Winter Smallmouth Fishing- the Float and Fly

Smallmouth bass can be caught in rivers all Winter long. A simple 1/16th oz hair jig, 1" weighted foam float is all the special equipment you need. Mostly ignore lake FnF articles for rivers unless they are very deep.

Here are several factors to help make your winter hunt a successful one:

1) Know your water. The best stretches of river will have somewhere close where the fish will survive through the Winter. Look at those river bends on Google Earth. Where would you shelter if your life depended on conserving every drop of energy?

a) Bass need shelter from current since they are cold blooded. There is a definite current speed at which they can conserve energy. The 'hole', may not be a hole at all; an inside bend that diverts current away, a sudden deep ledge that drops off, a long straight pool that gradually bends ever so slightly to where a couple lay downs provide ample resting area. There needn't be rock in the area, though some of the best winter holes are also great spawning grounds.
b) Bass like overhead cover when the water gets clear and the sun shiny. Deeper water where you can't see bottom, rocks to wedge under, rip rap etc... Water doesn't have to be deep at all if there is shelter from high waters.
c) Smallmouth need food. Food is attracted to some of the same places as Mr.Smallie.

2)You can catch smallmouth all winter on Float and Fly as long as ice doesn't cover your water. There is no water or air temperature at which you cannot catch fish.

3) Visibility of at least 14" will greatly increase the chances of success in cold water months on FnF. In low visability situations dark colors seem better

4) High water concentrates fish more than normal. Winter high water can have good clarity.

5) You must really believe the fish are there. Impatience will kill you. Once you begin catching fish on FnF, you'll see there is nothing hard about it. The key is location.

6) Observe how the sun shyness crowds smallies in the darker easier to predict areas for your catching pleasures. Observe how the sun can turn the bite on when moments ago there was none! If the bass are gone to ground, observe how they move about when the day has less light.

The below picture illustrates a recent winter spot I found. The picture is sadly out of scale as the slot on the left looks smaller than the water to the right. The slight bend above the riffle bending to the right sends all the creek's water plunging right even at high water. The riffle and point on the left provide shelter all winter long even if the water were up several feet. The bass simply follow the slower water on up the bank.



At 2' higher the fish will move up that bank on the left. At a 1' lower than the pic, you are looking at fish in a 2-3' hole that is right on a food source (riffle). Looking at the river all year long for these types of spots, things start to make sense. Just ask yourself after you catch a nice fish or concentration of bass where these fish live.

The technique- you cast the bait out with about 3' of line underneath your float (adjust for your hole, I like the fly just off the bottom or even on the bottom). Let it drift along slow seams (depending on temps)if it is warmer, or to the slowest possible water if colder. As it gets colder, hopping the float in place, pausing, dead drifts all work at times. Be methodical and search mid and lower water column by changing depths until you get bit.

The object is to catch fish by being thorough, observing, and thinking like a cold fish.

7) The float allows you to see exactly where the bass was when he bit. Usually, there will be more right there (If water is up or very cold). It also forces you to fish slower than your coffee addled brain may want you to. This is a huge plus in colder temps.

8) Overlining- Often you can search with float and fly by using it more akin to Steelhead indicator fishing in slow to moderate current. In these cases, I usually go longer than the depth on the leader to slow down the speed at which the current can push along the bobber, allowing bites. Ticking over the tops of rocks a bass may be behind out in the pool. In these cases, the river may be lower and I'm fishing slower current next to dead water. This really is a key search technique that usually will get you odd straggler fish on solitary structure or inside bend curve.

9) Freelining- I find that as water warms up, no float at all is often best. Just the hair jig. I'm usually throwing a 1/16th oz size 2 hook. It has a slow fall rate which can really be key at times. Needless to say, this can be hard to cast far, your line choice can greatly impact cast distance. Not a problem with water up as fish will typically be 20' or less away. When water is low and fish are easily spooked, it can be a problem. Strike a balance between going really light line and not losing jigs. The above cost about .25 each. Retrieve can be painfully slow, steady Ned style, or personal favorite, rip and drop, like one would fish a hard jerkbait. Plus on this technique is it attracts attention with being obnoxiously loud. Downside is sometimes you're only fooling medium and smaller fish. I definitely catch more pigs with the actual float. I think at times big fish want to look at something a long time. Using the actual float forces patience.

10) Heavier hair jigs- Totally a place for weedless 1/8th oz hair jigs. Sometimes you just need to be really connected to the bottom, or need extra cast distance is clearer water, or found fish in apparent current behind a ledge that is sheltered from energy effort. So get down there. For you, there may be a case for heavier. Just remember, the big fish often don't want too much movement, or a larger target if they have to move.

11) Temps- Due to the limited bite window (and light) in Winter watching overnight temperatures will key you in on when to start that day. High overnight temps may get me on the water by 9-10AM, but otherwise 11AM at earliest in dead of Winter. Earlier and you may find fishing tough. A couple of degrees warm up can make all the difference! If we're on a warming trend, the current at which you find bass may be faster and shallower. If it has gotten colder the fish will likely be deeper. BUT! Sunlight warms the water quicker than air temperatures do. It can be below freezing but because your river has some stain to it and lots of sun that day, temperatures may actually increase. Whereas a 60 degree cloudy day following a freeze may not melt much ice. Warming trend= shallower, cooling=deeper.

12) Limited time and the need for urgency- Fishing hours are short. You should plan for your 5 hours or so on the water to get quickly from one hole to the next and spend almost no time in between. This time of year 90% of the river is empty.  To stack up incredible days, you'll have to have multiple spots lined up. Learn to judge when you have fished out, and when to leave for the next spot. You can come back and hit different fish later. Typically these fish are rotating around in the slight current, so you just need new ones to move in. 

13) Size of fish is usually well above average. But don't let a surprise float dunk go unnoticed. I once bomb casted float and fly to an innocuose spot, only to have the float immediately dunk and a dink smallmouth come to hand. I moved closer and pulled 3 18"+ smallmouth bass out of a depression no larger than a bathtub. Microstructure can be given away by one fish leading to more fish. Trust that. It will surprise you time and again.

14) Kayaks can be incredible for for quickly connecting to multiple Winter spots. I will say actually going up on the bank or *gulp* (safety-hypothermia) standing in your kayak to see holes and structure outlines can make all the difference between missing something and spotting a key, 'nook' that holds the bass honey pot. Bass can be remarkably concentrated. I always catch more from the bank than sitting in a kayak. BUT. Kayaks can get you in better position to catch fish you could not present your lure to properly. Sometimes this is the only way to get on a slow eddy line with a good drift. Be aware you lose some of your Winter observation skills sitting in the kayak.

15) Do not take lightly what being cold and wet will do to kill you quickly. Dress in wicking layers that do not retain water. Do everything to stay out of the water as much as possible. Go with a buddy and hit large pools to help locate the pod.

16) Have fun and keep your Winter holes secret. I've spend hundreds of hours thinking, theorizing, testing, searching... Bass are ultra concentrated and vulnerable. You earned those fish you find this time of year!