wvsmallie

Hello! Lived in north-central WV for twenty some years now and am always glad to see another West Virginian on the site.

1/4 ounce Panther Martin is a creek and stream staple. For me, they do especially well fished through riffles and swift current for summertime smallmouth.

I was going to describe myself as a curious fisherman, but I like "serenity fisherman" even more.

All the time! That being said, I almost never regret exploring new water.

Welcome to the forum. If you want to learn you have come to the right place.

My routine is similar to yours. Sometimes I will start with a wakebait rather than what I think of as a true topwater. Anytime I am fishing a riffle or fast current I am likely to start out with a 1/4 ounce Panther Martin. Haven't had much success with bladed jigs, but haven't really given them an honest try yet. I have more confidence in a jig than a tube as a bottom presentation. FWIW

You've come to the right place. There is a lot to be learned here.

Howdy!

Hello and welcome!

Howdy!

Welcome!

It sounds like you fish a little bigger water than I typically do, but I'll take a shot. I think the crankbait and spinnerbait ideas both make sense. This might be a place to try a twin-spin, which in my experience tend to get and stay deep. I also started experimenting with small lipless cranks last year in similar situations with pretty good results. They fall fast and can be worked in a variety of ways at a variety of depths. Perhaps the most universal bait I fish is a ballhead or mushroom head jig head with trailer of your choice. You can key the weight to the depth you are looking to fish and then swap out trailers depending on your approach. A curl tailed grub can be fished at almost any speed or depth. You could drag bottom with a creature bait or craw-imitator. A little finesse worm can also work wonders. Variety and simplicity. I don't believe that fish must be finessed outside of 55-70 degrees. If I had to go low and slow, ned rigs and tubes would be at the top of my list as would a finesse jig with a craw trailer. I'd love to hear what you end up trying and how it works for you.

How deep is deep? How wide is the River? What is the current speed? Are you wading or in a boat? I think you are likely to get better answers if you can provide more specific info.

Greetings!

Howdy!

I typically use a 1/4 ounce, silver blade and a bright yellow body. I will sometimes use a black body in dirty water. Don't know why the silver blade works better in my waters, but it does. I used to use a 1/8 ounce and caught a lot more sunfish, but also gut hooked some smallies who would completely engulf it. I also replace my trebles with a single hook when I get around to it, which helps with easy releases, although it may cost me a few fish here and there. FWIW

Shallow rivers are mainly what I fish. My top five choices would be a Rebel wee craw (usually worked slowly on the bottom), a rapala original floater, Panther Martin inline spinner (which I love to fish in riffles and swifter current), a light jig lead (1/8 oz or less) with a 3" grub or ned style stick bait, and some sort of top water (usually a tiny torpedo). Naturally, these might vary with conditions. I don't know that these are the best baits, but I am confident they are good baits and that if I put them in the right places most of the time they will catch fish. (The wee craw and inline spinner are my primary search baits.) As a plus (for me at least) the first four are all great multi-species baits as well. For example, I've caught a lot of drum on wee craws, a lot of channel cats on inline spinners and a grub will catch anything in the river. One last observation, one reason a bait like the rapala works well because it can be fished in so many ways: cast and crank, slowly and with the rod tip high as a wake bait, worked agonizingly slowly with lots of pauses on the top, and as a jerk bait, either subtly or very aggressively.

It might be worth considering going with much stouter braid without a leader. I'd likely use at least 30 lb when fishing heavy grass. It's not a panacea, but it should help some of the time. FWIW

Howdy!

Welcome!

Welcome!

Welcome!

Welcome!

A baby flathead. Have caught quite a few little ones on jigs and crank baits.

Howdy!