you are fishing. You have to target eddys behind larger rocks. Accurate casting is paramount. The other skill is casting upstream and using the current. Rivers with flow like yours are a different animal. Understanding the current and where it changes takes some time. You’ll figure it out brother, just keep at it. 

[J.Vincent]

Not every river is created equal; for example here in Michigan we have the Huron River and the Detroit river . Both are rivers , but they have very different habitat, depth and current flow. But the areas or spots I look for no matter what River I'm fishing are the very edge or beginning of slack water on the outside bends of the river and any obstruction which creates a current break. Even an underwater boulder which sits a few feet below the surface in very heavy current will create an underwater break in current flow. Those smallmouth will Setup on the downstream side of the break and can be caught with a variety of reactions baits. I like 1/2 oz Tandem Spinnerbaits, Mepps 1/4oz and Shallow 1ft CrankBaits; fished over the top of submerged boulders or obstructions. The bite will more consistently be on the backside of the underwater obstructions . If the Smallmouth are bedding or gorging on crawfish before the spawn, it's pretty hard to beat a 1/4oz Tube Jig drifted with the current using a very slow retrieve ; just slow enough to keep the head a few inches up off the bottom and only occasionally making contact with the top of rocks and boulders. You may be amazed how effective that exposed hook tube jig is when it can be retrieved this way. The key is keeping very minimal if any slack in your line and rod tip pointed at about 10 or 11 o'clock while slowly turning the Reel handle.       Good Luck !

[timsford]

On 5/6/2018 at 9:14 PM, Preytorien said:

In this particular river, specifically where I’m fishing, about 90% of the bottom is covered in rocks and boulders, the smallest being baseball sized. Initially when I started fishing here I had high hopes for Ned Rigs and tubes but found I was spending all my time getting un-stuck. Even a Senni is a gamble because it works well as long as you keep your focus and never let it get too deep or it’s back to spending time freeing up. I’m limited by either topwater or VERY shallow cranks (1-2ft) - and those are the ones that didn’t do any good 

Anytime I'm fishing for smallies i have better luck with crawfish imitating baits, especially around rocks. If I'm getting hung a lot there are a few tricks that help me catch fish instead of setting. 

 

One is to use jigheads instead of bullet or other sinkers. Although I still hang up some, it seems like I get wedged a lot less with a jighead. I also always use the lightest weight possible, preferably one that will still drift with current and tic bottom like a natural craw. I use tubes and craw baits on jighead and I always use green pumpkin or some type of green or brown with orange tips on the claws. All the crawfish around here have orange highlights. If it's super muddy or nighttime I use black and blue.

 

Another tip is to use squarebill cranks or those with coffin lips. I always use craw colors and go with greens and browns in clear water and red or black in muddy water. Also if I'm not contacting bottom, I'm not getting bites. I like to use deep 10 plus feet divers in shallow 5 ft or less water to imitate draws. If you pause when you feel it strike cover and let it float a split second, then it's pretty rare to get it stuck.

 

If you still keep getting hung another trick I've found is to rig my craw baits weightless Texas rigged and then use a nail weight. It gives it a perfect slow horizontal fall that drives bass crazy, and I can't recall ever getting a craw rigged this way stuck in rocks. 

If there are lots of baitfish I'd also use crankbaits, floating jerkbaits, soft jerkbaits, and topwaters in colors that imitate the forage you see.

If all else fails my ace in the hole is to night fish. In shallow rocky water I use 4 baits. A black buzzbait, a black 1/4 oz spinnerbait with a Colorado blade, and a 3/16 or 1/4 oz football jig with a bulky trailer to slow the fall and keep it snag free. The only other bait I use at night is a black or purple Texas rigged worm with a 1/8 or 3/16 oz weight.

As far as where to find them, they are usually at some point in the spawn cycle. I'd check any deep water near flats or pea gravel banks for prespawn and postspawn fish and Also any shallow hard bottom areas for spawners on bed. Look for baitfish or birds feeding to find the fish also

 

[Bdnoble84]

On 5/8/2018 at 1:22 AM, timsford said:

Anytime I'm fishing for smallies i have better luck with crawfish imitating baits, especially around rocks. If I'm getting hung a lot there are a few tricks that help me catch fish instead of setting. 

 

One is to use jigheads instead of bullet or other sinkers. Although I still hang up some, it seems like I get wedged a lot less with a jighead. I also always use the lightest weight possible, preferably one that will still drift with current and tic bottom like a natural craw. I use tubes and craw baits on jighead and I always use green pumpkin or some type of green or brown with orange tips on the claws. All the crawfish around here have orange highlights. If it's super muddy or nighttime I use black and blue.

 

Another tip is to use squarebill cranks or those with coffin lips. I always use craw colors and go with greens and browns in clear water and red or black in muddy water. Also if I'm not contacting bottom, I'm not getting bites. I like to use deep 10 plus feet divers in shallow 5 ft or less water to imitate draws. If you pause when you feel it strike cover and let it float a split second, then it's pretty rare to get it stuck.

 

If you still keep getting hung another trick I've found is to rig my craw baits weightless Texas rigged and then use a nail weight. It gives it a perfect slow horizontal fall that drives bass crazy, and I can't recall ever getting a craw rigged this way stuck in rocks. 

If there are lots of baitfish I'd also use crankbaits, floating jerkbaits, soft jerkbaits, and topwaters in colors that imitate the forage you see.

If all else fails my ace in the hole is to night fish. In shallow rocky water I use 4 baits. A black buzzbait, a black 1/4 oz spinnerbait with a Colorado blade, and a 3/16 or 1/4 oz football jig with a bulky trailer to slow the fall and keep it snag free. The only other bait I use at night is a black or purple Texas rigged worm with a 1/8 or 3/16 oz weight.

As far as where to find them, they are usually at some point in the spawn cycle. I'd check any deep water near flats or pea gravel banks for prespawn and postspawn fish and Also any shallow hard bottom areas for spawners on bed. Look for baitfish or birds feeding to find the fish also

 

Love the craw with a nailweight idea, im going to have to try that this summer when the flow slows down and they are keying on craws. I’ve fished live craws weightless when the water gets low for years but never really considered giving your method a try. What size hook you use?

[Gundog]

When the river calms down (if it calms down) I'll start my post-spawn process of finding fish. Pre-spawn and spawn are the easy times to find fish in rivers. With those over the tough part starts. I carry more lures than I usually do. Tubes, worms and craws with a small assortment of heads, small spinners both inline and safety pin types, shallow running small jerk baits and flutes and a couple Rebel Wee Craws. The areas I target are places with deep water near shorelines. If the river is low enough and safe to, I will wade to areas I know drop off into deeper water. I'll continue to fish this pattern till the water warms about 70 degrees and then I start fishing ripples and more oxygen rich water. Hope this helps.

[timsford]

23 hours ago, Bdnoble84 said:

Love the craw with a nailweight idea, im going to have to try that this summer when the flow slows down and they are keying on craws. I’ve fished live craws weightless when the water gets low for years but never really considered giving your method a try. What size hook you use?

It depends on the craw bait I'm using. Most of the time it's a 3-4 inch bait and I use hooks ranging from a size 1 up to a 2/0 ewg gamakatsu or owner. I like a light wire hook and a wide gap. I'm usually using 8 or 10 lb test line and spinning gear so a good sharp hook that penetrates easily is key

[Bdnoble84]

51 minutes ago, timsford said:

It depends on the craw bait I'm using. Most of the time it's a 3-4 inch bait and I use hooks ranging from a size 1 up to a 2/0 ewg gamakatsu or owner. I like a light wire hook and a wide gap. I'm usually using 8 or 10 lb test line and spinning gear so a good sharp hook that penetrates easily is key

Thanks, that sounds in line with the set up i generally like to use for hula grubs and creatures

[fvogel67]

I'm having good luck with Rapala Shadow Raps.