Locating Winter River Smallmouth Habitat Part 1
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- Опубликовано: 7 сен 2024
- It's not winter yet, but finding great concentrations of river smallmouth to catch this winter start with some legwork right now. November is early enough for them to start aggregating in numbers near or in the places with high water refuge and a current blocking feature where they will spend the next few months. I chose a section of river where I had no prior knowledge of winter habitat to show you the process. Yep, if you want to just study the backgrounds, you will be able to find the places I found in this video and the next, but you will have missed the point; the process of dialing in winter river smallmouth habitat.
whoa magic mike!🤣 heated socks are real game changer
If you can feel the heat, the battery will not last all day.
Love the fact this guy cleans the river up 🫡🫡🫡🫡✊️💪
I swear that it builds good karma with the river. If I am not catching, I pick up trash, and they start chewing again!
We all need to do our part. Too many guys just have no respect for this beautiful environment we are blessed with. We must fight to preserve it.
When you stumble into one of these “November holes” it can get crazy in a hurry. Breaking down why they’re there is important and usually, kinda obvious I’ve found once you slow down and look!
-Deeper water
-Slower water (like really slow) usually marked by the leaves. They’re below the damned leaves!! They’ll hit the jerk bait, but almost impossible to use😢
-Wood structure, or larger rocks/boulders
-Downstream of shallow grass beds that have died off
-Creek mouths usually can pick off a few
Don’t get trapped by the deep holes that are mud/silt bottom. You think they’re there, but it’s just carp. Made that mistake quite a lot.
Key takeaway for me is always, ok, they’re here now, in a few weeks they probably still will be!! Just not as many bites and usually an even smaller hole.
Practicing this on a smaller river if you can, it’s MUCH easier to spot these patterns and “stumble” into a hole.
Great video Jeff. You really illustrate patterning mid fall transitions here!
I agree with everything you just said. Looking at it on a macro view, creek mouths, ends of islands and downstream of a big ledge system can get you in the right neighborhood. After that, the micro details you listed above are spot on!
That being said, there are some true bigs that defy the behavior of the masses and stake out a “one big fish” spot. I found two of those on day two. Do they stick around there? Not sure.
Might be a top 10 video, Jeff.
You think so?
@@TheLittleStuff yep!
Coffee Sunday and the little stuff !! Good knowledge Jeff good nuggets
Ever think of using a lure knocker? Sometimes get lucky
I used one of these at one point later in the day:
ruclips.net/video/nlZxRtr8_Do/видео.htmlsi=OouR2MgV9LeXimRF
Another outstanding video. Amazing the size of fish you get into on that river. Appreciate it!
Thanks Bruce!
Always learn something from your videos that I love to try out. Thanks for your time putting these out there.
Right on Brendan. I hope you get out there soon!
Holy smokes! Stacked up like chord wood Jeff! Nice work. Thanks for your insight.
Yep. One more day to come. Dialed in three spots that I feel will hold them in good numbers this winter.
Great video. You mention Brook & he has to be one of the best cold water smallmouth guys out there. Very knowledgeable.
Yep! So many years of experience.
Thanks God here in La Boca Lake is not that cold 😅! Great video, as always,
Yes Paty. It doesn’t get cold there, but it for sure cools off some. I bet it helps the activity.
Love the Zman finesse jigs for cold water. I started to tie these up last year and have had good success on the smallies on the Delaware as well along with some marabou hair jigs that I tie. Great instructional video and breakdown as always Jeff!!!❤👍
Thanks for the kind words Kevin. Those jigs work everywhere!
Love this one... This is more or less how I fished all season, I call it anchor hopping. Even though I just came back to the sport, I caught a limit all but maybe 3 times all year. I had a lot of success starting at spots with power presentations. Then switching to finesse stuff. I found that even if they dont want to eat the noisy stuff it will usually attract em in. For power stuff I used a lot of Magdrafts, walking topwater's, Ploppers and burring the babby bull shad. Then I would pick em up on a finesse jig, waited wacky rig, ned, or a 3" Sparkshad.
That all sounds like a super effective lineup!
That's one reason I loved your tournament coverage. It validated a lot of what I was doing. I still cant get em on the Chatterbaits though. It frustrates me to because its one of my favorite things the throw. I have success with it elsewhere. @@TheLittleStuff
Thanks much, Jeff! I have a guided Musky fishing trip out there in a few days, and when done with that, my plan is to get the kayak out to try for some 'Susky' bass ! Man, do I really appreciate your tutorials! Thank you! :-)
Good luck with the Musky! You might get a giant smallmouth throwing big musky lures!
Well,I must tell you that I just recently started fishing with my son.I bought a nice used Outback Hoggie and have been in the Susky several times already(Since Mid summer)
I really appreciate your knowledge and the time you spend edditinythesw videos.
Hope to have good day this coming Friday (11/10)
Gonna fish the Wrightsville area.
Good luck on Friday!
Hi Jeff loving the videos!!
Thanks for watching! I’ll be editing part 2 today.
Good job doode🎉
Thank you.
You are rocking it. Great video as always
Thanks! The second part is the next day, and I expand on finding two more wintering concentrations in the same area.
I took my Osprey for a weekend trip. Forgot my Torqeedo throttle. I paddled it all weekend and was pleasantly surprised. It’s not a bad paddler. I obviously prefer the motor, but paddling it wasn’t too bad at all.
It has very little water resistance. It sits on top, so the paddling is easy, even with a full load.
Best opening ever
Do we need to send $$ for the free strip show😳😳😂
Great video Jeff. I learn SO much from you brother. Thank you🤘🤙
Glad you enjoyed it and learned something!
Great action!
Thanks John!
It's amazing how far smallmouth fishing in cool/cold months has come since the days when no one was doing it, or at least very few. That is until the late Butch Ward figured out a way to catch the big girls in the throngs of winter months with a jig and pig and later with tubes. I still use those, and the special color he recommended at a fishing show in Timonium back in the day. Jeff, kudos for teaching your craft. I'm in my 60s, been fishing the Upper Potomac since the late 70s, the Susquehanna since the late 80s, and still learn every time I play one of your videos. I'm amazed at the video quality, and the fact that you can concentrate on catching fish while putting out such a great video product. You're quite the fisherman, and teacher. Keep 'em coming!
Quick question, what's your go-to knot for 8 lb mono??
Thanks Don. I have a lot of years producing video and two plus decades winter river smallmouth fishing. I use the double uni.
Don, I would like you to comment on the different river smallmouth fisheries you mentioned in terms of how they have cycled strong or weak in different decades. What trends have you seen?
Currently, I see the Susquehanna cycling strong on big fish as it did in the mid 2010’s. The Shenandoah has never come back to anywhere close to the strength of the late 90’s and early 2000’s. What do you see over many more decades than I have on these fisheries?
great trip Jeff!
Thanks! It was fun!
yw. @@TheLittleStuff
I just launched at sallies today, great area 🤙
Thats a great video. I definitely have to slow down and fish those eddies better. I just run to the top and fish there.
Work the bottoms of the slack water too. My first big on day 2 (releases next Sunday) was at the tail end of the slack water.
I was they guy that you met on friday if you did not know. @@TheLittleStuff
It was good meeting you Rob. Glad we connected out there!
@@TheLittleStuff You 2 hopefully I see ya out there again. I have about a million questions for you. You should probably jet the opposite direction if you see me first lol. Great to meet you as well.
How's the osprey paddle Jeff? Looks descent to paddle is that still the 14 foot model? Thank you for always sharing information that's solid information.
There isn’t much resistance so it’s easy. Inflatable kayaks sit on top of the water instead of down in it. You cross a current seam and hardly feel it.
I like picking up trash at my local lake it make me feel good.
Me too!
I sure would love to have the RVR!!
That’s the boat I will take to the ACA Instructor Certification next month.
I just have to figure out how to come up with some extra money
Go up a little, what's really behind the shadow 🤔😂
I can only imagine what people thought at the ramp
Sarah, you must be the 1.4% female demographic I have as subscribers! 😂
Great video Jeff! I notice you were using a black and blue jig on what looked like a clear sky day. What’s factors help you decide on using a black and blue colored jig vs a more natural or green pumpkin colored jig ?
Stained water.
Love the content as usual. I will say, respectfully, the Biden bass sniffs are creepy 😂
Creepy for sure. Glad I can be amusing as well as educational! 👍
@TheLittleStuff it's why we tune in sir!
I'm considering an inflatable and enjoy your channel. Do you have a video or any product info for your tonneau rack; that thing's a game changer.
It’s custom, but look to Boonedox to make something similar soon.
Thanks for the knowledge! How deep was the water? Great video Jeff thanks for sharing.
Where I found that really good concentration of them, it was about 6 feet deep.
@@TheLittleStuff cool thanks for the info. Those Flatheads are feeding on The young smallmouth?
George, here’s a follow up comment to the simple explanation of “six feet deep”. It’s more about these two factors;
1. Current deflectors - points that swing most of the flow away from an area.
2. High water refuge - where will they go to get out of the way of an ice-out flood?
When these two requirements occur in the same place, you find a concentration of fish in winter. The two features basically provide the same thing, but at both very low and very high streamflows.
Current deflection does not always require a big deep hole. It certainly helps absorb a big slug of water, but there are some winter holes created by the shape of an island, or a gravel pile at the mouth of a creek that lacks really deep water. High banks really help in that regard.
Okay cool, I was just trying to put all the information together and try using it on the Delaware, the fish have moved since two weeks ago and I’m trying to find them? It’s only a half hour drive, so I can fish it anytime. It’s tough covering a lot of water in a kayak as you know 😂. I know they winter in a concentration , but finding that place is tough.
@@georgetollefsen994 I just did a visual fly by tour of the 33 different winter holes I know to be reliable on the Susquehanna. Here are a few trends/patterns;
1. I didn’t mention this one in this video or the upcoming part 2 video, but some of the largest concentrations of winter smallmouth on this river are big, deep high volume pools that are “immediately downstream of a major ledge system”. Add a high bank or creek mouth to that as a flood level high water refuge, and you have a terrific winter pool!
2. The ends of islands are another feature that coincides with many of those 33 known winter pools.
3. A creek mouth in many ways functions as the “end of an island”. High banks on either of these features makes it work for them in flood conditions.
A few questions. What part of the country are you fishing? Does the river freeze? The rivers here in Illinois freeze. Also, what weight was that finesse jig?
Susquehanna, Pennsylvania. Yes it freezes. That hasn’t happened yet. The jig is one I made. I modified the Do-It mold, and I can only guess that the jig is in the 3/16th oz range.
@@TheLittleStuff thank you. Then that pattern SHOULD be usable on my rivers.
I noticed you working the jerkbait more with the reel than with the rod... is that more for cold water?
Sean, I like the rod to remain pointed in the direction of the bait at the end of the baits movement. That way, I am not overextended and unable to set the hook if the hit comes right at the end of the jerkbait movement.
What life vest are you using. Great video
NRS Chinook
Im looking at getting either the 403ac or 1103ac, it’s going on either a seaghost 110 or a vanhunk mahi mahi 11, which would you recommend to get the most out of the motor and kayak
The 1103 is the more evolved motor. It is quieter, more powerful and more durable.
What are the most difficult lures to consistently throw correctly in a kayak?
That’s a tough question to answer. I fish out of a friends jet boat from time to time. I’ve fished out of a kayak for a quarter century. I can tuck in anywhere. I can hold position with the motor in all manner of crazy current. I can anchor off of both bow and stern. Boat position is the most important skill in effective presentation of any lure.
I suppose that deadsticking a suspending jerkbait is tricky. You need to maintain a loose enough line tension that you aren’t moving the bait, but not so much slack that you never feel the hit. I have an older video on “lowering down” suspending jerkbaits that is effective from an anchored up position. Otherwise, you are trying to drift your boat at the same pace as the jerkbait. Frequently you are in either faster or slower current than the jerkbait.
Oooohhh that smell!! 😂
I know of saltwater anglers who dip their fingers in the water and taste it. I don’t know what it tells them, but it’s another layer of sensory input. I know that when I am near a lot of striped bass, I can smell them before I catch them. Maybe the sniffing the smallmouth tells me something. I know the “been eating craws” smell.
@@TheLittleStuff I love it man. I love and appreciate your videos and teachings so damn much. River fishing is still new to me (>5years) but it’s my favorite way to fish, especially here in Indiana. Probably because that’s all we have 🤣. That’s ok because it’s all I need.
I too have noticed the changing smell of bass in different situations. It’s interesting to think how the primary forage at the time affects that. I would imagine the smell in the water is 100x considering the ole factory senses of a fish. I wonder if exuding what they are eating acts as a type of camouflage 🤔
I always wonder what happens when a hook gets broken off with the fish. do they spit them out? rust out? fish die? curious!!
When a jig breaks off, they jump and shake it repeatedly. I think that they get it out.
Are you using a jig head with the jerk shad
Yeah, I messed around with a Ned Rig head. Usually it’s a Z-Man Finesse BulletZ
Is it too cold for topwater now ?
Low probability, but if it happens, it’s likely a big. Too few people work a topwater slow in cool water, both fall and spring.
Awesome video and it was very accurate in finding those cold water river smallmouths!
I do have two questions though since i just bought my first kayak (inflatable NRS Pike 126). What motor and anchor do you use?
Motor: Torqeedo Ultralight 1103, 105 lb thrust. Lots of installation, speed and range videos on this channel. Check the inflatable kayaks playlist.
Anchors: Anchor Wizard on back with a Scotty Anchor boom. Front anchor is an old discontinued retractable anchor spool by Atwood. Anchor Wizard anchors on both ends.