Cold Rivers

[LrgmouthShad]

With very cold water temps in a small river, where are you looking for smallmouth? In deep pools? Sunning on a rocky bank? What are your favorite river lures for these very cold temps? 
 

Edit: I’ll just say where I’m fishing in case it helps. Big Piney River in central MO

[TnRiver46]

In a nearby lake 

[LrgmouthShad]

1 minute ago, TnRiver46 said:

In a nearby lake 

It gets really tough in rivers for smallmouth when that cold?

[TnRiver46]

9 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

It gets really tough in rivers for smallmouth when that cold?

Depends on the river. Is there a dam upstream of where you fish? For instance the river where I live the water is coming from the bottom of two different lakes. So all the water in the river is coming from 120 feet under the surface of large reservoirs. Therefore it’s a warmish temp despite the cold nights at least up until Christmas. I was fishing 65 degree water last night

 

free stone waters, those without a dam, basically suck for smallie fishing once it’s good and cold. At least where I’m at 

 

they can still be caught but it’s better elsewhere. If I was forced to try I would fish the deepest slowest water I could find

[gim]

3 hours ago, LrgmouthShad said:

It gets really tough in rivers for smallmouth when that cold?

I would also look for a deeper, slower pool if there are any.  They either head there or completely out of the river system to find a wintering hole.

 

The river I fish also slows down significantly when the water starts to cool.  The fish might still be there somewhere, but I prefer to target them with a more aggressive approach, and the time of year they are willing to bite that is in midsummer.

[Blue Raider Bob]

4 hours ago, LrgmouthShad said:

With very cold water temps in a small river, where are you looking for smallmouth? In deep pools? Sunning on a rocky bank? What are your favorite river lures for these very cold temps? 
 

Edit: I’ll just say where I’m fishing in case it helps. Big Piney River in central MO

Used to fish the Big Piney near Ft. Leonard Wood in the seventies when my older sister was stationed there when she was an Army nurse. Beautiful River that is full of fish!

I fish the larger rivers the same way year round. Slow bouncing a Ned Rig. Works for me in any water temp. Dragging a Zoom Speed Craw has produced for me as well. The Big Piney should be no different in my estimation.

[Spankey]

It will be awhile before I’m back on the river. Dang river looks black when that frigid water temp sets in. 
 

But, not exactly what you are asking but as winter starts to fade a hair jig fished slow have gotten me some smallies over the years. Spillway of a dam I can walk down to. 

[Kirtley Howe]

On a cold overcast day, I would fish the deepest, slowest current hole I could get to by drifting a weightless worm or by dragging a tube jig . If it is bright and sunny, look for large rocks or rip-rap in shallow water near a deeper channel or hole. Smallmouth don't mind sunshine (may even prefer it to cloudy skies), and the sun will warm up the water and the rocks several degrees higher than the deep pools, and the Smallies will move up near them to feed. I find small minnow baits, jerkbaits (fished with LONG pauses), and weightless worms (4"), or small jig heads with grub tails work best for me. Of course a small beaver or other plastic that imitates a crayfish is also a good bet. Sometimes, a bucktail or feather jig is the absolute best bait. I will sometimes add a small grub tail or small minnow shaped plastic to them. Small tube jigs also are productive at times. Just move them very slowly.

[smalljaw67]

Wintering pools are the place. If you have a small shallow river a wintering pool doesn't have to be super deep. A river that run 3' to 4' deep will have wintering holes that are 6' to 8' deep. You also don't always need to be in the pool, I've caught good smallmouth in 2' of water when the temps were in the mid to upper 30s. All it takes is a sunny day and the shallow water will warm up 2 or 3 degrees especially if the bottom is dark or there are boulders that get a lot of sun. All the areas that will hold fish or have fish move to feed will be areas of slow current, that is the key.

[drakesndrum]

Find the relative deep and slow water on your river and start there.  Keep in mind a wintering hole needs to be able to protect fish from strong currents even during a high-water period.  Fished my local river yesterday, water was 55-56, and the fish were still holding in moderate current, but very near deep pools.  Didn't catch any big ones, but the ones I did catch were lively.

 

Suspending jerkbaits, flukes dragged or deadsticked on the bottom, and small finesse jigs are what I throw when the water drops into the 40s. 

[flyfisher]

Smallmouth will migrate as far as they need to go to find a wintering hole and in some rivers that may be 20 miles plus.   On larger systems they will not need to go quite as far but you want deep (relatively speaking) holes, protected from predators yet have easy access to shallower water for feeding.  They will absolutely stack up at this time so if you find a wintering hole, it will be a good spot for years to come unless the river structure changes.  On many of the smaller flows I fish they migrate downstream to find more consistent larger water or on a few they go upstream to large pools.  

I have found on third day of a warming trend it will get them more active even if it only raises water temps a couple of degrees and this is where those shallower areas adjacent to the wintering holes become feeding stations.

 

Bottom line is you gotta put the time in and be ready for cold days where you may not even get a bite but when you do get a bite it is usually a good one.

[PaulVE64]

I'm finding them near deep river bends with shallower rocky shelves or boulder fields nearby.

My water temps are  45-50 F 

[Finessegenics]

River fishing gets extremely tough here when it gets cold. At a certain point, it seems like the bass just disappear. Either they are completely out of reach from the bank, or they migrate into the main river (st lawrence) as I mostly fish the river's tributaries. I haven't been able to find them on the yak either, where I can access deeper areas. In this cold weather it's mostly just walleye and perch. 

[bowhunter63]

I fish lowhead dams. Float and fly or a hair jig. Sometimes a Carolina rig . Wait for sun and any warm up .Small hair jigs straight out and straight back slow. Drives em crazy 

[PaulVE64]

45 minutes ago, Finessegenics said:

River fishing gets extremely tough here when it gets cold. At a certain point, it seems like the bass just disappear. Either they are completely out of reach from the bank, or they migrate into the main river (st lawrence) as I mostly fish the river's tributaries. I haven't been able to find them on the yak either, where I can access deeper areas. In this cold weather it's mostly just walleye and perch. 

The migration habits of snallmouth bass are almost a mystery.

I've found a few articles and if I remember correctly smallies can move 2 to 3 miles/day.  I also remember theyll travel 30 miles to get to stable winter holes. So if your close to the St L they have likely all empty out of the tributaries.

 

Hope that helps.

[Finessegenics]

21 hours ago, PaulVE64 said:

The migration habits of snallmouth bass are almost a mystery.

I've found a few articles and if I remember correctly smallies can move 2 to 3 miles/day.  I also remember theyll travel 30 miles to get to stable winter holes. So if your close to the St L they have likely all empty out of the tributaries.

 

Hope that helps.

The thing is, some of these tributaries are still quite large. For example, while my “home” river isn’t very long, only 30 miles or so, it has depths of up to 30-35 feet (according to navionics) but it is mostly quite shallow. Some smallies definitely winter in here? Right? I feel like the majority do migrate because they seem to genuinely disappear. 

[TnRiver46]

I’ve seen them disappear from our freestone waters around thanksgiving, not even very cold yet but they leave. I even tried walking up and down the river to scare them and didn’t see squat. No minnows no sunfish no gar no bass no nuthin

[Susky River Rat]

The key is slow down. Which is not my strong suit either. You can definitely get them in mid 30 degree water temps. Always keep in mind to that flow in a river is just as important if not more then water temp. They will still go into flooded creek mouths that are relatively shallow when the river is up.

[Kdizzle]

I found this guy in a very chilly stream about five miles from my place this morning.  Finesse football jig in a crawfish pattern.  

 

 

[Blue Raider Bob]

17 hours ago, Kdizzle said:

I found this guy in a very chilly stream about five miles from my place this morning.  Finesse football jig in a crawfish pattern.  

 

 

Looks like a real nice Smallie to me! Also looks like you could wade across this stream. I'll bet the deeper pools are a prize on this body of water. Used to fish the Gasconade way way back in the day. Caught some real nice Rock Bass.

[Kdizzle]

6 hours ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

Looks like a real nice Smallie to me! Also looks like you could wade across this stream. I'll bet the deeper pools are a prize on this body of water. Used to fish the Gasconade way way back in the day. Caught some real nice Rock Bass.

 

Southern Missouri rivers and streams don't get the attention they deserve in terms of high end Smallmouth Bass fisheries, but they really should.

[Blue Raider Bob]

21 hours ago, Kdizzle said:

 

Southern Missouri rivers and streams don't get the attention they deserve in terms of high end Smallmouth Bass fisheries, but they really should.

Hope that secret can stay secret! Good fishing!

[Frederickfishingfan]

Here in Maryland, mostly in the Monocacy, I first target rock walls that soak up the sun most of the day, then slow pools, also in the sun.  Best baits are usually small plastics like grubs and paddle tail swimbaits up to maybe 4" on jigheads as light as possible.  Gear is ultralight or lighter (JDM) with line up to 4lbs.  Huge fan of JDM stuff.

[PaulVE64]

On 11/13/2022 at 9:26 AM, Finessegenics said:

The thing is, some of these tributaries are still quite large. For example, while my “home” river isn’t very long, only 30 miles or so, it has depths of up to 30-35 feet (according to navionics) but it is mostly quite shallow. Some smallies definitely winter in here? Right? I feel like the majority do migrate because they seem to genuinely disappear. 

If there is a mile or so long stretch of water that remains atleast 2 ft deep and has a 30' deep pool in it I think the bass will winter in it.

They need the area to ensure enough prey is around and the depth for stability.

[drakesndrum]

Took me four hours to find them yesterday, and they were at the tail end of a pool in about ten feet of water around large isolated boulders.  Water temp was 46.1-46.6 from launch to take-out.  Zman Scented Jerk Shad on a crawler jig was the bait of choice.  Letting it sit on the bottom or very, and I mean very, slowly dragging it.  Biggest of the day was right at 20" but skinny at 3lbs 3oz.