Is it true that after June Smallmouth move to 20-25 ft of water?

[Jleebesaw]

I dont fish shallow rivers so i cant really say, but you probably heard that from guys talking about lakes. Its very common to look that deep for smallies in lakes. Well, LM too for that matter. Several lakes near me would only leave you 10-20 feet from the shore to stay shallower than 20 feet. 

[Further North]

Not the 25 or so I caught yesterday in 1 to 8 ft. of water...

 

...and the lake I was fishing has plenty of depth - several spots over 50 ft., one over 100.

 

[Ogandrews]

On 7/28/2020 at 11:43 AM, gimruis said:

Sure do!  I actually ONLY fish rivers for brownies in July and August because they are so aggressive.  I haven't gone yet this season but intend to very soon.  I'll report back how it went.  Here's a couple I caught last August.

 

I've tried it in other parts of the season (mainly June or September) and its not nearly as good.  The clarity of the river makes a big difference.  Usually the water is so murky and silty in the spring its unfishable.

Looks like some quality fish, pretty sure I know what river your on. If you know where one or two of the biggest deepest holes in the system are you should really try fishing it in later October and November. Fish stack up in their wintering areas super thick and are at the fattest of the year, my favorite time to catch them. You have to find the right hole though as it seems like you can fish 10 spots and that 1 hole will have 99% of the fish

[Hower08]

I've been fishing Ohio creeks for smallies my entire life. The hotter it is the better it gets. Espescially if theirs little to no rain for a while they set up in the most obvious spots it's almost to easy. Hard to beat a rebel weecraw and a 1/8oz jighead and 3 inch twister ta for creek smallies. 

[MaineBassFishin]

On 7/29/2020 at 5:12 PM, pdxfisher said:

It is interesting to read the replies. Out here in Oregon I can catch smallmouth in water anywhere from 3' to 40' on the same day. The Willamette is a big river and has depths of over 130' in places. There is no fast water (riffles) like you might have in a stream or small river but there are areas with more or less current but never a lot of current in the summer.

 

My favorite summer spots are humps surrounded by deeper water. Some days the bass stay on top of the humps all day and will hit a reaction bait. Some days that bite ends in the morning. The "normal" pattern is to fish the humps tops until that bite stops then progressively work deeper and follow the fish down with a Ned rig or drop shot.

 

I am not sure if I am chasing the same fish or if the fish at a certain depth become inactive and I am just finding a group at a greater depth that are more active.

 

I would describe a normal day out here as calm in the morning, then the sun comes out and it is calm and sunny for a bit, then the wind starts to pick up (usually rising steadily throughout the day) and it is sunny and windy until I go home. It seems like under calm sunny conditions only deeper fish (15-40') are active. Many times the shallow fish get active in the middle of the afternoon if there is a good chop.

 

There is no magic depth out here that produces all day long. I just try to fish structures that give me the opportunity to work a bunch of different depths until I find the biters and then I pay close attention to if they stop.

 

For whatever reason it is easy for me to be catching fish at a good clip off a certain structure and fail to notice for quite a while that they have stopped biting unless I really pay attention.

 

Not sure if any of this applies to you but that is how it is out here in Oregon.

Sounds pretty similar to us out here in Maine.

[Glenn]

Might want to check this out:

https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/SmallmouthFishing.html

 

[PythonDad]

Maybe in some bodies of water, lol. I catch big ones out of warm shallow sluggish creeks all the way through the summer.

[RoLo]

 

In the Great Lakes, bronzebacks commonly range from 15 to 50 ft deep.

In your shallow brook, those depths are probably divisible by 10

That is: 1.5 ft to 5 ft 

 

Roger

[Columbia Craw]

Depth will be relative to the fishery. What I do know is smallmouth in my region have a propensity to move deeper after the need to stay shallow to spawn.  If you really look at it, 20 feet is not that deep in clear water. My deepest smallmouth was in 51 feet and that was in a river fishery.  I'll always try to find the bait.

[Boomstick]

A lot of fish will go deep, but it's rare I have a whole lot of success getting those largely lethargic fish to eat anything. What I would suggest is fishing alongside dropoffs near the deep spots they hole up at. The fish that will bite will move along such drop offs where they have access to deeper water but can move up shallow. Also note that fish don't swim straight down or up, they will follow structure to get to a shallower location.

[pdxfisher]

On 8/7/2020 at 6:06 PM, MaineBassFishin said:

Sounds pretty similar to us out here in Maine.

I guess it is the same in the Portland area, no matter where that Portland is located

 

Fun fact: Portland Oregon is North of Portland Maine.

[scaleface]

Is it true that after June Smallmouth move to 20-25 ft of water?

 

 

No .

[Tatsu Dave]

We catch them in shallow and deep water thru the summer although the fish on shallow structure are usually feeding and will hit more aggressive. Wooden or rocky structure near deeper holes can be deadly spots to use t-rig baits with no weight and let slow fall. One in the picture was directly next to the stickup and the stickbait hit the wood and fell into a quick boil as he nailed it.