We have had 2 days of 70-80F weather with totally clear skies and calm winds. Things changed today. A cold front moved in with clouds, intermittent light rain, and lower temps. The high today was 63F at 11am and going down slowly all day. Winds were steady at 10mph with occasional gusts to 25mph. I got out at 3pm and the temp was 55F and cooling off for the rest of the day. I went down to the river (Susquehanna) near Owego NY and did some bank fishing. Water temp was 46F. I was fishing a  6-8FT deep channel that ran right next to shore. On the far side of the channel was a rocky flat that was about 3-5 ft. deep. There was a lot of current. I started with a spinnerbait. It was difficult to cast accurately due to the wind, and hard to get a good retrieve due to the high current. I switched over to a Cotton Cordel Super Spot (1/2 oz in a dark red crawfish pattern). On the second cast I hooked up with something that felt really big. It took me a couple of minutes to land the fish, partly due to the fish size, and partly due to the strong current. I did land it, and it was a 20 and 1/2 inch, 4lb 2oz Smallmouth. The fish was gorgeous. She had absolutely inhaled the lure. I carefully unhooked her, which took longer than I would have liked, and put her back ASAP. After a short recovery period she swam off none the worse for wear. It felt great to have caught a really decent fish. I was stoked. I fished for another 1/2 hour with no more bites. I tried throwing a few different things including a jerk bait, a Texas rigged brush hog, a weighted fluke (coffee color), and dragged a curly tail work around with no luck. Tried a weighted wacky worm (junebug color). No love for that either. I switched to a medium depth crankbait in sexy shad color. That got snagged and had to break it off. I put on a large square bill in a gold body black back pattern. After 5 minutes or so I hooked up with what I thought was going to be a new personal best Smallmouth, but it turned out I had snagged a 6 lb channel cat right in the middle of the back. In the current and due to the way it was hooked, it gave one hell of a fight. I released it. Tried the square bill for another 1/2 hour or so with nothing happening and switched to a 4" paddle tail on a 3/8 oz ball head jig. Worked that for a while, but no luck. I switched over to a brown and black 1/2 oz swim jig. They didn't like that either. I went back to the paddle tail but put it on a 1/2 oz jig head this time. Worked it for 10 min or so and got a solid hit. Turned out to be a 19" Walleye. I could not get a weight because my scale decided to stop working. (Gonna' have to buy a new one I guess). Put the 'eye back and continued with the jig. I had one more hit, but did not hook up. I tried a few more things, but no luck. At that point the temp was down to 44F and the wind was really starting to pick up, so I packed it in and went home.  So, to sum up......4 bites, 3 fish, one nice 4lb smallie, one catfish, one Walleye (I hit a trifecta!). Altogether a good day. 

Nice! That is a toad of a river smallmouth!

I once lived on a smallie river for a couple years and fished it nearly every warm morning. I learned how hard it is to hook a four-pound river bass. Congrats, Kirtley!

Thanks. It is hard to get 4+ pounders. A 2 1/2 is a good fish around here. A 3 is very good. A 3 1/2 is getting into "really good" territory.  For me, a 4 is really a trophy fish. What amazed me today is that the one I caught looked to be spawned out. I think she would have been a good 4 1/2 to 4 3/4 if she was pre spawn. Very few of the bass around here have spawned yet. It has been my observation that the bigger the smallmouth, the earlier they actually spawn. I have always wondered why that is. I will target pre spawn fish, but I try to avoid fishing for ones that are on the bed. That is just a personal thing....I doubt that targeting bedding fish has much real impact on fish populations.

8 hours ago, Kirtley Howe said:

For me, a 4 is really a trophy fish.

 

For me too. Now, put me on a wilderness lake in northwestern Ontario and I'll launch in the morning or evening with an outside chance at landing five or more four-plus pounders, but those are lake smallies. They don't fight current all day. Simply put, weight doesn't always equate. A northern 5-pound lmb doesn't equal a southern 5-pound lmb. The northern bass is rarer and the farther north you go, the rarer it is. Just ask @The Baron. Heck, ask me. I have to catch hundreds of bass before I'm likely to see a five-pounder. And a 4-pound river smallie doesn't equal a 4-pound lake smallie.

 

I also tender extra credit to shore anglers who land big bass. They're disadvantaged. And I subtract credit from FFS anglers, who have an electronic edge. I don't dismiss FFS bass, but a DD lmb located by FFS isn't the same as a DD lmb found by an old school angler. I know many disagree. This is just me. 

I can't even imagine a 4lb river smallie.  The 1.5s that I catch in a river a short walk from my house are holy terrors on the end of the line.  What an epic catch and a great story.  

As a retired old sales manager would always tell my reps "You can't sell them our services if they don't have the money". You can't catch very big bass if they ain't there.  

Blast from the past:

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/173743-chances-of-catching-a-10-pounder/

I want to fish a river for 4 lb smallmouth.

 

You're living the dream!  Go find that illusive 5 lber now!  😎😎😎

11 hours ago, Kirtley Howe said:

Thanks. It is hard to get 4+ pounders. A 2 1/2 is a good fish around here. A 3 is very good. A 3 1/2 is getting into "really good" territory.  For me, a 4 is really a trophy fish. What amazed me today is that the one I caught looked to be spawned out. I think she would have been a good 4 1/2 to 4 3/4 if she was pre spawn. Very few of the bass around here have spawned yet. It has been my observation that the bigger the smallmouth, the earlier they actually spawn. I have always wondered why that is. I will target pre spawn fish, but I try to avoid fishing for ones that are on the bed. That is just a personal thing....I doubt that targeting bedding fish has much real impact on fish populations.

 

Good observation regarding the spawn. In talking to several knowledgeable fishing guides here in Florida the biggest females always spawn first then future waves vary by size. The biggest first & the smallest last. 

3 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

I want to fish a river for 4 lb smallmouth.

 

You're living the dream!  Go find that illusive 5 lber now!  😎😎😎

I'm trying. If it happens it happens. All I can do is fish the areas that have the potential to hold one and hope for the best. Of course, stealth and presentation count for a lot, but it mostly comes down to being in the right spot at the right time and doing something that attracts the fish. I could go up to Cayuga Lake (45 min from me) and catch 4-5lb smallies with some regularity, but as noted above, a 3 lb river fish will out fight a 5lbs lake fish 99% of the time---and they are more of a challenge to find and catch.

4 hours ago, BigAngus752 said:

The 1.5s that I catch in a river a short walk from my house are holy terrors on the end of the line.

 

This made me laugh out loud! You are soooo right. Living in current will make a holy terror out of a bass.

 

4 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

You're living the dream!  Go find that illusive 5 lber now!  😎😎😎

 

In two years of living on the Wisconsin River, I saw two five-pounders. That was me rising hundreds of mornings at first light. 

 

18 minutes ago, Kirtley Howe said:

I could go up to Cayuga Lake (45 min from me) and catch 4-5lb smallies with some regularity, but as noted above, a 3 lb river fish will out fight a 5lbs lake fish 99% of the time---and they are more of a challenge to find and catch.

 

^This^ is why I wish fight could be quantified. If we could measure it and mark it with a number, then weight would hold a little less weight. I've said it before and I'll likely say it again: The hardest fighting lmb of my life was a slender 18 inches. I hooked her in a narrow river and she ran down that river, ricocheting from shore to shore. Then she ran back at me. Even then, she burrowed under my canoe. She felt like a 20-pound musky. I was expecting a PB, but she looked like hundreds of other bass I've caught...and lighter than scores of other bass I've boated. 

 

Anyway, Kirtley, I'm glad you appreciate fight too.