Smallmouth movement

[zaknorman75]

Hey all,

with the spring fishery heating up I hope everyone is enjoying their time on the water! I have a question I hope some experienced smallie anglers could help me with.

Late last summer and into early fall I discovered myself a real small mouth honey hole in a local river. As we all know, water levels end of last year were incredibly low. That being said the flow in that stretch of river was very low. Water was still moving throughout the stretch and by no means were any areas of the river cutoff from one another - but compared to now it is night and day. Last year it was full of smallmouth. I could nail around 3 respectable fish every time I went, with plenty of dinks, redbreasts, and suckers mixed in.

I've been hitting that section of river hard for the past two weeks, five times in total. Not a touch. The river is moving very well. But I still know every hole and seam, visibility is good and with my polarized costas I spotted a single fish.

Sad part is about 1/4 mile down river, the river spills out into a large body of water (trying not to spotburn myself ) With this springs heavy rains and how strong that river ran, do you think the majority of the fish in the section of the river washed down and into the waterbody? With the way the river runs, I think it would be impossible for anything to move back up it into that section.

I'm just looking for opinions. Is it possible all the fish washed out? If there is no real way for anything to move back up the river (there isn't), would this area be devoid of fish for the near future? I was also thinking well fish can move down river from above.. but this river is unqiue in that sections are cut off. I'm thinking if the heavy rains we had all spring really pushed the majority of fish out of the river and into the waterbody, it would take some time for populations to bounce back.

Thoughts?

[Eskimo]

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I don't know. I can only speculate. Perhaps there's something involved with seasonal movement and they're gone now but will return in the summer.

Smallmouth are strong swimmers. Maybe during a high water they'll move back to forage on the abundant minnows that live in the creek.

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[AndyS]

I fear the birds took a major toll on the fish during the extremely low water.

[Jhunter1]

Smallmouth in rivers won't be in the same spots now as in the summer and fall. I would imagine many are in that large body of water seeking warmer, calmer flats to spawn. Once water warms up and they are done spawning they will move into faster water in search of bait fish. I would look down stream for areas that are flat and up out of the current fish them slow with something like a whacky worm etc. Later in the season go back to your honey hole.

[thmyorke1]

It would be neat if they did some studies on this for the Raritan after the shad study.

[icebadger]

sometimes smallies can hide in holes at the bottom of bigger pools in rivers,they have amazing swimming skills you would be amazed at their adaptablity. they can swim long ways up stream as well as down stream. i have seen this on the lower rockaway river, they come out of the jersey city res looking for spawning grounds and food supplies. that river has alot of crayfish and hellgramites in it.they also can avoid the comerants as well.they are one tough fish and fight like hell when you catch them.by far my number one fish to fish for.

[Chrisper4694]

not sure about rivers but in lakes and reservoirs they love transition areas this time of year (i.e. where boulders turn to rocks turn to gravel turn to sand etc.)