Big bass in a small river?

[Swamp Girl]

Tomorrow morning, I'm going to paddle up a narrow river, about ten yards wide, with pretty good current. The water is 7-Up clear and it's weedy. The last time I fished the end of the river, where it's a little wider, and caught two 19" bass in the dark. This time, I'll be fishing upriver where it narrows. I went up a little ways last time and it's full of bass, but I'm wondering if you think I'll encounter more 19" bass (or bigger) or will the fish shrink as the river shrinks? There's a dam at the end of the river and its spillway is pushing that current. 

[Darth-Baiter]

Rivers are  my Achilles. 

 

I have a hard time figuring them out, but I have taken a few good, very good bass.  I'm almost shocked when it happens, because I am flailing around blind for the most part.

[Swamp Girl]

9 minutes ago, Darth-Baiter said:

flailing around blind for the most part

 

^My primary technique^

[Darth-Baiter]

we apparently were separated at birth.  hahah

[WRB]

Paddling a canoe upstream interesting. I would think larger size brown bass would be located where a good food supply is. The River meanders from Coriolis effect the water wanting to turn right undercutting the bank then deflecting left snaking back and forth unless the current is fast and banks are very hard. The undercut banks are good hiding places and usually have big rocks to deflect the current. This would be 1st areas to target. Any big boulders or lay downs are obvious spots.

I would think closer to the dam would be good area.

Good luck,

Tom

[Scott F]

As a general rule, the biggest bass in a small size river will be found near the deepest water. It might only be 3’ deep if the rest of the river is only a foot. In small rivers a 19” fish is probably close to as big as they get, especially in northern states where the growing season is short. 

[Swamp Girl]

1 minute ago, Scott F said:

As a general rule, the biggest bass in a small size river will be found near the deepest water. It might only be 3’ deep if the rest of the river is only a foot. In small rivers a 19” fish is probably close to as big as they get, especially in northern states where the growing season is short. 

 

I was worried this was the case. Still, I'll fish it and concentrate on rocks, laydowns, and undercut banks like Tom suggests. From Google Earth, there are a lot of trees, so there should be a lot of laydowns and Maine is the rockiest place I've ever lived. 

[Scott F]

8 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

 

I was worried this was the case. Still, I'll fish it and concentrate on rocks, laydowns, and undercut banks like Tom suggests. From Google Earth, there are a lot of trees, so there should be a lot of laydowns and Maine is the rockiest place I've ever lived. 

Worried about 19” being the biggest? That’s a fantastic fish! I’m in a smallmouth club where guys dream of finding fish that size! You’ve got a treasure of a river that produces fish that size especially for a small river. I’d like to fish a place where those 19 inchers don’t qualify as a goodun’!

[gim]

My experience in a river is mostly is with a small/shallow one.  The average depth is a foot or so and a 6 foot hole is considered very deep.

 

I've caught a lot of big smallmouth out of this river over the years, as I've been fishing it for about 20 seasons.  Unfortunately, I cannot float it when we are in a drought and this season we are in a drought.  I've been unable to fish it 3 out of the last 4 seasons because of this.

 

The single biggest factor when I fished it was current.  There had to be at least moderate current.  Areas of minimal or no current did not hold fish.  Areas with swift or moderate current did.  Even better if there was some depth to the areas with current.

 

I've caught smallmouth up to 21 inches in this small river.  July and August were the two months I went there.  I floated with the current in a small shallow-drafting jon boat and casted towards the shore as I went past.  Undercut banks, over hanging trees, eddies behind boulders, etc were ideal spots.  I had to be extremely accurate with my casting.  The target was about the size of a dinner plate.  If I casted too far, I got hung up.  If I shorted it, I didn't get bit.

 

I rarely if ever saw others out there fishing.  The banks are lined with private property as the river meandered through timber and agriculture.  This is a big reason why the fishing is so good out there.  Very limited access unless you waded or floated with the current.

 

The picture is a tie for my PB smallmouth and the biggest one I ever caught out of that river.  Way back in July 2014.

[WRB]

I did a lot of river trout fishing decades ago and would see trout suspended in the current! How do they do that? So studied current factors and learned those trout were using seams in the current were faster moving water transitioned against slower moving water creating nearly no current.

If you look closely the shallower water near a tapering bank has small ripples and the faster moving deeper water is nervous uneven looking. The “seam” is where fish like to suspend waiting for food to come by. The seam current break  is often over looked by anglers conditioned to obvious whirring water and eddies.

Tom 

[Swamp Girl]

27 minutes ago, Scott F said:

Worried about 19” being the biggest? That’s a fantastic fish! I’m in a smallmouth club where guys dream of finding fish that size! You’ve got a treasure of a river that produces fish that size especially for a small river. I’d like to fish a place where those 19 inchers don’t qualify as a goodun’!

 

Oh, no, I LOVE 19-inchers! Love, love, love them. I was just agreeing that it might not hold bass over 19 inches. 

[Susky River Rat]

I am s river rat. Unlike @gimruis I get most of my fish in slack water or near current not in it. You’ll also hit pockets of fish. So if you start catching pick it apart.  I personally would bounce bottom in the rocks. You’ll be snagged but, it usually pays. 
 

as far as Maine being rocky you have never experienced the susky.

[Swamp Girl]

3 minutes ago, WRB said:

The seam current break  is often over looked by anglers conditioned to obvious whirring water and eddies.

 

Not me, Tom. As a whitewater paddler, I read seams. 

 

1 minute ago, Darnold335 said:

as far as Maine being rocky you have never experienced the susky.

 

I haven't paddled the Susky, but I have paddled other rivers in PA and they were water flowing over rock. Of course, some guy in Utah could say, "The Susky? You think the Susky is rocky? You should come to Utah!" And then a guy on the moon would say,....

[Susky River Rat]

@ol'crickety it’s only a little rocky  this isn’t at a shallow river height either 

[Swamp Girl]

3 minutes ago, Darnold335 said:

@ol'crickety it’s only a little rocky  this isn’t at a shallow river height either 

 

Looks like smallie Heaven. No wonder you love it. I'd love it too. Maine is rocky in that we have boulders lying about everywhere. They're likely glacial erratics. And if you try to dig, you'll find a million more. It's why farmers abandoned Maine a hundred and two hundred years ago for the Ohio River Valley and Iowa.

[Susky River Rat]

@ol'crickety I was just talking about the susky in general. There’s a reason why a bunch of inboard custom jet boat makers are in this area. It is smallie heaven. People travel here from outside the state to fish for them. There was a member from here just traveled from out of state to fish near where that picture was taken.

 

edit: I believe it was @Ohioguy25

[PaulVE64]

Assuming the water is connected they should be there too.

Hope it's an exciting day

[gim]

2 hours ago, Darnold335 said:

I am s river rat. Unlike @gimruis I get most of my fish in slack water or near current not in it. You’ll also hit pockets of fish. So if you start catching pick it apart.  I personally would bounce bottom in the rocks. You’ll be snagged but, it usually pays. 
 

as far as Maine being rocky you have never experienced the susky.

Not sure I would call that a “small” river. Just from the photo it seems MUCH bigger than what I was referencing. It’s obviously very shallow, but the river I am referring to is shallower and much narrower. You can cast across the river I would consider small. You aren’t launching any type of sizable watercraft in my river either. Canoes, Jon boats, kayaks, or waders is the only option. 

[Susky River Rat]

@gimruis the susky is a big river but, fishes like a small one if that makes sense. 

[Swamp Girl]

2 hours ago, PaulVE64 said:

Assuming the water is connected they should be there too.

Hope it's an exciting day

 

I'll let you guys know how it goes. I'm excited!

[bowhunter63]

Treat it like a big river. They’re alike except on a smaller scale. Small River bass are my Wheel house love it. Tear em up 

[Swamp Girl]

I hope I do, @bowhunter63. I've remembered to bring my bump board this time. I forgot it last time and could only get lip and grip pics, which are lousy when it's dark. I can't really see how big they were. 

[Darth-Baiter]

wish I could post a video.  my first river bass, I almost passed out from the excitement.  hahha..

 

 

[BFS-Angler75]

The lake I fish at regularly has some decent pressure in it. A lot of the anglers showing up now will fish it for crappie's and deep dwelling bass. They're all over and apparently not getting bit. They rarely if ever go into the river mouths and branches that feed the lake. Out of curiousity my daughter and I decided to explore the rivers at some point this summer. It took us a couple of months but we got them figured out pretty good now.

 

In our rigged out canoe we have to paddle over 20 - 50 yards of shallows from 6 inches to 1 foot of water, which then drops to 5 - 7 feet in the northern river, and down to 12 feet in the southern river. The water is also 10 - 15 degrees cooler, especially in the northern branch that feeds into the lake. The rivers are about 20 - 30 yards wide.

 

All along the shady spots of the banks there's a bunch of structure holding the bass. We raked in 15 over the holiday weekend; mostly 1.5 pounders but pulled in a few 2 - 4 pounders as well. It was a fun. No one really explores back there but we keep those areas to ourselves lol. The bass there aren't pressured at all, but they have a lot more places to hide. The casts are also a little more difficult, but it pays off. 

 

We aim for the areas where the river gets to its deepest. The current slows up, water temp comes down into the high 70's, and they'll sit there and wait for the baitfish to swim by. Lately here, we've been ignoring the main body of the lake and hitting up the river mouths and branches lol. But, its nice and peaceful there, and I can avoid the "having any luck?" conversations. 

 

 

[Swamp Girl]

5 hours ago, BFS-Angler75 said:

The lake I fish at regularly has some decent pressure in it. A lot of the anglers showing up now will fish it for crappie's and deep dwelling bass. They're all over and apparently not getting bit. They rarely if ever go into the river mouths and branches that feed the lake. Out of curiousity my daughter and I decided to explore the rivers at some point this summer. It took us a couple of months but we got them figured out pretty good now.

 

In our rigged out canoe we have to paddle over 20 - 50 yards of shallows from 6 inches to 1 foot of water, which then drops to 5 - 7 feet in the northern river, and down to 12 feet in the southern river. The water is also 10 - 15 degrees cooler, especially in the northern branch that feeds into the lake. The rivers are about 20 - 30 yards wide.

 

All along the shady spots of the banks there's a bunch of structure holding the bass. We raked in 15 over the holiday weekend; mostly 1.5 pounders but pulled in a few 2 - 4 pounders as well. It was a fun. No one really explores back there but we keep those areas to ourselves lol. The bass there aren't pressured at all, but they have a lot more places to hide. The casts are also a little more difficult, but it pays off. 

 

We aim for the areas where the river gets to its deepest. The current slows up, water temp comes down into the high 70's, and they'll sit there and wait for the baitfish to swim by. Lately here, we've been ignoring the main body of the lake and hitting up the river mouths and branches lol. But, its nice and peaceful there, and I can avoid the "having any luck?" conversations. 

 

 

 

Cool story of a cool place to fish!