Early "Seasonal" Movement? Confused in Illinois...

[AJ Hauser]

Guys... HAAAALLLLPPP.

 

First off, happy Saturday! I hope you are all on a lake and unable to answer this until later 

 

I am having a heck of a time fishing in Illinois lately. Two days ago I went to my favorite creek, and the water was extremely low. Several of the runs were actually like rocky paths and I had to carry my kayak over 'em. In three hours fishing the pools that remained, using a swimbait, a lipless crank, and a jig & plastic, I caught 1 tiny smallmouth and left defeated. 

 

 

The next day I went to two local lakes, about 12 to 15 acres each, and fished from shore. Max depth in each is just under 10 feet. The water looked like pea soup. Algae bloom I assume - fished a crankbait along the rip-rap shoreline, then a swimbait, then a wacky rigged stickbait. No strikes, no taps, no follows (that I could see in the 5 inches of visibility). 

 

I was reading that with thick algae like this, there can be visibility below that we are not aware of... not sure. 

 

Q1. Can low water trigger smallmouth to move out of the creeks, into the rivers that they feed into? Will they come back if water levels raise up again before the end of the season? I know these dudes and dudettes have a sense for lowering water... but do they exit the building for a time or until next spring? I sure didn't find many in the pools that remained...

 

Q2. Do any of you guys have a similar situation with low water in the Midwest at the moment? Any thoughts on fishing from shore on smaller lakes with the conditions I mentioned above?

 

I am completely deflated. Crying in my coffee and questioning everything I thought I knew about life. Existence, even. My wife won't touch me. Said "ain't no way I'm gonna be with a man that can't even catch no fish!"

 

Well she didn't say it, but I could see it in her eyes. 

 

I think. 

 

Maybe I'm just paranoid. 

 

Any insight would be very appreciated before I plan my next trip. 

 

Thanks all, and have a great weekend. Catch more fish than I did!

 

 

 

Edited August 13, 2022 by AJ Hauser
I is dumb. Made typos.

[Basser2021]

The rain has been avoiding my town this year. It'll rain in the next city or town over but will completely miss us (we have gotten some rain in the past week but not much). As a result our creek water levels have dropped significantly. The fishing has stunk this year in those bodies of water, all I catch are dinks. It seems like low water makes the big fish inactive. I don't know anything about smallmouth migration, but I'm sure the smallmouth have boogied out of there for the river if I had to guess. You aren't the only one my man. This year, I've ditched the creeks for ponds which I have had pretty good success with.

[Dwight Hottle]

On 8/13/2022 at 9:24 AM, AJ Hauser said:

Guys... HAAAALLLLPPP.

 

First off, happy Saturday! I hope you are all on a lake and unable to answer this until later 

 

I am having a heck of a time fishing in Illinois lately. Two days ago I went to my favorite creek, and the water was extremely low. Several of the runs were actually like rocky paths and I had to carry my kayak over 'em. In three hours fishing the pools that remained, using a swimbait, a lipless crank, and a jig & plastic, I caught 1 tiny smallmouth and left defeated. 

 

 

 

 

Q1. Can low water trigger smallmouth to move out of the creeks, into the rivers that they feed into? Will they come back if water levels raise up again before the end of the season? I know these dudes and dudettes have a sense for lowering water... but do they exit the building for a time or until next spring? I sure didn't find many in the pools that remained...

 

 

 

If the smallies didn't move out of the low water they would be dead. Instinct survival has to trigger them to find water deep enough to be able to feed & survive.  

[gim]

I experienced this exact situation last season because we had the worst drought since 1988. River and creek levels were extremely low during summer time. They came back nicely this year and I was able to fish them again, but I didn’t catch anything over 17 inches. It may take a few years to recover and produce more sizable fish.

[TnRiver46]

The only “help” I can offer is that help doesn’t have an A in it. Randy blaukat also doesn’t know this fact ? 

[AJ Hauser]

@TnRiver46 hahaha, it's the spelling police! What does Randy do that you mentioned?

 

@gimruis I appreciate you sharing that with me - I was lucky to get into some bigs earlier in the season, but I couldn't believe how much has changed since I got back from Wisconsin. I'm hoping we get some water and they come back a bit so that next season we're in good shape - I guess we'll see. 

 

@Dwight Hottle thank you for that - what are your thoughts on fishing smaller ponds and lakes with floating algae? I'm thinking my time will be best spent there for the rest of the season. There are also some deep, clear strip pits that I could try my luck in...

 

@Basser2021 I was in Tennessee a few weeks ago. Didn't get a chance to fish though. You foshing lakes, creeks or rivers - or all 3?

 

Thanks guys, much appreciated! Trying to make the most of my limited remaining time... whenever I think I have it figured out, Mother Nature slaps me in the face and tells me to sit back down. 

[TnRiver46]

6 minutes ago, AJ Hauser said:

@TnRiver46 hahaha, it's the spelling police! What does Randy do that you mentioned?

 

@gimruis I appreciate you sharing that with me - I was lucky to get into some bigs earlier in the season, but I couldn't believe how much has changed since I got back from Wisconsin. I'm hoping we get some water and they come back a bit so that next season we're in good shape - I guess we'll see. 

 

@Dwight Hottle thank you for that - what are your thoughts on fishing smaller ponds and lakes with floating algae? I'm thinking my time will be best spent there for the rest of the season. There are also some deep, clear strip pits that I could try my luck in...

 

@Basser2021 I was in Tennessee a few weeks ago. Didn't get a chance to fish though. You foshing lakes, creeks or rivers - or all 3?

 

Thanks guys, much appreciated! Trying to make the most of my limited remaining time... whenever I think I have it figured out, Mother Nature slaps me in the face and tells me to sit back down. 

He says halp instead of help every single time!! Haha. You can spell however you please, it’s just that one word is a minor pet peeve of mine, maybe it’s regional?

 

we are just as bad in Appalachia, the corn gets warshed away when it storms 

[AJ Hauser]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

... we are just as bad in Appalachia, the corn gets warshed away when it storms 

 

WARSHED?! Like on the WARSHboard out back?

 

??

 

Lord have mercy...

[TnRiver46]

10 minutes ago, AJ Hauser said:

 

WARSHED?! Like on the WARSHboard out back?

 

??

 

Lord have mercy...

That’s the warshed! I’ve heard the R in there came from when the folks in Boston took it out of the word “car”

[Basser2021]

11 hours ago, AJ Hauser said:

@TnRiver46 hahaha, it's the spelling police! What does Randy do that you mentioned?

 

@gimruis I appreciate you sharing that with me - I was lucky to get into some bigs earlier in the season, but I couldn't believe how much has changed since I got back from Wisconsin. I'm hoping we get some water and they come back a bit so that next season we're in good shape - I guess we'll see. 

 

@Dwight Hottle thank you for that - what are your thoughts on fishing smaller ponds and lakes with floating algae? I'm thinking my time will be best spent there for the rest of the season. There are also some deep, clear strip pits that I could try my luck in...

 

@Basser2021 I was in Tennessee a few weeks ago. Didn't get a chance to fish though. You foshing lakes, creeks or rivers - or all 3?

 

Thanks guys, much appreciated! Trying to make the most of my limited remaining time... whenever I think I have it figured out, Mother Nature slaps me in the face and tells me to sit back down. 

I'm fishing creeks and ponds mostly. Every once in a while I'll go to the river but I haven't been able to catch squat out there this year which is unusual for me.

 

I did well during June with catfish, but as far as bass goes I've sucked

[AJ Hauser]

15 hours ago, Basser2021 said:

I did well during June 

 

Ditto - did alright with bass earlier this year, lately it's been real bad. Trying again later today, we'll see what happens!