TuscarawasRiverRat

Tin2win asked how deep are the holes..... This is a fairly small river and depth varies quite a bit between summertime lows and winter/spring floods. Right now the river is above "normal" pool, but not near flood stage. Most of the river is about 4' deep. The holes I have found are around 10'-12'. -Rob

I hope you all will forgive me this rookie question. Most of my fishing is done in slow-to-medium current in the river. I'd like to know what you folks do to get your lure near the bottom without getting hung up on the logs/branches/etc. I've located some deeper holes in the river and want to explore them for wintertime smallies. While reading some of your posts I keep coming across the term drop shot. This term is new to me. Will somebody please explain to me what a drop shot is and what its uses are? Thanks. -Rob

"I live in Gowanda not far away from you.

Hello, all you fellow anglers. I'm new to this forum and have been enjoying reading the threads so far. I'm going to just jump in here with both feet and ask for some input from y'all. I'm in Ohio. The Tuscarawas River is [literally] in my backyard. This river is relatively small---probably averaging about 100' in width. Water depths range from less than 1' to around 4' with some holes about 8' deep. River bottom is mostly sand and gravel in my area. Water is normally murky [about like coffee with a lot of milk in it], but in times when the dam remains stationary and when little rain falls, the water can become quite clear. This year I've had a lot of good success with smallies [especially in September and October] using Rapalas, spinners, and jig-heads with MisterTwister tails. Now that cold weather is coming I'd like to know where those bass are going to be found and what lures will work in the winter. Maybe you folks have already discussed this topic previously. If so, maybe you can point me to the pertinent threads. Thanks. -Rob

Very nicely written article!