Creekin for smallies

[DADto4]

Hello everyone,

I first have to say kudos to the forum,what a wealth of knowledge.As a new member I am still trying to soak up all there is to offer here.I have a question about creek, not river fishing for smallies. My two older boys 12&7 and myself recently waded through Sugar Creek (Crawfordsville,Indiana), using beetle spins and Kelley plowboys.Although we had caught 30 or so smallies none were bigger than a 20 ounce coke bottle?This creek as I am told holds plenty of big fish...HOW DO WE CATCH THEM! I myself am a LMB guy and know absolutely nothing about SMB.Looking for sugg. on lures,and locations (deep or shallow,weeds,trees,points) and anything else we might need since the boys now want to keep going.Reading the post from Crestliner2008 in regards to smallie newbie,I am wondering is this my answer also?

Thanks in advance,

      -John

[franklinfishfinder]

I grew up fishing the back fork of the elk river in west virgina. it was a small clear trout stream. it was actually catch and release. but there was smallies in it. and growing up and watching bill dance all those guys catch bass all day long i wanted to catch them. i learned that fishing grubs and small crankbaits worked great for number but for bigger fish try fishing jerkbaits like a pointer 95 or a zoom fluke. i learned to catch the bigger fish it meant getting up at day break and going after them before they could see you. if the water is really really clear then you have to almost stalk the bigger ones. but nothing beats watching a 3 + pound smallie turn and kill a fluke. gets my heart beatin everytime. i hope those few tips work for you. and good luck catching those awsome creek smallies.

p.s. look for big rocks were fish can get under for cover. you never know whats up under those rocks

[DADto4]

Thanks for the response,This creek is gin clear,that may be our problem!Both of the boys are kinda clumsy at "wading" around and we probably spooked the bigguns.I have a small arsenal of 3" berkley grubs,and several spooks and skitter pops-(my favs for ponds)... will these work well?

[flippincrazy]

Leeches and softcraws! Tubes if you can't do the live bait thing.

[Pitchinkid]

I also grewup fishing a smallmouth/trout stream in west virginia called Paint creek. Most of our big fish came from small crankbaits or spinnerbaits , such as Rebel Craws and Strike King mini-spins. But chances are that small stream may not produce a fish over 15". My all time favorite creek bait is a Strike-King bitsy tube Green Pumpkin.

[TrippyJai]

try a worm under the bobber in deep pools of water. there are some pretty good size smallies in a local river that i fish once in a while.

i walk along the river for about a km to find deeper pools of water.

for baits, try smaller tubes like 3" work well...

[franklinfishfinder]

yeah grubs and topwaters like that work great. also tubes and finesse worms and i bet you there is a few big ones. plus another great time to catch the bigger ones is when it rains and the water rises and has some color to it. not like choclate milk muddy but you know dingy. when it's like that try fishing close to shore. most creek smallies are just like big brown trout when it comes to eating whatever gets washed in when it rains. i hope that might work for ya bud. let me know how it goes.

[FishZen]

I've been fishing creeks a lot lately due to the serious lack of a boat. Let me say that those 13-14in smallies will give you a fun time any day!

When I first started fishing the creeks, I was using small 'creek size' baits like 1/16 rooster tails and tubes under 3in. After a few trips with lots of small fish I decided to try out some the the larger 'lake size' baits. My results were great. I caught fewer fish, but the ones I did catch were much larger. So try upsizing some of your lures and see if you can trick some bigger brothers into biting ;D

Also, it is possible that noisy young'uns will spook smb in skinny water. Look for any holes that are deeper and fish those. You will be less likely to scare the fish, and during the low flow of summer, this is where some of the larger ones hang out.

Good luck and be careful out there.

Just thought I should add that bigger bait will also mean lots of 'missed fish'. These are the small guys pecking at the lure constantly.

[DADto4]

I thank you all for the input,The boys and I have planned to go again this saturday,BUT first we will make a special "trip" to the local tackle shop to buy the needed supplies (you know the boys gotta have 'em too!) I'll post back and let ya know how it goes.

Until then

   -John

[Jig Thrower]

i normally use good ol rooster tails and panter martins  normally watermelon in color and depending on the day silver or gold spinners works great for catching smallies and trout if they are present

[shaw24]

Hey John, I have fished Sugar Sreek a LOT this summer. I started out fly fishing for smallies and recently have been using a light rod/reel. There are a ton of smallies in that creek but most of them are pretty small. However there are a lot of decent sized ones in there too and some big ones.

I have caught a couple really nice 2lbers and let me tell it was a really fun fight! It made catching all the dinks worth it!

I usually use a 2" curly tail grub or a rooster tail but I have heard that 3 or 4 inch live minnows work good too on a bobber in a hole. I caught my latest 2 lber on a road runner....which I lost that day and haven't found another one yet  :'(

We will have to get together sometime and swap techniques

[pondhopper]

On Stony Creek over here in Noblesville, I have had some luck with #3 Mepps and a bucktail jig I tie myself to match the color of the stream's craws.