Smallmouth river/creek fishing in October and November

[avidangler8]

Any tips or info for tracking smallies this time of year? The water is starting to cool down and a lot of people are putting up their rods. 

[Otter17]

Good post, exactly what I’m asking at this time. ?

[Gundog]

I can tell you what I use. If there is fog on the water I toss a topwater, mostly a Heddon Torpedo. The buzz is something smallies can't stand and hit it aggressively. When the fog burns off I throw a jerkbait. Could be a hard plastic jerkbait like a Rapala Husky Jerk but for me nothing beats a Zoom Fluke or some version of it. Because this time of year most of the weeds have died you can use it with an exposed hook, making it easier to hook up with the actively feeding smallies.

[Log Catcher]

I usually have my best luck using crawdad style baits.

[avidangler8]

During the spring and summer months I tend to use a lot of crawdad like lures, mostly tubes and jigs. I guess my real question is trying to figure out the pattern of fall smallies. 

[VonHolstyle]

First of all, the people who are putting their rods away this time of year aren’t true bass fishermen lol....Especially when it comes to Smallies. I live in one of the best river Smallmouth locations in the U.S....River Smallies are coming up from the depths to feed as the water slowly cools down. They’re getting fat for winter.

 

Whopper Ploppers in sizes 75 and 90. They can be used for Early morning to all day when throwing towards banks and shallow points. Weightless flukes are awesome too....along with red Craw and Shad lipless, jerkbaits, Ned Rig, squarebills, paddletail swimbaits, football Jigs, and most importantly a DROPSHOT lol When the plopper and fluke bite slows down you’ll see a ned Rig, dropshot, or swimbait in my hand. 

 

If the fish aren’t coming up shallow, you’ll have to figure out where they’re at. Dropshot and ned Rig are good for this. Sometimes they’ll be suspended, sometimes they’ll be on the bottom. Bring a few setups with you, throw into shallow banks and points, and work your way deeper if needed. You can catch some monster Smallies in the fall....! 

[Scott F]

The biggest change comes in creeks that flow into larger rivers without being stopped by dams. As fall progresses bass will migrate to their wintering areas which are usually deeper and slower than their summer home ranges. Concentrating on the areas where the creeks or smaller rivers empty into larger rivers will put you in position to contact with all of these migrating bass. 

If your river or stream has dams blocking migration, they will just move toward whatever wintering holes they can find. 

[VonHolstyle]

18 minutes ago, Scott F said:

The biggest change comes in creeks that flow into larger rivers without being stopped by dams. As fall progresses bass will migrate to their wintering areas which are usually deeper and slower than their summer home ranges. Concentrating on the areas where the creeks or smaller rivers empty into larger rivers will put you in position to contact with all of these migrating bass. 

If your river or stream has dams blocking migration, they will just move toward whatever wintering holes they can find. 

Good points. Every fishery is a little bit different so we’ll have some different input to the original post. But you basically nailed the general idea....Early Fall can be a weird time where I’m at because you’ll catch them where they were during the summer, but can find them 30+ feet deep too. I think if the OP included the river system or at least the state they’re in, we could give some better input. 

[Scott F]

15 minutes ago, VonHolstyle said:

Good points. Every fishery is a little bit different so we’ll have some different input to the original post. But you basically nailed the general idea....Early Fall can be a weird time where I’m at because you’ll catch them where they were during the summer, but can find them 30+ feet deep too. I think if the OP included the river system or at least the state they’re in, we could give some better input. 

30 feet deep??  In most of the rivers I fish, a 10 foot deep hole is a rarity. Most of my rivers average 1-5 feet deep. If I had a river that had that amount of water, I wouldn’t have needed a jet boat. 

[VonHolstyle]

23 minutes ago, Scott F said:

30 feet deep??  In most of the rivers I fish, a 10 foot deep hole is a rarity. Most of my rivers average 1-5 feet deep. If I had a river that had that amount of water, I wouldn’t have needed a jet boat. 

The Columbia River is pretty vast....lol 2,000 miles long and over a mile wide in some areas. If you’re out there in November fishing for Smallies, you’ll find them in the 60ft range. And there’s still some super shallow areas, especially during the summer. Depends on what the dams are doing but it’s easy to be running in 30 feet of water and all of a sudden you’re in 4 feet or less lol have to know the river/area you’re fishing....especially when you’re flying at 70+ mph in a bass boat 

[TnRiver46]

2 hours ago, Scott F said:

30 feet deep??  In most of the rivers I fish, a 10 foot deep hole is a rarity. Most of my rivers average 1-5 feet deep. If I had a river that had that amount of water, I wouldn’t have needed a jet boat. 

There are rivers near my house that go from 30 ft deep to ankle deep very quickly. You still need a jet unless you want to fish the same pool of water everyday 

[soflabasser]

20 hours ago, avidangler8 said:

Any tips or info for tracking smallies this time of year? The water is starting to cool down and a lot of people are putting up their rods. 

I have done well with crankbaits and small swimbaits when fishing for river smallmouth bass around this time of year.