River smallmouth size ratio ?

[kyron4]

I fish a small /med river for smallies from june to oct. here in Indiana with waders or from canoe. At these times the averege depth runs 2' to 3', rocky bottom, some depper holes and some fast water over rocks. I do well and wadeing a 200 yds. section of river will produce 4 to 6 smallies on an averge day.

  Averge smallie (80%) is 9"-11" ,with some (15%) "nicer" 12"-14" fish and very few (5%) above 15". I usally only get one or two fish over 16" each year, the largest to date being 18" (two so far). This is out of about 50-70 fish per year. So.....

1) why so many "small" fish and so few large fish ?

2) where are the bigger fish ?

3) can they get any bigger than 18" in the river system ?

I've fished many miles of this river with the same results. Even fishing all types of structure and current condtions. I mainly use two kinds of lures, a 2"/ 1/8oz. black and crome lipless rattle shad, or a 3" pump/pepper curly tail on a 1/8 jig head. Just looking for input or advice . -Thanks

[retiredbosn]

Use bigger baits.

[Crestliner2008]

The forage base may not support larger smallies, but if you catch them occasionally, chances are there are more around. Just that the smaller fish have a tendency to go after the smaller baits you have been presenting.

As retiredbosn said, step up your bait size. A 5" Kalin grub for instance, on a 1/4 oz. jig head. A quarter ounce spinnerbait. A Fat Ika or Big Ika can be a heavy weight producer as well. Have you tried 5" Senkos?

And fish deeper holes. Find the deepest water and/or look for wing dams or under-cut banks which hide the larger fish. Sometimes you have to fish the "snarlies" downed trees to find where the big girls reside.

Good Luck! 

[smashingsmallies]

I fish small to medium creeks and rivers (and will be today).  One of my small rivers produces an average size of 12".  The water quality is crap--thus the downward spiral from plankton on down begins.  I also fish a small creek-same size as the river and 15 miles apart--the water quality is top notch and the average size is 15 plus inches with many in the 18-20 inch range.  If the water is of good quality, that means excellent fish sizes.  Try the tube jigs and twister tails-4-6 inch on an 1/8th oz head--works great for shallow water.  I actually have a tube tied and a twister tied and fish BOTH in EACH and EVERY hole.  The advantage of a twister is it can be fished as a minnow swim bait and a craw presentation EACH and EVERY TIME you cast it.  Good luck.  Fish on.  John.

[pitchin fool]

They get bigger and once you find out what they want, you can have a hay day.  Keep trying new stuff and when you get frustrated, go back to the stuff that works to regain confidence.

[roadwarrior]

And fish deeper holes. Find the deepest water and/or look for wing dams or under-cut banks which hide the larger fish. Sometimes you have to fish the "snarlies" downed trees to find where the big girls reside.

Deeper water...

[iceintheveins]

I fish Colorado's Yampa River, which averages about 50 - 100 yards across and runs about 2 - 10 feet deep in most places with some deeper holes. There are tons of small fish in there and at times it's hard to keep them off. That being said there are tons of 1 - 3 pounders in the river and they often strike bigger lures since that keeps some of the smaller ones off. There are quite a few 2 - 4 pounders and some bigger than that. It all depends on the stretch of river and the size of lure that you use. A buzzbait is one of the best big smallmouth lures for river fishing you can find, as are spinnerbaits.

[smmouthluvr]

I fish the lower ends of those sm/med creeks or creek systems & where they run into rivers or larger creeks I also agree lg baits & deepr water 8-)

[iceintheveins]

Spinnerbaits and buzzbaits do a good job of keeping the teeny ones off.