Nice makings on this hard fighting smallmouth bass
It was another great day on the river! For the second weekend in a row I was able to hone in on a very solid pattern and catch double digit numbers of smallmouth bass. I had ten in the kayak in short order and lost count as I was headed to 20 fish and beyond. The action was definitely steady!
I woke up early this morning to get some work completed with the hopes of hitting the river in the afternoon. Despite the ominous overcast clouds, I hit the road for the river and was on the water by 12:30 p.m.
Water Conditions
The water levels were about 1.5 feet higher than I like it this time of year but the fishing was excellent. Water visibility was more than 3 feet. Water temperatures where probably in the mid 50′s.
Weather Conditions
It was overcast the entire time I fished today. This was definitely a positive considering I didn’t get on the water till noon. There were periods of light rain. Luckily, the downpour started when I was packing up to leave! Air temperatures started in the upper 60′s and topped out at about 72 degrees today.
Comments on Pattern
I don’t like targeting spawning areas this time of year so I moved off the shallow eddies to deep water ledges, current breaks, and runs. Surprisingly, most of the fish I caught were holding in these deep water runs with moderate to fast current. I also caught a good number of fish off submerged ledges. You really have to be able to read the current to find this kind of submerged structure. It was a great post spawn pattern and I landed a good number of smallmouth between 15-17.5 inches.
Baits and Presentations
I tried a variety of baits today including; crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and suspending jerkbaits. The fish just weren’t interested. Dark tube baits were the top produce by far. I was also able to pick up a few fish on a 3 inch stick worm.
The presentation had to be bumping the bottom and slow. I drifted and dragged the tube. They definitely didn’t want it moving but when they decided to hit… “Hang On”!
