Bass-Addict

26 degrees, sunny blue skies, water clarity and level just about perfect. The river has finally settled after over a month of incessant rain from unseasonable temps and a delayed winter onset. Icy guides make it tough to feel the soft winter bite, but patience and persistence rewarded me today with this winter prize. Got her on the pb&j TRD, no board but if I had to guess just a hair under 18. My first season of winter fishing has been humbling to say the least, but days like today make it worth it and get me pumped for spring.

Well I seem to target all of the prime areas where most of the other fish are feeding so there is obv plenty of bait there. I think the big fish are there and just too fat and slow to chase a swim bait, especially once it hits 80+ degrees.

Interesting, so in other words big fish generally don’t feed in current post-spawn.

Wouldn’t they be feeding where the other fish are?

Just shy of 20 and another 18.5, awesome day on the water. Most of my fish came in, above or below current and on the seam as usual, but not this toad. I was in a section a solid 2-300 yards from any moving water working a grassy bank that if you got close enough, you could see was riddled with the perfect sized rocks underneath the vegetation, you know that good stuff. I’m starting to learn that is some of the fishiest water there is, logically it holds all of their preferred forage with the added bonus of insects. Anyway, there she was minding her own business. Enormous topwater explosion, took me a good bit longer to get her in the boat than anything else that day, definitely the biggest smallie I’ve ever held in my hands. Great feeling, and now it’s on for that elusive 20!

Is it simply because they become sluggish from the extreme temps and their metabolism slows as it does in winter, or do they go deep to cool off? If the latter, wouldn’t they still need to feed in current like the rest of them? I ask because after the cold front we experienced, I caught two trophies back to back last night. One was just shy of 20 and the other was 18.5. I know it has to be the cooler water I’m just wondering what the exact mechanism of action is.

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If so, are they more difficult to catch? I feel like based on everything I’ve learned and observed over the last few years fish of all species seem to be fairly adaptable in their respective environments, from creek chubs to apex predators like smallmouth. I see no reason why there wouldn’t be trophy fish in any body of water they are already thriving in with deep enough sections, provided there is enough forage. Does it take more than this for fish to reach these larger sizes, for instance you tend to hear about far more 20+“ SMB in lakes than in riverine ecosystems. I assume this is all related to water capacity and the fish tank analogy, but I’m sure forage diversity/size/abundance plays an equal or greater role. Anyway, I guess what I’m really asking is if I should pick apart the creek I started on more thoroughly, would there really be larger smallies hanging out in deeper spots and not in the places I’ve been finding the 12-15” fish I usually catch, and if so what is the best way of locating them, scouring the bottom with a Ned rig? Seems tedious and like it would take forever, but it would be really cool to catch a giant in a small waterway like this.

Good point, esp the big football shaped 18”+ lake variety

Yeah I still think they are the king of freshwater gamefish, I just thought they were a bit more elusive although I guess they still are. Yeah I forgot they were in the sunfish family. Amazing how different they are.

Interesting, so smallmouth aren’t that special, they’re like bluegill? I thought they only lived in streams, rivers and lakes with clean(ish) moving water?

If not, what other reason do they always hang out around rocks? It’s incredibly consistent.

I actually caught/trapped my own bait and honestly I enjoyed that almost as much as the fishing itself, but it was still an enormous pain in the ass keeping minnows alive, changing the water, hauling around a bait cooler and dealing with the mess. Above all, as it turns out it’s less productive in most situations! Like you said though, there is a time and place for live and I haven’t abandoned it entirely. Nothing like seeing your bobber disappear!

Thanks lol, they always come out better when the sun is facing me and harder to turn around in a sit-in rec boat ?

Here are some of the nicer fish I’ve been getting since transitioning to artificial. You were right it is far more rewarding catching a trophy on a lure! Being able to put my presentation in places I simply couldn’t previously has made a significant difference in the quantity I catch, but I always assumed the quality would go down. Turns out I was wrong, some of my best fish have come on lures! Most of these top out around 17.5-18.5”, so not on the level of you lake smallie guys but still pigs in the streams I fish. Tight lines!

It was about the same size as this one, my hands in the first pic are much closer to the lens than the fish.

It’s hard to tell from the pic, it was easily 18” and definitely not the ordinary 12-14” stream smallmouth you find in the Midwest.

Yes technically they are “native” as the lake is simply the dammed up creek. But they would never have gotten that large in the tiny creek. It takes abundant water and forage to create trophy smallmouth on that level. I have now floated 2 such creeks. Caesar’s Creek is pretty shallow and unless they are releasing water it is unfloatable most of the season. Every so often they release enough to where you can paddle it and I caught a couple huge fish. They were clearly from the lake. It was still awesome but felt slightly less pure knowing they were not really from there, almost as if they were put there by man (they were.) Just some Monday shower thoughts lol, what do you think?

I’ve actually branched out and now fish a medium sized river (Great Miami) as well. Much bigger fish!

Yeah I think that’s it right there, need a third rod for working the bottom rather than swapping the swims and the Ned. I knew I’d get some valuable insight in this thread!

Yeah for sure, I still have all of that stuff as I’m sure when the bite slows in the colder months that can help turn it back on.

Just an update, I finally completely removed live bait from the equation. No more minnows, I have officially “kicked the bucket” so to speak ? Such a relief to not to have to fool with the mess and enormous hassle of live bait. As a bonus, I’m catching way more fish! Not only covering more water but I have full control of the presentation for the most part, and I can put lures where I can’t put live. I even got an 18” out of a creek yesterday!! More to come ??

What exactly is the advantage of the bullet weight, falls faster?

I take two setups with me on the creeks/rivers I float in my kayak, a 6’6” medium st croix premier and a 6’ medium light premier, both spinning. On the 6’6” I mostly beat the bank with the whopper plopper 90 to cover water on the slow moving stretches between current. When I get to a current break I pick it apart with a soft paddle tail swim bait on an 1/8 oz jig at varying depths and a ZMan TRD craw Ned. So far it’s been pretty productive, I’m catching way more fish than I was with live bait. I guess I’m just wondering if I am potentially missing any fish or could benefit from adding anything into my routine? Thanks!

Interesting, and why is that if casting is more accurate?