What happens when 3 Wilderness Systems Kayaks Pro-Staff anglers start talking to each other about their fall/winter fishing plans? An idea to that share the mechanics of their fishing techniques forms. What happens when all 3 anglers come from the 3 different countries in North America? You get 3 very different tactics to target fish separated by at least 2,000 miles.
River Bassin in the Eastern USA – Jeff Little – New Windsor, Maryland, USA
Streamflow Determines Lure Choice for River Smallmouth
We all have that favorite “go-to” lure – you know the one you have in 8 different colors in quantities that would carry us through Amazon, Bass Pro Shops, Cabela’s and Tackle Warehouse all going bankrupt at once. Fortunately, that won’t happen. But what does happen all the time is anglers forcing a specific favorite presentation and lure regardless of the conditions.
Autumn fishing on a smallmouth river can run the gamete of conditions: cold front, Indian summer, early snow storm, heavy rain leading to flood conditions or a continuation of summers low and clear water. Knowing how to pack a tackle box before hitting the river separates successful river anglers from those who force favored patterns.
In order to pack mine effectively, I consult two or three sets of online data sources: Real Time Streamflow Data and a forecast local to the section of river I will float, and if it has been raining, a radar graphic that will provide a “storm total” of precipitation.
What I’m looking to do is answer the questions: “How much current will there be?” and “How muddy or clear will the water be?” Below is a set of lures and locations to present them, corresponding with the river level, starting at “low and clear” to “high and muddy”.
Finesse Baits in Low and Clear Conditions
This condition provides the most consistent action, provided you have the nerve to deadstick a soft plastic in the right locations. By deadsticking, I mean absolute deadsticking: no movement of the bait for minutes at a time.
Start with a location that smallmouth will be likely to holding in to conserve energy: the taper up transition from the deeper part of a pool to the accelerating water before a riffle or ledge drop. Deep water isolated boulders are also likely spots. Identify them with a pair of polarized sunglasses or by watching the surface for the isolated gentle push of water.
Make long casts, especially on windless days because the fish can see you just as well as you can see them. My favorite soft plastic set up is a soft plastic jerkbait rigged on a Confidence Baits 1/8th oz Draggin Head. Weightless offerings including flukes and senkos will work, but you will feel the bite better with a weighted lure resting on the bottom. Launch the bait with a 7 to 7’6″ spinning rod, bright yellow 15 lb braided line and a 6 to 8 foot 10 lb test fluorocarbon leader. The bright yellow line will often help you see the bite before you feel it. Watch it carefully to ensure you aren’t gut hooking fish by giving them time to swallow it. Choose natural colored soft plastic baitfish and crawfish imitations.
Rising Water Power Fishing
When fall rains make your river swell, the fish know it’s a great time to eat. The increased flow shakes the darters, crawfish, hellgrammites and other morsels out of the cracks and crags in the river bottom.
With this change in conditions, I’ll opt for lures that work best moving, and especially colliding with rocks, logs or other objects. Crawfish colored crankbaits that dig into the rocky bottoms resemble a startled crawfish in both color and action. Spinnerbaits come through the dying grass beds and laydowns without snagging. Small swimbaits provide a more subtle baitfish profile when the river is still clear, but on the rise. As the river becomes more turbid, opt for noisier lipless rattle baits. This type of lure is the first thing I think of if I encounter fish that swipe at but miss a spinnerbait. Those treble hooks don’t miss!
Maximize Your Bait’s Presence in High Muddy Conditions
Once a river is fully muddy, the current has usually corralled all the fish and all the things they eat into tight eddies. That’s the good news – the fish are concentrated in predictable locations behind ledge rocks, at the tail end of scrub islands or any other object that creates a calm pocket of water.
The bad news is that the smallmouths dominant sense, sight is hampered. So you will need to play to their other senses: lateral line, hearing and taste/scent. I’ve fished during full on flood conditions, dropping tubes and jigs down through the backs of fish stacked tightly eddies. Even when it’s not that dramatic, the odds can be in your favor.
A favorite lure set up is a dark colored 4 inch tube, rigged with an internal glass rattle and scent on a Draggin’ Head. To see how to rig this bait, watch the following video on the Tight Lines Junkie Journal.
It’s a rig that comes cleanly through the type of brushy mess that accumulates in eddies in high water. It’s rattle draws them in, and once they taste the Mega Strike or other amino acid based scent, they hold on.
