Fishing (Finding?) Smallmouth Bass in the Spring

[AJ Hauser]

Good morning brothers. I've got the itch. No, not one that requires a cream or an ointment or a salve... I got bass itches. 

 

I'm gearing up to fish here in the Midwest (northern Illinois) and one of the things I've noticed over the past 5 years is that smallmouth bass tend to use some of the creeks for some of the summer. During May and June there is a shallow creek that gets absolutely loaded with smallmouth bass. Some in the 20" range over 3 pounds. It's a blast, but as we get into July and then through the rest of the year... the only thing you'll find in that same creek is a dink here and there. The water gets cleaner & clearer but also much shallower, and the big gals are gone. 

 

The only thing I can figure is that said creek dumps into a large nearby river (the Illinois River) and when it gets hot and shallow, they vacate for the deeper, cooler water, even though it's also dirtier and has lower visibility. 

 

I'm curious how you guys would approach this since it's only March right now. The water around here is still very cold, but it will be warming soon. Do you think that the creek is filling up with smallmouth bass because they are spawning and then hanging around? Do you think they're just in there to feed and it's not spawn-related?

 

We have another river that is connected but it sits far away from the creek. There are several dams along that river, and I know that guys will fish them at certain times of the year. Do smallmouth "move up" in river systems and make their way to dams early in the season for... reasons? 

 

This info is going to help me plan out a starting point so I am on the water chasing bass earlier than ever before, instead of fishing dead water for hours hoping for a random bite. 

 

Thanks! 

[raydomz]

Following this thread…

 

My experience and waters sound very similar to yours so I’ll share what I’ve learned. 
 

I target smallmouth and pike in my creeks/river/“lake”.
 

In the late winter (now), I find that jigs, neds, and especially free-rigs will pull the bass that are present out from their hiding spots. There are not many, but those I find tend to be larger. A slow, methodical breakdown of all cover works for me. I find large pike respond to larger plastics free rigged (creates a slow fall I can then control), smallmouth seem to prefer a stick/ned dragged slowly along the bottom. I avoid most all of the open areas of the creek - I only move to cover I can repeatedly hit. 

 

It isn’t until around the end of March and into April that I start to see the smaller ones roaming. Then it’s game on. They bite anything, and it lasts until about November. 
 

During the hotter parts of the year where the water drops and clears up I go all-in on tiny under-spins and jerk baits. 
 

There are fish out in the lake that my creeks dump into right now, but getting them to bite is a crapshoot this time of year. 2 days ago I felt the urge to get out and enjoy the weather and had to resign to the fact that it turned out to just be a nice day on the water with my kids, not a mega fish catching day.

 

All that said, pick up some Berkeley Gilly’s, some hula sticks, and find the cover. There are a lot of snag-free rigging options, pick what you feel most confident in and go hunting. 

[raydomz]

Forgot to include this in my last post. Although it’s cold, you can find ‘em!

 

[AJ Hauser]

Thank you for the reply @raydomz - much appreciated! You're north of me even! So after reading your response and doing a bit more research, I'm starting to wonder if the bigger smallmouth are "pushing up into" my creeks when the water table is higher, not so much when the water is warming. 

 

Maybe it's a combination?

 

I thought they were moving up into the creeks because the water was clear and the warming temps had something to do with spawning, so they felt some sort of prehistoric urge to move up the current... but maybe it has to do with them moving to the sources of the increased flow?

 

So this would mean by me, in April when we get a lot of rain, the smallmouth would move up towards the dams in the smaller rivers, and it could explain why they were up in the creeks that dump into the large rivers around that same time - but then they're gone a month or two after that. 

 

Whaddya think??

[PaulVE64]

On 3/12/2025 at 9:30 AM, AJ Hauser said:

Good morning brothers. I've got the itch. No, not one that requires a cream or an ointment or a salve... I got bass itches. 

 

I'm gearing up to fish here in the Midwest (northern Illinois) and one of the things I've noticed over the past 5 years is that smallmouth bass tend to use some of the creeks for some of the summer. During May and June there is a shallow creek that gets absolutely loaded with smallmouth bass. Some in the 20" range over 3 pounds. It's a blast, but as we get into July and then through the rest of the year... the only thing you'll find in that same creek is a dink here and there. The water gets cleaner & clearer but also much shallower, and the big gals are gone. 

 

The only thing I can figure is that said creek dumps into a large nearby river (the Illinois River) and when it gets hot and shallow, they vacate for the deeper, cooler water, even though it's also dirtier and has lower visibility. 

 

I'm curious how you guys would approach this since it's only March right now. The water around here is still very cold, but it will be warming soon. Do you think that the creek is filling up with smallmouth bass because they are spawning and then hanging around? Do you think they're just in there to feed and it's not spawn-related?

 

We have another river that is connected but it sits far away from the creek. There are several dams along that river, and I know that guys will fish them at certain times of the year. Do smallmouth "move up" in river systems and make their way to dams early in the season for... reasons? 

 

This info is going to help me plan out a starting point so I am on the water chasing bass earlier than ever before, instead of fishing dead water for hours hoping for a random bite. 

 

Thanks! 

20" resident that creek run to spawn.

There fat, mean and aggressive

 

EDIT - i find creek smallies after the first heavy thaw/flood. The heavier flow in bigger rivers seems to trigger resident bass. Im on the Great Lakes basin.

[raydomz]

On 3/13/2025 at 10:06 AM, AJ Hauser said:

Thank you for the reply @raydomz - much appreciated! You're north of me even! So after reading your response and doing a bit more research, I'm starting to wonder if the bigger smallmouth are "pushing up into" my creeks when the water table is higher, not so much when the water is warming. 

 

Maybe it's a combination?

 

I thought they were moving up into the creeks because the water was clear and the warming temps had something to do with spawning, so they felt some sort of prehistoric urge to move up the current... but maybe it has to do with them moving to the sources of the increased flow?

 

So this would mean by me, in April when we get a lot of rain, the smallmouth would move up towards the dams in the smaller rivers, and it could explain why they were up in the creeks that dump into the large rivers around that same time - but then they're gone a month or two after that. 

 

Whaddya think??

 

Personally, I think it’s a combination of warming and rising flow that get them on the move to their favorite spawning holes. Now here, when that current settles back down is when they’re biting most. They’ve had a chance to roam, they find a hole, and they lock down.

 

I have not read any research specific to bass river movements so what I’m saying may go against that, but having spent a considerable amount of time on the same creek/river system, this is what I see. 
 

One big difference in our scenarios is that you’re saying the creeks dump into bigger rivers. Mine don’t, or at least where I’m fishing them they don’t. I wonder if the water you fish really only serves a temporary purpose to them. The bigger water may be what they prefer the rest of the year. 
 

ps - things are warmer up here! Smallies are starting to chase. This one was caught on a jig/craw combo. 

 

[FryDog62]

I ran the upper Mississippi and Rum River in Minnesota for years.. fish (especially smallmouth) migrate great distances throughout the year. If they stop biting in a particular stretch of river more likely means that they’ve left the area. You either need to move or wait until the following cycle/season for them to return. 

[gim]

I’d look for the warmest water I could find this time of year. Even a degree or two will make a big difference.

 

Sometimes it’s just too cold. They also tend to be quite lethargic when the water is still very cold. Slow presentations would be my strategy. Let a jerk bait sit there for as long as you can possibly tolerate it between snaps.

[TnRiver46]

21 hours ago, raydomz said:

 

Personally, I think it’s a combination of warming and rising flow that get them on the move to their favorite spawning holes. Now here, when that current settles back down is when they’re biting most. They’ve had a chance to roam, they find a hole, and they lock down.

 

I have not read any research specific to bass river movements so what I’m saying may go against that, but having spent a considerable amount of time on the same creek/river system, this is what I see. 
 

One big difference in our scenarios is that you’re saying the creeks dump into bigger rivers. Mine don’t, or at least where I’m fishing them they don’t. I wonder if the water you fish really only serves a temporary purpose to them. The bigger water may be what they prefer the rest of the year. 
 

ps - things are warmer up here! Smallies are starting to chase. This one was caught on a jig/craw combo. 

 

What a photo!!! Awesome 

[raydomz]

18 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

What a photo!!! Awesome 

You can’t beat the excitement of a kid fishing! 

[AJ Hauser]

@raydomz I appreciate your insight - very interesting, and more importantly, congrats to the big man!! That's a fish!

 

I think you are right though, the more reading I have done lately the more I'm thinking that the smallmouth bass I've encountered are only in my creek when the temps and length of the day are correct and the water is a bit higher. As it warms and the water table drops back off, I think the big fish leave for the main river channel. I wrote a lot of this information up (combining the feedback from this very forum post - so thank you guys again) in an article on targeting smallmouth bass in spring, posted this morning. I am not sure if links are allowed to blogs like this, so if they are not, please let me know and I will remove the link or a mod can. 

 

I don't want to cause trouble, but I think a lot of the information combined & refined there would be useful to my fellow smallmouth anglers. 

 

Tight lines boys - I'll talk to you soon! 

[casts_by_fly]

On 3/12/2025 at 9:30 AM, AJ Hauser said:

Good morning brothers. I've got the itch. No, not one that requires a cream or an ointment or a salve... I got bass itches. 

 

I'm gearing up to fish here in the Midwest (northern Illinois) and one of the things I've noticed over the past 5 years is that smallmouth bass tend to use some of the creeks for some of the summer. During May and June there is a shallow creek that gets absolutely loaded with smallmouth bass. Some in the 20" range over 3 pounds. It's a blast, but as we get into July and then through the rest of the year... the only thing you'll find in that same creek is a dink here and there. The water gets cleaner & clearer but also much shallower, and the big gals are gone. 

 

The only thing I can figure is that said creek dumps into a large nearby river (the Illinois River) and when it gets hot and shallow, they vacate for the deeper, cooler water, even though it's also dirtier and has lower visibility. 

 

I'm curious how you guys would approach this since it's only March right now. The water around here is still very cold, but it will be warming soon. Do you think that the creek is filling up with smallmouth bass because they are spawning and then hanging around? Do you think they're just in there to feed and it's not spawn-related?

 

We have another river that is connected but it sits far away from the creek. There are several dams along that river, and I know that guys will fish them at certain times of the year. Do smallmouth "move up" in river systems and make their way to dams early in the season for... reasons? 

 

This info is going to help me plan out a starting point so I am on the water chasing bass earlier than ever before, instead of fishing dead water for hours hoping for a random bite. 

 

Thanks! 

 

 

growing up, we lived within sight of the Mon river, south of Pittsburgh.  There were a bunch of small streams that fed the river that all had a similar pattern.  The second flood in the spring would bring a bunch of fish up into the creek.  the first flood was usually in march and everything was still pretty cold.  The second big flood (I'm talking 10' over full pool) would flood the creeks, creek bottoms, and everywhere.  The water would be in the 50's at that point.  You could fish the mouths of the creeks if you wanted, but if you waited a couple days for it to go down, the creeks would be full of fish.  All fish.  Primarily that means carp, white bass, and smallies but we'd get drum, crappies, catfish, and you name it.  They would go as far as 10 miles up the creeks at times.  I think it was a combination of factors- the river was heavy flow and muddy, so the creeks were eddies and slower.  They were a little warmer.  All of that drew the baitfish and so the schools of other fish followed the bait.  I don't recall the smallies spawning up in the creek, though many would just become resident there so there must have been some.  The lower reaches would be full of fish and then after not very long they would be sparse- a couple holes would hold them but mostly they just flowed back out with the water.  That's what makes me believe it was largely baitfish and rest drawing them up in the first place.

[AJ Hauser]

@casts_by_fly this sounds extremely similar to what I have experienced, and I tell you what - I haven't ever seen these bass spawning around here either, like you mentioned - or come across leftover signs. Last season we had quite a bit of water, and I didn't even try the creek until the end of May - and the water was 66°. The main river is always muddy or carrying a lot of sediment, but these connected creeks clear up beautifully... until it rains, then they are unfishable until the water calms down and clear up a bit. I have also caught huge carp (2 actually, one on an inline spinner and another on a jig worm last season) and catfish in here at random times, which has seemed odd, but again I think it ties in with what you are describing. Thank you so much for your insight, it is very appreciated and it seems to make quite a bit of sense!