Fish don't always want what you want them to want 6/6/09

Mike C and I went for some smallmouth this Saturday on a small-medium sized river. The river was stained with initial visibility a chalky brown 14"-18". Turned out to be a really nice day, not too hot, not too cool. Just about right. Water was cool at first from colder nights we have been having.

I got a 14" bass and goggle eye on a black 4" tube early on. Mike caught two on a spinnerbait. All the bass were near likely spawning areas early...still. We worked slow up a wide, deep pool, throwing tubes, letting the lure tumble in the current and the nicking bottom continuously. I caught two more smallmouth, one was a pregnant 10.5" smallmouth that looked ridiculous.

We neared the top of the pool, a right angle bend, the deep side was lined with rip rap. I was casting quartering upstream and letting the bait tumble in the strike zone as long as possible, imparting little action. My rod loaded, several powerful runs and a crazed smallie that stayed deep so much we thought it was a catfish. Was a bit alarming to have this beserk fish running circles powerfully around me in belly deep water. Finally got the first plus fish to hand of the day (17.5)It had some fin damage:


We worked carefully to the top of the bend where the river split into three forks. All three forks came back together again about 65 yards upstream. As we fished up, Mike caught another on a spinnerbait. I added three more smallies on a 4" tube. One went nearly 15".

At the top of the three forks upstream, was a logjam island that had been covered over in silt and more logs forming an grassy island. I threw straight upstream 40' on my first cast. The tube was quickly picked up by a thick, powerful, brown smallmouth that made a run for the underneath of the island we were standing on. Turned it away at the last second, stopped two more runs then hosited her up. The fish was a beautiful brown copper. Not a common pattern seen around these parts. Unfortunatly, the picture shows a yellow smallmouth. It must have color changed in the minute or so it took to photo. It also went 17.5". Fully pregnant, stuffed.



I picked up another 14"er on a tube at the front of a second logjam. We moved upstream through some wide shallow pools. The irrgaition ditches nearby had obvioously been dumping fertilizer in the stream because downstream from these the snot grass and algae clumps were pretty bad.

We spent a long while walking past wide pools. Mike got discouraged. He didn't want to throw a tube. Many times he gets in chuck and duck mode and makes too few casts to a spot, then assumes fish aren't there.

I caught 4 more on tubes and another goog. We finally arrived at the best part of the wade.

You can see a nasty fast choke point behind Mike and his fish in this picture:

We were fishing just above the riffle where a water willow island served as a current break above it and to the left. Mike had been reluctantly throwing the tube jig near the current. After about his fourth or fifth cast, he popped the tube off a rock. When he reeled in his slack, there was a powerful fish on the end of his line! His rod bent double and the fish swam fast in the current right towards the shute behind him. It came full out of the water, then we knew it was large. He turned it just before it got into the super fast water, trapping it on its side in some semi submerged willows. Awesome fish.

Nearly perfect in every way. 18.5" Chunk



eggy

fat

That pretty much made his day at that point. But a funny thing happened. Mike started concentrating and whipping the tube in close, skipping it under brush and logs. Fearless like you need to be. Working the bait slower, keeping it in the zone longer. He nailed another fish shortly upstream to about 14-15". We worked some clay bank for a couple more tube fish. Mike was making multiple casts to each good spot and not giving up on the good spots until a fish bit.

To cap it off, he pulled this nice 16.5" smallie from the other side of a laydown next to deep water and fast current. In between the laydown and the other bank. The only thing to do was force the fish up and into the air. It was sweet, the bass hopped the log and Mike was in the clear.



Many times in Indiana, the jig/tube bite is the effective tactic regardless of what we want to throw. By believing fish are there and imposing your will on them to bite via repeated presentations on the bottom. Keeping the bait down in the strike zone catches more bass. Patience and persistance wins. Tubes are darn fun to cast skip, hop, drop, and pitch. You can be really accurate with them, cast them a long way control, and the entry noise easily. It was good to see MC really pick up on this at the end of the day.


BT 17 SMB (2-17.5", 4-5 14-15") 2 Rockies
MC 9 SMB (18.5, 16.5, 15")

9 hours

Bite wasn't fast. Very few missed strikes or lost fish. Lots of walking past large pools after a couple large pools proved fruitless

Reading the USGS Gauges to your Advantage.

One very important tool for the river smallmouth bass fisherman is the USGS River Gauges. Simply find the river where you intend to fish, find the gauge closest to where you intend to fish and check the gauge height or flow speed CFS (cubic feet per second).

Here is a graph that shows this stream at about 780 CFS:


CFS and gauge height match. For example at 5.2'high, the CFS will always be 780 CFS and so on. Pick one to remember or write in a log somewhere. It will be your note keeping which helps you be informed when to fish most effectively. Getting out on the stream and observing are still key. You need to have a mental image of what it looks like at that height. In comparing different streams, 780 CFS may be low for Giant River A, but for Creek B is a blowout condition. All depends on the size of the stream.

Here is the corresponding graph that shows the gauge height in feet:


This graph shows a gauge height of about 5.2'. Up more than 2' in the last couple days of rain. This means the creek is probably muddy. Of course, there are other factors. You can find streams with little surrounding loose soil that rise with very little turbidity.

Keep in mind, the gauge height does not pertain to actual depth on the river. It will give you an idea how much above or below average the flow height is. If you study these charts often, then you can compare what a comfortable fishing height is to you.

Even though the creek is up 2', if it normally runs very clear and has great surrounding habitat, you may find very fishable areas during high water. High water tends to push bait fish towards shoreline eddies and so the smallmouth bass. Big fish can be caught at times when they'd be hard to target in summer low water periods. Problem is usually one of visibility. The fish are right at your feet along the bank. Another factor, is how long since a rain event. Water can be high but clear because the rain was from several days previous.

Not all rivers and creeks have gauges. In this case, look at the closest river or creek for an idea of rise or fall of your target river.

Studying and logging your river gauges will help you avoid danger on the water and fish the conditions you want to fish. Reading and having a record of many different streams will help ensure you find somewhere to fish on those precious weekends.

More Funky Fishing 5/27/09

Starting at the same job again tomorrow. Mehh. Pay increase. Can't be all bad. Since today was my last day of freedom, I set out to the same stream (different stretch) MC and I hammered 5 18"+ on Monday. Similar conditions.

The stream had dramatically changed for the better since last year. Deeper and more scoured out in places. Many log jams were moved. No fish anywhere. Take that back, a 15-16" smallmouth was chasing a shad all around me as I stood in 3.5' of water. An hour later, I saw minnows getting chased in the shallows. Hooked up on Sammy, but lost the fish. Had a couple half hearted tube grabs, either nest guarders or one of the few active dinks.

Was ready to pack it in when I hit a narrow, shallow riffle. I threw my white chatterbait behind some small grass clumps and slow let her flutter in. Thunk. Ufff...that would be another good one. She was long and thin with no signs of eggs or spawning. A perfect piece of confusing information.

Oh, well. At least no skunk. 4 hours 1 SMB-19"



Been a great year so far, hitting a smallmouth bass 17" or better every 3.4 hours fished. Almost 1.5 hours better than last year at this time.

Memorial Day Post Spawn Hogs 5/25/09

I found some smallmouth in the rocks with a white chatterbait after we tried all the usual flavors. Conditions seemed perfect: cloudy, warm water, good water visibility with some stain.

Mike hit this 19" in a featureless area of riffle on a spinnerbait:



He continued to pick up decent 13-15" SMB and I mostly 10-11" dinks until I nailed this nice 18" smallie above a riffle. Went airborne a bunch.





The chatter/spinnerbait bite seemed to die around midday. I threw a tube in current and got thumped by a huge smallmouth, fought it ashore where I had it laying on it's side, beaten in the shallows. Then it did one of those martial arts moves where the guy jumps back up from laying down and swam through my hands. It was huge in the 21-22" range I'd guess. Sadly, no pic. Then it rained for a while.

We hit a large wide pool with a limestone bedrock bottom. Along the slow inside bend we picked active fish chasing our baits in a post spawn hunger. Bam, 18.5" for me:




Then Mike nailed an 18" a cast or two later.



I got this 17"er. It was followed in by a slightly larger fish.



We thought we had found a pattern, so kept wading well beyond what was sane. We must have walked close to 8 miles round trip. Picked up a few more fish here and there, but couldn't locate more hawgs in the larger pools.

Most caught on white chatterbait for me except the biggest one on tube. Mike caught his all on a chartreuse spinnerbait. We almost turned and went home three times, but the adventure was saved by a big bass each time so we continued. The bass all looked spawned out. They didn't have damaged fins. Maybe because there was no loose gravel friction where they spawned? I did see a 11" smallie that appeared to be guarding a 'spot' on the bedrock.

I was ready to pack it in on Memorial day due to the poor fishing (post spawn funk?) I experienced on Friday (1 17"er in 5 hours) and Saturday (2 streams 3 dink bass and some panfish in 6 hours). An hour with no bites for either of us and I was thinking of going home. I just happened to snap on the right bait at the right time (Chatterbait).

Our brains nearly talked us into going home again midday when we hadn't been bit for like 2 hours. I threw a tube in the right spot and was rewarded by the huge SMB.

If I had listened to the voices in my head. I would be crying today about how bad the late May fishing is.


BT 15 SMB (20"+, 18.5", 18",17", 16.25") 4 Rock bass
MC 13 SMB ( 19", 18", 15.75") 1 Rock Bass

The Thing

Not the comic book hero, not the Kurt Russell Movie , but the spillkas vomited forth by a smallmouth bass Nate caught today.

WARNING: Click pics at your own risk:





I'm actually proud of the little guy turning the tables on the parasitic lamprey. I've found them attached to bass several times. Last week, I spotted 2 larger lampreys attached to large carp.



Yes, there was some fishing. Summed up by a lot of throwing tubes in tight places to get a few bites, lots of lost fish, a pig swimming partially onto shore to try to take my tube bait. I whiffed. Twice in two casts at big fish. Not going to say how big I thought this fish was. Caught my first fish on topwater (popper).



16 SMB (18, 17, 15.75, 3-14) 2 Rock Bass
Nate caught a few too.

I fished like 10 hours

All her fault

My wife and I went to Shed aquarium in Chicago back in 2003. All the fish in tanks re awoke a passion I had for fishing.



My uncle had introduced me to dunking worms on the Maumee river when I was a kid. I fished hard until about High School when girls, hobbies, and sports took over. I began to browse the Internets for more information on Indiana fishing. I transplanted to Indy originally from Toledo, Ohio by way of Charlotte, Baltimore, Toronto, New York City, Hartford, and Buffalo. I did not fish in any of those places. So now the last 5 years I have fished 100+ days a year. Almost exclusively for river smallmouth bass. Meeting and learning from a lot of great people.

I tend to absorb information about my hobbies like a sponge. I guess what I like about river smallmouth fishing is the mystery of each trip, cast, the anticipation. In a way, a quest for perfection for a perfectionist. I want to know what goes on in Indiana's streams, because I live here now.



Sure, there are bigger fish in some other states. I have very little desire to fish out of the state or even fish in state lakes. I don't want those experiences to ruin the magic I feel every time I hit a new piece of stream. I love hiking my ass off to catch smallies. Charting each stream in my mind is part of the allure. That's just my strange way.

All this is Sarah's fault. I have to admit she's damned cool about it. Hope all the readers out there have someone who makes them as happy.

Big Fish of the Internet III

Look what dropped off the back of the chinese delivery van!

Wading the Clear, Sunny Day for Stream Smallmouth Bass

Smallmouth bass are a spooky fish a lot of the time. In my last report, the waters were pretty clear. Thankfully, I had a lot of overhead shade to hide in. Baitfish and suckers were very spooky, which usually means avoid spooking any fish to maximize the opportunities at catching bass.

It took me a while to figure out how spooky the bass were, what they would bite, and what types of areas they were keying on. It was a battle to stay patient on an exciting new stream, avoid running and gunning too fast on what was obviously a finesse bite day. Each new eager riffle begged a couple more shuffle steps. Counter productive of course. I constantly jockeyed for better vision down in the water, hoping to spot the clue to unlock this new puzzle I was standing in.

I saw some footprints on my wade. Appeared a couple days old. Standing too close to hole now and then. Probably throwing too light of a lure from too close. The bass were already scattered by the time they got there.

It reminded how hard it can be to target smallies in an open stream with clear water on a sunny day. The biggest mistake people make is to walk up on a hole and make short casts without absolute stealth.

It's important to note the direction of the suns rays, just as a hunter worries if he's downwind from his prey. Wear neutral colors for shirts, hats, and pants. Blend. Keep your profile below the horizon, make few sudden movements. Watch where and on what you step.

You can make long casts, hoping to out throw the noise you make. A fish's lateral line will sense the noises you make from further away than most people think. The quieter cat catches bigger mice here.

We all lose fish every time out on the stream making too much noise walking, climbing, and casting.

We all lose fish when our shadows fall.

We all lose fish by not fishing wood hard on these days.

The short game works when you can get up near some log jams and lay downs. Smallies always like laydowns and logjams. On bright sun/clear water days, they are probably packed thick under there. You can get surprisingly close when wood is concerned. Deeper water helps too. Use heavier weights on your jigs to get them down to the bass under logs and roots.

Throw baits beyond the target, up on shore, bounced of lay downs, skipped in softly, or feathered in lightly to avoid spooking bass on splashdown. Use polarized sunglasses always to help for visual clues as to the Mr.Smallmouth's mood.

Were the smallmouth bass really not biting? Were you not stealthy enough? Combine this approach with rotating of different water column presentations at different speeds until you find the answer.

Be patient, be undetected, and be rewarded.

A New Jewel 5/13/09

1st time on this stream, was pretty sweet:



This 16.5" smallie had a mouth like a flathead catfish. It was followed in by another bass its size.



This would prove to be true all day. I'd hook one fish in the clear water and several would follow it. I remember this pre spawn schooling happening last year around this time. Catch one, spook the whole group. At one point, I had 6 or 7 14-16" smallmouth following a hooked fish to my feet. Of course, they wouldn't bite after. The way they were biting I could have had many more smallies today. The bass weren't trying to take the bait like they sometimes do in summer. Just following. Maybe sticking together since spawn is near/in progress?





Here's an 18"er:



It hit under the log pile north of the laydown. Very surprised I got the fish out, as it pulled off quite a bit of line under the logjam.



Long casts were in order. Splash had to be under control or it spooked the bass. Another 16" filled with eggs:



Saw some huge carp, 2 had lampreys attached to the back of their heads or necks. The lampreys were about 12" long each. I've seen misshapen carp before. My theory when you see a misshapen fish, they had a lamprey attached at some point, effecting their growth. When you see odd disc shaped scars, uneven growth like humpacks, wasting away, etc...

Here's another 18" which looks like it has been on the spawn. Came off a rootwad. On the walk back I picked up a 16" in the same spot.




23 SMB (2-18", 4 16-16.5", 8 14-15") 9 plump eater size rock bass in 6 hours

All caught on 4" tubes. Bass didn't want anything else as effectively as the 3/16th's tube. Nothing fancy. Drag it, drop it, hop it, swim it. Spotted a few beds as well.

Week of Panfish

I managed to hit a couple of creeks Tuesday through Saturday for a few hours:



Threw a 2-3" grub on a 1/8 oz jighead. 5.5' ultralite rod. Managed around 100 fish each day except thursday when the creek had risen close to a foot from rain. If you haven't fished white bass on light tackle, it's an absolute blast. They are powerful swimmers for their size.



Couple of surprises:



The biggest surprise was the habitat in the creek should mean it's filled with smallies. Where were they? By mistake, we should have caught a couple. Very few small largemouth bass were caught. Yet, no smallmouth.

The massive influx of white bass, yellow bass, and crappie has to be destructive to the smallmouth population. The smallie spawning time coincides with massive arrival of thousands of hungry panfish.

Coincedence?