Will smallies be in current yet?

[Ohioguy25]

I’m thinking of going fishing tomorrow, water temps been in the mid 40s and ambient air temps in the mid 50s for a week or two now.  A little chilly to paddle  but I have a spot I can walk to where there’s a nice current break and a deep hole. Will I have much luck there this early in the year or do they not move into the active water until it gets warmer?

 

I ask because I’m still recovering from an injury and it’s a long walk, but worth it if these are prime conditions. Thanks!

[padon]

the number 1 consideration for smallmouth wintering is to be out of current . even more than depth. so i would say yes unless they have moved from wintering holes you should have a good chace.

[Ohioguy25]

1 hour ago, padon said:

the number 1 consideration for smallmouth wintering is to be out of current . even more than depth. so i would say yes unless they have moved from wintering holes you should have a good chace.

Lol what? You just said two completely different things. 

[padon]

no i didnt i said that smallmouth when choosing a wintering spot will be out of current. if you have 2 spots both the same depth one with less current than the other , the one with less current will be prefered.if you have slack current and relativley deep water as you described you have a good wintering hole. so yes you should have a good chance of catching fish there. now if they have already started moving out of wintering holes then you may not catch much. only you can determine that. im not nostradomas i cant tell you what the fish are doing without fishing there.

[Spankey]

Good luck when you get out. Try it. I’ve been fishing Smallies for many many years in a river situation and I don’t have them figured out. One day they just show up and in the fall one day they are gone.
 

Over here where I am I’m not expecting it. I’m itching like heck to get out for some. But it’s not time for me yet. I think I’m going to kick off my season on the 5th or 10th of April. But I’ll be fishing deeper water. Bridge pilings and log jams on or around them. History tells me to use that as my starting point. I’ll be fishing tubes and grubs, Rat-L-Traps/Rattlin Raps, jerkbaits. My first bass of the season has come off of a Rat-L-Trap or Rattlin Rap many times. 
 

Mother Nature took me off the river the last few years. Been lake fishing. I’m going home to it to see where things are. A month or two should tell me something. 
 

Hit it hard in different spots. I know you fish a lot of live bait. That might be an advantage. I would say that it will be. Good Luck. 

[roadwarrior]

Our pet brown fish in the Tennessee River are ALWAYS in current, there are no options.

[TnRiver46]

7 hours ago, roadwarrior said:

Our pet brown fish in the Tennessee River are ALWAYS in current, there are no options.

Ha! Yep. Kill or be killed. If they are out of the current, they are on dry land 

[Ohioguy25]

9 hours ago, padon said:

no i didnt i said that smallmouth when choosing a wintering spot will be out of current. if you have 2 spots both the same depth one with less current than the other , the one with less current will be prefered.if you have slack current and relativley deep water as you described you have a good wintering hole. so yes you should have a good chance of catching fish there. now if they have already started moving out of wintering holes then you may not catch much. only you can determine that. im not nostradomas i cant tell you what the fish are doing without fishing there.

Oh ok I guess I was confused because I was always told their wintering holes are far from the current and surrounding slack water they feed in during the warmer months.

[MGF]

I haven't figured it out either. I've never found them in the winter in my river. I've had good fishing all the way into December when the weather is nice but when they disappear just gone. Last year they disappeared in September. I can find them in the reservoir 20+ miles down river but not up here. I don't expect to catch a bass up here until April or later.

[Scott F]

Everything depends on the river. Lots of smallmouth disappear from summer spots because they’ll migrate often many miles to their wintering areas. In some rivers, especially if there are dams, they barely migrate at all.  If you are near the winter spots, they’ll sometimes comes out on a warm late winter day and feed a bit. As far as current goes, feeding fish are usually found NEAR current. They can’t stay in fast water, they find slack water which might only be inches from some very fast water. Even in fast water riffles, they’ll tuck in behind a boulder in an eddie  where the fast water is going right over their head. As the water warms, they migrate back to the spawning sites. Just like good lake fishermen, good river guys put in the time to learn where the bass can be found during each season, high water or low.

[padon]

3 hours ago, Ohioguy25 said:

Oh ok I guess I was confused because I was always told their wintering holes are far from the current and surrounding slack water they feed in during the warmer months.

if your creek feeds a larger river or lake many of the fish may leave the creek altogether and go to the bigger water.its amazing how far river fish will travel. btw i dont know this because im some wise old fisherman, you can read tagging studies on line,from my experince if they stay though they dont wanna stay in heavy current in cold water.as scott said the best wintering holes are out of heavy current but near some current. they will slide into that current hunker down behind a rock grab a crayfish or a couple minnows and go back to the slack water and rest.

[Ohioguy25]

10 hours ago, padon said:

if your creek feeds a larger river or lake many of the fish may leave the creek altogether and go to the bigger water.its amazing how far river fish will travel. btw i dont know this because im some wise old fisherman, you can read tagging studies on line,from my experince if they stay though they dont wanna stay in heavy current in cold water.as scott said the best wintering holes are out of heavy current but near some current. they will slide into that current hunker down behind a rock grab a crayfish or a couple minnows and go back to the slack water and rest.

I’m at the very top of the river so I’m a long ways from where it feeds into the Ohio. I would imagine most of them are wintering nearby, just gotta locate them.
 

It’s strange though as towards the end of the season in November when the bite dropped off I cast all over my spot, including the deep (10+ ft) slow water just past the current and got nothin. I had live minnows on a split shot too, you would’ve thought if they were there they would’ve bit. Is it possible they become lazy that quickly and I simply wasn’t getting it right in front of them?

[Kev-mo]

1 hour ago, Ohioguy25 said:

I’m at the very top of the river so I’m a long ways from where it feeds into the Ohio. I would imagine most of them are wintering nearby, just gotta locate them.
 

It’s strange though as towards the end of the season in November when the bite dropped off I cast all over my spot, including the deep (10+ ft) slow water just past the current and got nothin. I had live minnows on a split shot too, you would’ve thought if they were there they would’ve bit. Is it possible they become lazy that quickly and I simply wasn’t getting it right in front of them?

 x2 what Scott said

 

i don't know that i would use the word lazy....they are still active in the winter just for much shorter periods of time and not very many of them are active at the same time, especially if the water is pretty cold (mid 30's). they'll bit tho!! if you want to educate yourself a bit on winter river fishing check out some of Jeff Little's stuff

[padon]

5 hours ago, Ohioguy25 said:

I’m at the very top of the river so I’m a long ways from where it feeds into the Ohio. I would imagine most of them are wintering nearby, just gotta locate them.
 

It’s strange though as towards the end of the season in November when the bite dropped off I cast all over my spot, including the deep (10+ ft) slow water just past the current and got nothin. I had live minnows on a split shot too, you would’ve thought if they were there they would’ve bit. Is it possible they become lazy that quickly and I simply wasn’t getting it right in front of them?

hmm idk that may not be a good wintering hole. even though it sounds like one. usually if you can locate them in a wintering hole you can catch them pretty good because there are alot of them in there.

[Ohioguy25]

On 3/5/2021 at 12:54 PM, padon said:

hmm idk that may not be a good wintering hole. even though it sounds like one. usually if you can locate them in a wintering hole you can catch them pretty good because there are alot of them in there.

Interesting, maybe I just didn’t have the right presentation/location? 
 

I think a part of the problem was that the water was so cold that my minnows were dying pretty quickly. Is there a solution for this? I tried adding river water to my bait cooler but it didn’t seem to help.

[Kev-mo]

19 minutes ago, Ohioguy25 said:

Interesting, maybe I just didn’t have the right presentation/location? 
 

I think a part of the problem was that the water was so cold that my minnows were dying pretty quickly. Is there a solution for this? I tried adding river water to my bait cooler but it didn’t seem to help.

first thing i think of is when you bring fish home from the pet shop. you put the whole plastic bag in the tank for an hour or so until the water temps equalize, not sure how you'd do that at the river

 

plus if you have mid 40's water temps you shouldn't need live bait. jig, jerkbait, slow rolled spinnerbait or squarebill should get bit

[Ohioguy25]

1 minute ago, Kev-mo said:

first thing i think of is when you bring fish home from the pet shop. you put the whole plastic bag in the tank for an hour or so until the water temps equalize, not sure how you'd do that at the river

 

plus if you have mid 40's water temps you shouldn't need live bait. jig, jerkbait, slow rolled spinnerbait or squarebill should get bit

Man I’ve tried everything lure wise, not happening on this creek. I’m not sure how so many are having abundant success with it. Cold water would be even harder.

[Kev-mo]

6 minutes ago, Ohioguy25 said:

Man I’ve tried everything lure wise, not happening on this creek. I’m not sure how so many are having abundant success with it. Cold water would be even harder.

who's having abundant success with what and where?