Where did they go?

[BassChump]

I"ve been fishing the Umpqua river near the Oregon coast all summer. It's a great river filled to the brim with smallmouth bass. My typical catch rate has been about 40 to 50 fish a day.

The last time I fished it was on September 27th. The water temp was about 70 with the air temp about 80.

The areas I fish are inland tidal waters.

I went fishing on Monday 10-5-09 and the weather has cooled off dramatically. Water temp was down to 57 and the air temps are in the low 40's in the morning to the mid 60's during the day. I figured they would be coming up shallow to feed but apparently I'm wrong. Between 2 people, we caught 3 in 6 hours.

I fished shallow and I fished deep although the deepest this river gets is about 20 feet.

Any suggestions? Does the drastic temp changes in a week slow things down?

[roadwarrior]

I'm guessing the dramatic change is water temperature over

a relatively short period has spooked the fish. Things will be

back to normal any day now.

8-)

[BassChump]

I was hoping that's the problem. The weather cooled off dramatically here in one day. It went from being sunny and in the high 80's to low 40's at night and mid 60's during the day and it's slowly getting colder. I'm not looking forward to winter here with little to no fishing.

I recently got back together with an old girlfriend that I dearly love and she is an avid fisherwoman.

Ya can't help but love a woman that not only knows what a crankbait is but knows better than I how to use it. lol.

I just want to put her into some good fishing before the weather gets too bad.

    Thanks for the info.

[GRiver]

Whe we have a cold snap here, the bite goes off for a few days.

[Matt 825]

I dont know your area of the country but when the water temp gets to the low 60's here some years they suspend and are tough to catch.  Other years they dont and then I crush them.  I was catching 20 smallies a day over 3 lbs in early to mid September then the action tappered off to only catching 4 last Saturday between two of us.  Now I'll fish for largemouth until the water gets to 50.   ;D

[MALTESE FALCON]

Same thing here. We've had wind and rain for the last 10-12 days, along with falling temps. On the only two days that were fishable, I couldn't find any of my smallies to save my hide.

Maybe tomorrow.

Falcon

[Paul Roberts]

BassChump, will be very interested to hear a follow u pon this.

[BassChump]

I'll let you know what happens. I'm going out in the morning (Saturday) and the weather has been cool but stable. It's been in the mid 40's at night up to the mid 60's during the day.

[Smallmouth Bass49]

It's been pretty slow near me, been wondering what's up with it.  I've caught so many more largemouth than smallmouth this year.  

[BassChump]

It hasn't been slow here. The river I've fished this summer has been on fire. I typically caught at least 30 sm every time I went. I usually caught 50 or so. It was a magical place. I'd fish for 6 hours and I'd only leave because my right arm was getting tired from pulling up fish. That's why it was so suprising to me that it slowed so much.

I went out today and I caught only 3. That's it. And small ones at that. Largest was about 10 inches.

I just can't figure it out. I know there are gozillions of sm in this river. In the past, when the wind wasn't blowing and the surface of the water was smooth, you can see them everywhere.  Today was glassy all day and I saw 2 fish in the rocks.

Weird. I fished deep, shallow, slow, fast and I fished both high tide and low. Plastics, spinnerbaits, etc. Hardly a bite all day. Water temp today was 59 degrees. Air temp was in the mid 60's.

Any suggestions????

Is this river done for the year?

[Crestliner2008]

When the water temps cool rapidly like this, smallies have a tendency - in a river system - to migrate down toward the deeper water of the dams, if there are any dams. Without that impediment to the flow, I'd look for quieter waters near wing dams or current breaks. Smallies will settle in there - in small pods - until the water temps stabilize somewhat, before starting to forage freely again.

This is the time for hard and soft jerks and the venerable curly tailed grub on a plain jig head!

[BassChump]

Well, it looks like it's almost time to put the cover on the boat for the winter. I've been checking the weather reports and winter is on its way.

Rain with gail force winds are predicted for the Oregon coast for at least the next 2 weeks. Usually on the Oregon coast, from October on, it's rain and wind until late May.

What am I going to do with myself until then??? lol.

[rfrazier]

We had a tournament up on the Willamette out of Newberg on friday. Supposedly the bite has been tough the last couple weeks but we got into them pretty good. Submerged timber in 15-20 feet of water was the ticket... drop shot/tubes.

[bassnleo]

When the water temps cool rapidly like this, smallies have a tendency - in a river system - to migrate down toward the deeper water of the dams, if there are any dams. Without that impediment to the flow, I'd look for quieter waters near wing dams or current breaks. Smallies will settle in there - in small pods - until the water temps stabilize somewhat, before starting to forage freely again.

This is the time for hard and soft jerks and the venerable curly tailed grub on a plain jig head!

Exactly what I was thinking.......

Our river here is undergoing the change now. Water temp is 57 degrees and the fish are in the process of migrating to their wintering holes. The key is to cover a whole bunch of water and try to intercept schools of migrating fish. Where you find them depends on water flow, clarity, bait presence. Yesterday I fished a club tournament on this river, 4 fish limit with 15 inch minimum this time of year. I had not prefished at all but looked at the condition of the river and headed to a spot...Had a limit by 9AM that weighed 12.44 lbs. Found the fish on the fringe of a wintering area and still quite shallow. I covered a bunch of water with a craw colored crank and a tube and would catch fish in bunches, then nothing for certain streches.