How to Find a Good Smallie Creek?

[SmallieKing7]

Hey BR, this is my first post, so if I'm breaking any unspoken rules, please let me know.

Anyway, I've started to get interested in finding secluded creeks to fish for smallmouth.  I fish on the lower Susquehanna River, but most of the time, its either flooded, in a drought, swarmed by mayflies, or the smallie population is destroyed by huge channel catfish.  From BR, I've caught more fish this summer than any other, but they've mainly been 12" or less using a ZMan TRD.  I'm trying to find good creeks nearby which could hold smallmouth, but I just don't know where to start and what to look for in a good smallmouth creek.  There are a lot of creeks near me that are stocked with trout, so I'm trying to start there, but I don't know whether that'll affect there being smallmouth or not.  Please help.

[Manly Studson]

The DNR’s website may be a good place to start. As far as viewing creeks goes, I look on Google maps or onX Hunt to see what creeks look like in my area. OnX Hunt will tell me what is private or public. I then look for rocky, sandy stretches to fish. If you search the web long enough, you may be able to find forums or online publications that discuss your area.

[Tatsu Dave]

I look for rocky or gravel bedded rivers that exit lakes that hold smallmouth, if the river is big enough I look for where I can put a boat in and check it out (the real test). Also if any of these waterways are dammed along their routes it will create a little mini deep water area that can hold bigger fish. I'm going to fish one of these tomorrow that we found a couple years ago. Good Luck 

[gall]

Hey bud what part of pa are you in? Or are you in MD? I saw you mention the river 

[SmallieKing7]

41 minutes ago, gall said:

Hey bud what part of pa are you in? Or are you in MD? I saw you mention the river 

I'm in Columbia, although most of the time I'm over in York fishing the Susky.  There's lots of trout streams near there so I think those would be the best?

[Fallser]

I'm in SE PA and most of the streams they stock trout in around here will most likely have smallies and possibly even largemouth in them.  Look for moving water(it doesn't have to be fast moving), below dams, riffle areas, above, below and even run some top waters through.  Let me show pictures of the waters I've caught smallies in my local creek.  Don't expect huge fish.  The biggest I've taken out of the 3 1/2 mile stretch I like to fish is 16 3/4".  Most are in the 10 to 12 inch range.

[SmallieKing7]

22 hours ago, Fallser said:

I'm in SE PA and most of the streams they stock trout in around here will most likely have smallies and possibly even largemouth in them.  Look for moving water(it doesn't have to be fast moving), below dams, riffle areas, above, below and even run some top waters through.  Let me show pictures of the waters I've caught smallies in my local creek.  Don't expect huge fish.  The biggest I've taken out of the 3 1/2 mile stretch I like to fish is 16 3/4".  Most are in the 10 to 12 inch range.

Honestly, I just love catching smallmouth (and largemouth don't get me wrong), doesn't matter what size they are to me.

These streams you fish at look a lot like those near me.  Now that I can compare your spots to mine, I think I'll be able to find a spot.  Thank you.   

[Smokinal]

[gall]

23 hours ago, SmallieKing7 said:

I'm in Columbia, although most of the time I'm over in York fishing the Susky.  There's lots of trout streams near there so I think those would be the best?

I.mean if you don't mind traveling a little bit you got some good creeks kinda close by conewago creek condaguient creek swatara. Pretty much anything that spills into the river really. I mean i use Google maps a lot to kinda trace good looking feeders. 

[Glenn Brown]

Use Google Earth Pro to find small rivers or creeks that have a lot of bends in a stretch that is as far away from people as possible; use chest waders and fish upstream for two to four miles, concentrating on outside bends that will be deeper and current breaks. Wade very quietly and use the bank when possible to literally sneak upon deep bends and make quality casts; cast as far upstream as possible. Huge smallmouth love wood in rivers, contrary to what many fishing articles state. Get on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) site and find the cleanest water available in creeks in your area. Avoid mucky creeks; you want as much natural rock, wood lay downs and extremely clear water as possible, along with a good flow.

 

Buy Chompers 4” tubes in green pumpkin color, 1/8 ounce bullet weights, 12 lb. Seaguar fluorocarbon line, use 2/0 HP Shaw Grigsby hooks rigged tex-posed. Drag the tubes with a high rod with a slight loop in your line. I guarantee a 19” smallmouth your first year (true 20” smallmouth are hard to find - I mark my rod to measure the smallmouth on the go).  Personally, I recommend a bait caster (Lews) and a 6’ foot medium heavy rod (G Loomis); you get a true 20” smallmouth on and you’ll be glad you have reasonably heavy rig!
 

I’m 65 years old, so wading is infrequent for me now. Always wade with a friend and have an exceptional cell phone with you for potential emergencies like a broken leg and dislocated ankle (LOL). I waded creeks once or twice a week for about 31 years; probably covered about eight to nine hundred miles of creeks and small rivers in Ohio. When you find the ‘motherload’, dont’t tell anyone the location, especially over the Internet (they’ll fish it out; also, I hope you gently release the fish).  Keep a good seasonal fishing journal recording locations, dates, times, fish size etc. for future referral; this in itself will teach you the predictable seasonal patterns for catching large smallmouth in your area.

 

I hope this helps!
 

Glenn

[roadwarrior]

[The Bassman]

4 hours ago, Glenn Brown said:

Use Google Earth Pro to find small rivers or creeks that have a lot of bends in a stretch that is as far away from people as possible; use chest waders and fish upstream for two to four miles, concentrating on outside bends that will be deeper and current breaks. Wade very quietly and use the bank when possible to literally sneak upon deep bends and make quality casts; cast as far upstream as possible. Huge smallmouth love wood in rivers, contrary to what many fishing articles state. Get on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) site and find the cleanest water available in creeks in your area. Avoid mucky creeks; you want as much natural rock, wood lay downs and extremely clear water as possible, along with a good flow.

 

Buy Chompers 4” tubes in green pumpkin color, 1/8 ounce bullet weights, 12 lb. Seaguar fluorocarbon line, use 2/0 HP Shaw Grigsby hooks rigged tex-posed. Drag the tubes with a high rod with a slight loop in your line. I guarantee a 19” smallmouth your first year (true 20” smallmouth are hard to find - I mark my rod to measure the smallmouth on the go).  Personally, I recommend a bait caster (Lews) and a 6’ foot medium heavy rod (G Loomis); you get a true 20” smallmouth on and you’ll be glad you have reasonably heavy rig!
 

I’m 65 years old, so wading is infrequent for me now. Always wade with a friend and have an exceptional cell phone with you for potential emergencies like a broken leg and dislocated ankle (LOL). I waded creeks once or twice a week for about 31 years; probably covered about eight to nine hundred miles of creeks and small rivers in Ohio. When you find the ‘motherload’, dont’t tell anyone the location, especially over the Internet (they’ll fish it out; also, I hope you gently release the fish).  Keep a good seasonal fishing journal recording locations, dates, times, fish size etc. for future referral; this in itself will teach you the predictable seasonal patterns for catching large smallmouth in your area.

 

I hope this helps!
 

Glenn

Welcome to the forums. I'm in central IN, 66, and have waded creeks for many years. Ankle and knee issues have really limited me the past couple of years. You're exactly right about big smallies liking wood (no coincidence that it's most always on the outside of bends). Glides above riffles where the water is knee deep and rocky have produced  some good ones, too. You'll see a lot of 5-6 lb. smallmouth on here but as you said a 19-20" creek smallie is a whopper.

[moguy1973]

Something to be mindful of, and I don't know Indiana law, but fishing creeks that aren't on public land can be trespassing. So be sure you are legal to be there before wading down any streams or creeks or you may find yourself in hot water with the land owner or the police.  Here in Missouri the waterway has to be navigable, which means flowing water all year long, and you have to stay within the high water (flood) level boundaries of the the stream to be legal.  There's a lot of land owners who will still contend all of this and will shoo you off or paint their trees purple trying to keep you off their creek.

[SmallieKing7]

On 9/20/2020 at 2:32 AM, Glenn Brown said:

Use Google Earth Pro to find small rivers or creeks that have a lot of bends in a stretch that is as far away from people as possible; use chest waders and fish upstream for two to four miles, concentrating on outside bends that will be deeper and current breaks. Wade very quietly and use the bank when possible to literally sneak upon deep bends and make quality casts; cast as far upstream as possible. Huge smallmouth love wood in rivers, contrary to what many fishing articles state. Get on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) site and find the cleanest water available in creeks in your area. Avoid mucky creeks; you want as much natural rock, wood lay downs and extremely clear water as possible, along with a good flow.

 

Buy Chompers 4” tubes in green pumpkin color, 1/8 ounce bullet weights, 12 lb. Seaguar fluorocarbon line, use 2/0 HP Shaw Grigsby hooks rigged tex-posed. Drag the tubes with a high rod with a slight loop in your line. I guarantee a 19” smallmouth your first year (true 20” smallmouth are hard to find - I mark my rod to measure the smallmouth on the go).  Personally, I recommend a bait caster (Lews) and a 6’ foot medium heavy rod (G Loomis); you get a true 20” smallmouth on and you’ll be glad you have reasonably heavy rig!
 

When you find the ‘motherload’, dont’t tell anyone the location, especially over the Internet (they’ll fish it out; also, I hope you gently release the fish).  Keep a good seasonal fishing journal recording locations, dates, times, fish size etc. for future referral; this in itself will teach you the predictable seasonal patterns for catching large smallmouth in your area.

 

I hope this helps!

This absolutely helps, thank you so much!  I'll definitely have to start scouting some rivers virtually, then make a trip.  I actually have some of these tubes already, but I might have to pick up some more.  I'll also be on the lookout for one of those bait casters, but I'm a little tight on cash right now (saving most of it for college).  I always do an "in-water" release whenever I catch fish, but I'll be extra careful! I know BR has one of these fishing logs, but I can't find it, does anyone know where it is?

 

22 hours ago, moguy1973 said:

Something to be mindful of but fishing creeks that aren't on public land can be trespassing. So be sure you are legal to be there before wading down any streams or creeks or you may find yourself in hot water with the land owner or the police.

I'll definitely have to keep an eye out for that, thank you!

[roadwarrior]

https://www.bassresource.com/fish/fishing_log.html

[Glenn Brown]

SmallieKing 7:

 

Major League Fishing bass pro Edwin Evers has put together two outstanding videos on “Finding Fish on Google Earth” and “Google Earth Part 2” that is probably the best overview I have ever seen on using Google Earth Pro to improve your river fishing, as well as lake fishing, overview of different bodies of water. It says a lot for him that he is willing to share such knowledge, especially since his competitors will use these pre-fishing research guidelines against him.

 

Although I think the EPA has too much power to intrude in our everyday lives, epa.gov does provide very specific and valuable information on watersheds and rivers.  Also, I’m not too sure if you are aware that the lower Susquehanna has a ‘river keeper’.  Out of respect for the former river keeper’s privacy, I will not provide his name, however, he spent twelve years paddling a kayak in that river and it’s tributaries (I’d recommend an appointment with him to discuss some of the cleanest/most productive smallmouth tributaries in the area — if you succeed, buy him lunch as a thank you (lowersusquehannariverkeeper.org). In Ohio, I learned a huge amount of smallmouth info from former river keeper Steven Flint, God rest his soul.

 

Also, keep your eyes open for electroshocking studies performed on local rivers and tributaries (knowing the weight and number of smallmouth bass in a specific area can be invaluable).

 

As for lures and techniques, a 7” Berkley Powerbait Worm will usually outperform a Chompers tube bait in stained water (if the river is muddy, just stay home and relax in the recliner since river smallies are predominately sight feeders).  As for a river fishing technique, I’ve got one I call the ‘tumble’ if your interested.

 

I hope you find this to also be helpful.

 

Glenn Brown

[SmallieKing7]

6 hours ago, Glenn Brown said:

SmallieKing 7:

 

Major League Fishing bass pro Edwin Evers has put together two outstanding videos on “Finding Fish on Google Earth” and “Google Earth Part 2” that is probably the best overview I have ever seen on using Google Earth Pro to improve your river fishing, as well as lake fishing, overview of different bodies of water. It says a lot for him that he is willing to share such knowledge, especially since his competitors will use these pre-fishing research guidelines against him.

 

Although I think the EPA has too much power to intrude in our everyday lives, epa.gov does provide very specific and valuable information on watersheds and rivers.  Also, I’m not too sure if you are aware that the lower Susquehanna has a ‘river keeper’.  Out of respect for the former river keeper’s privacy, I will not provide his name, however, he spent twelve years paddling a kayak in that river and it’s tributaries (I’d recommend an appointment with him to discuss some of the cleanest/most productive smallmouth tributaries in the area — if you succeed, buy him lunch as a thank you (lowersusquehannariverkeeper.org). In Ohio, I learned a huge amount of smallmouth info from former river keeper Steven Flint, God rest his soul.

 

Also, keep your eyes open for electroshocking studies performed on local rivers and tributaries (knowing the weight and number of smallmouth bass in a specific area can be invaluable).

 

As for lures and techniques, a 7” Berkley Powerbait Worm will usually outperform a Chompers tube bait in stained water (if the river is muddy, just stay home and relax in the recliner since river smallies are predominately sight feeders).  As for a river fishing technique, I’ve got one I call the ‘tumble’ if your interested.

 

I hope you find this to also be helpful.

 

Glenn Brown

This is incredible, thank you!  I am watching the videos at this moment, and will definitely check out that River Keeper website (you're right, I have never heard of him before).  Would you mind PM'ing me this "tumble" technique you're talking about?  I could definitely use the advice for river fishing.

[Glenn Brown]

PM sent.