Will smallmouth congregate where current flows out of a Canadian Shield lake, like shortly before a waterfall?

More likely, they might gather where the current comes IN to a lake, like at the bottom of the waterfall. They will seldom hold directly in the current. They find current breaks where the current is blocked by a rock or a log and they don't have to fight to stay in place. They hold in these slack areas and wait for food to pass by. They'll dart out, grab the food and move back out of the current. They don't want to get swept over a waterfall any more than you do.

I've caught smallmouth in the heads of shoals a lot. They will face upstream and pick off whatever passes by.

More likely, they might gather where the current comes IN to a lake, like at the bottom of the waterfall. They will seldom hold directly in the current. They find current breaks where the current is blocked by a rock or a log and they don't have to fight to stay in place. They hold in these slack areas and wait for food to pass by. They'll dart out, grab the food and move back out of the current. They don't want to get swept over a waterfall any more than you do.

Thanks for the input, Mark. When I study a lake on Google Earth, I mark all the inflow areas and have the best luck there.

I've caught smallmouth in the heads of shoals a lot. They will face upstream and pick off whatever passes by.

Now that's just what I want to hear! 

When I find Smallmouth in current i fish them just like i do for trout.  I will dead drift in current seams.  I look for current breaks like rocks or something that will give a place for a fish to sit without having to use a lot of energy to get food.  If you know how to fish for trout in a stream, its the same thing for bass in faster moving water.  

I can't speak for the head of a waterfall, but the bottom of waterfalls

and the tailrace of dams are always top-rung smallmouth sites.

 

Roger