Smallmouth Movement in Shallow Creeks in the Fall

[flyfisher]

4 hours ago, AJ Hauser said:

 

This begs the question: what are the most important factors for a quality wintering location?

 

Thanks!

 

Protection from current at all water levels, food source and ease of access to shallow flats for those "warm" days.  I haven't found a wintering hole super spot but the success I have found seem to be deeper pools that have additional structure in the form of ledges where they can sit and wait or move easily up the water column.
 

[AJ Hauser]

20 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

"If it’s a free stone stream/river, I avoid it all together in winter"

 

What's "free stone"? 

 

Gosh I'm dumb. 

19 hours ago, flyfisher said:

... wait or move easily up the water column.
 

 

Great - thank you! Do bass and other fish use points to "follow" up and down like a deer path? I have heard that one reason points are so important is because they are used to move up and down but... I mean they wouldn't have to do that...

 

Thoughts?

[TnRiver46]

11 minutes ago, AJ Hauser said:

 

What's "free stone"? 

 

Gosh I'm dumb. 

 

Great - thank you! Do bass and other fish use points to "follow" up and down like a deer path? I have heard that one reason points are so important is because they are used to move up and down but... I mean they wouldn't have to do that...

 

Thoughts?

Free stone is a river without a dam 

[AJ Hauser]

Just now, TnRiver46 said:

Free stone is a river without a dam 

 

I'm not (as) dumb anymore - thanks!

 

[TnRiver46]

4 minutes ago, AJ Hauser said:

 

I'm not (as) dumb anymore - thanks!

 

That’s probably just a local term since we have a lot of each . I definitely don’t think it would show up in the dictionary haha

 

but I’ve seen many (free stone) rivers near me turn into a ghost town in November . But the tailwaters are excellent fishing in November and December. They have constant water temps, whereas the free stone streams get cold shock every night 

[Cranks4fun]

On 2/2/2022 at 12:19 PM, AJ Hauser said:

Nice, thanks guys. @Cranks4fun what are some good stream / creek locations around the Bull Shoals area - do you happen to know of anything worth checking out or that is public access? I'd love to have some options so I can do different types of fishing on different days.

I do not fish that area often. It is about 2 1/2 hours away. If you have a boat, Bull Shoals has public access points but I am not familiar enough with the area to tell you where you can fish from shore. Any of the streams and creeks that run through the Mark Twain National forest in that area are likely to have smallmouth or trout in them and the National Forest and its waters are generally open to the public for sporting activities like hunting and fishing. There might be a $5 hunting/fishing Nat'l. Forest permit in addition to your Non-res. fishing license (There was in Virginia) but I am not sure.

 

[roadwarrior]

Out of state license and a trout stamp is all you need.

 

Bull Shoals is tough to fish from the shore, but you can catch stocker trout below 

the dam all day long!

[MGF]

On 2/1/2022 at 11:09 PM, Cranks4fun said:

 

MGF, I lived in Starke County Indiana for 7 years. Tippecanoe was close as was Bass Lake in Knox IN and Lake Michigan. You live in a honey hole!!

 

I have some good fishing around here...and I get the impression that some don't believe me about the size of some of the smallmouth I catch. LOL

 

The hunting is kind of tuff unless you own land or know somebody. I see plenty of deer but I don't usually get to hunt where they live.

[Kev-mo]

Free stone is this:

Surface waters provide the main source of water for freestone rivers and streams.

This means rainfall and snow runoff. Not surprisingly, then, freestone rivers rise and fall with the conditions. They can flood easily. When the spring temperatures warm and the snow melts, freestone rivers swell with water. This heavy water churns through the river or stream bed, displacing stones—hence the name “freestone.”

[Cranks4fun]

On 2/2/2022 at 7:58 AM, Drew03cmc said:

The Neosho cannot biologically persist in lakes. They require current and will be found in slow, seemingly almost still water all winter long. They are resilient fish and my favorite fish. I fish the Elk system a couple times a year from my kayak and absolutely love the spring, prespawn bite, along with the mid summer topwater bite. I need to get on the river around Noel in February or early March to see about some bigguns.

  Yeah, that's what I have read too (they're not a lake fish). I cannot say that Neosho smallmouths are  my favorites (I like them all) but they are the only Smallmouth game in town within an hour of my home. I like kayak fishing for them too. I usually fish around Anderson or north of there. I have not fished as much around Noel because I have heard that car break-ins and damage can be bad down there. Have you had any issues with those things when parking down there?

[Drew03cmc]

5 hours ago, Cranks4fun said:

  Yeah, that's what I have read too (they're not a lake fish). I cannot say that Neosho smallmouths are  my favorites (I like them all) but they are the only Smallmouth game in town within an hour of my home. I like kayak fishing for them too. I usually fish around Anderson or north of there. I have not fished as much around Noel because I have heard that car break-ins and damage can be bad down there. Have you had any issues with those things when parking down there?

Nah, I prefer Big Sugar to the Elk itself honestly.

[Cranks4fun]

On 2/5/2022 at 5:25 PM, Drew03cmc said:

Nah, I prefer Big Sugar to the Elk itself honestly.

I've not fished Big Sugar yet but I hear it is good when the water is right. Indian Creek is a good smallmouth creek too but I rarely catch fish over 12 inches there.

[Drew03cmc]

7 minutes ago, Cranks4fun said:

I've not fished Big Sugar yet but I hear it is good when the water is right. Indian Creek is a good smallmouth creek too but I rarely catch fish over 12 inches there.

They are in there, you just have to fish big fish tactics, locations and be patient. 

[Cranks4fun]

On 2/8/2022 at 8:38 PM, Drew03cmc said:

They are in there, you just have to fish big fish tactics, locations and be patient. 

I actually caught one in a clear run on Indian Creek this past week. The area was about 20 ft wide and between 6 and 8 ft deep and gin clear with a slight blue/green tint. Chunks of ice were floating by but I did not measure the water temps with a thermometer.

    Here's the one I caught. He was caught on a ghost Shad colored H2O xpress ultralight crankbait from Academy. It is not a suspender by design but it floats up very slowly and it got smacked on the pause. PICTURE BELOW - notice the snow in the background. He's one of the Neosho subspecies.

[Drew03cmc]

52 minutes ago, Cranks4fun said:

I actually caught one in a clear run on Indian Creek last week. The area was about 20 ft wide and between 6 and 8 ft deep and gin clear with a slight blue/green tint. Chunks of ice were floating by but I did not measure the water temps with a thermometer.

    Here's the one I caught. He was caught on a ghost Shad colored H2O xpress ultralight crankbait from Academy. It is not a suspender by design but it floats up very slowly and it got smacked on the pause. PICTURE BELOW - notice the snow in the background. He's one of the Neosho subspecies.

Nice fish