Lloyd

Speaking of state record smallmouth, this story cracked me up. Dude caught what would have broken the Vermont record by 10 oz., but wifey wanted fishcakes! https://www.compassvermont.com/p/he-settled-for-the-unofficial-largest

I realize I'm not Al Agnew but I can't help weighing in on this. The official state record smallmouth was 7 lb.s, 2 oz., and I don't think it's a coincidence that it was caught in a reservoir, not a creek. I'm not saying it's impossible, just highly unlikely.

Totally agree with this classification. Here's the way I see it: 10 - 12 inches: I'd rather catch 'em than not. 12 - 16 inches: hell yeah these are really fun fish. 17 inches: bread and butter big fish. I'm taking a picture. 18 inches: beasts, but still fairly common. 19 inches: elite stream smallmouth 20+: legendary monster

I'm sure that guy's a REALLY good fisherman, like Jimmy Houston status. And he's not gonna be impressed until you show him a 30 inch smallmouth 🤣.

This reminded me of an encounter I had with a swimmer on my favorite creek last summer. We were near the upstream end of the smallmouth habitat on this creek, but he told me I should try about a mile upstream. He said there was an amazing hole where as a kid he caught huge bass, some of them over 20 lb.s. I just smiled and said "wow, very impressive!" 😆

Sorry to hear this. One summer day in the late 90s I was chasing stripers with a buddy of mine around Menemsha, a fishing village on the north side of Martha's Vineyard. When we pulled up to the dock who did we see but Flip Pallot. We had watched many episodes of The Walkers Cay Chronicles and I was in equal parts awe and disbelief. But my brazen friend, who at the time was about 15 years old, walked straight up to Flip and asked if he'd like to join us on his 13 foot Boston Whaler. And Flip said sure, why not? He was short on time so we only motored a few hundred feet down the channel before dropping anchor, putting us within casting range of a sandy flat where stripers cruised. It was mid-day and the water was super clear, so I didn't expect to catch anything on artificials. Live mackerel had been the ticket for those conditions. But Flip pulled out a streamer and began working the current seams with his fly rod, and within about 20 minutes he nailed a decent bass. My friend and I were throwing jointed plugs on spinning gear and we couldn't conjure a single hit. The entire time Flip was as friendly as could be, asking us all about our recent adventures and regaling us with a few tales of his own. Soon after that we had to head back to the dock, but the memory was made. Flip Pallot was a great fisherman, and a gentleman.

Very nice! Congrats, John!! Great pictures, too 😀.

That's awesome. One of my regular creeks has a lot of smallmouth, but it's heavily pressured for its entire length. The other one gets a lot less attention, but it only has about half the flow and many of the good pools have silted in over the last few years. I really want to find a few more of those under the radar creeks (which is presumably becoming harder and harder), even if that means driving an additional half hour each way. Let's just say I spend a lot of time on Google maps :).

Congrats on your move! I'm 60 - 75 miles from some good creeks. If that number were 20 and I were fishing 4 days a week, it might change my perspective a bit.

Yeah, I strongly prefer artificials as well, but in those situations where there are big bass in front of me and they aren't eating my lures (maybe because they're inactive, or because they see me, or because my lures look ridiculous and nothing like the prey they supposedly represent), I will resort to live craws or minnows if they're available. And they almost always get it done. IMO the big downsides to live bait are: 1) getting it is often a challenge, 2) keeping it frisky on your hook is another challenge, 3) you can't cover much water with it, and 4) it's a pretty boring way to fish.

I get to creek fish three times per month at best, so maybe 10 - 15 trips per year. Given that my time on the water is priceless, I don't mind paying a little more to have the best possible lure for the job. Fortunately, flukes are cheap :).

Can you catch live crayfish at your creek? As WestCentral said, if you can see the fish, they can see you, but as long as they're not spooked it's rare that they won't slurp a well presented craw.

They definitely stocked it last winter. I caught a few.

Dang, what a huge bummer. On the flip side, I'm impressed that anyone (I assume it was MDC?) was collecting data on a pond as small as Walker.

In my experience it's not easy to consistently catch bass in the summer in most St. Louis area ponds. The prespawn period (March - April) is about 10x better both for size and numbers. In the summer there are days when the fish are biting like crazy, but they are few and far between. I think a lot of the ponds have healthy populations of bass, but all the fishing pressure has a very negative impact on catch rates.

That's awesome! Way to get her started on the right foot! I've tried to introduce some of my more casual fishing friends to the fluke and they're still a bit skeptical :).

Thanks, John! It really is an amazing bait. Definitely my favorite smallmouth lure, and there isn't a close second. That erratic action just triggers them like nothing else.

On Sunday I had a marathon creek fishing day, starting before 6 am and ending after 8 pm, and the fish were chomping. I've heard that on the Susquehanna the fishing is best after rain when the water is rising, and maybe that's the case here, too. According to a nearby river gauge the water level peaked around 3 am and then started dropping, and the water at the creek was up and had a slight stain. Over the course of the morning and afternoon I caught a number of 17 - 19.5 inch fish on a fluke and a WTD bait, making it a great day, but the best was yet to come. It was a little after 6 pm towards the upper end of the smallmouth habitat on the creek. I had made a cast into the lower end of a long pool when I saw a big wake behind my fluke. It followed for several seconds before it hit, and then a drawn out battle ensued. When the fish jumped I saw that it was big, but I didn’t realize just how big. Maybe I should have guessed, because she just wouldn't come in. I’d gain some line, and then she’d make a 10 - 15 foot run. There was a small tree in the water towards the far bank, and she very nearly got into it a few times. I had to really strain the line to keep her out. This was the first time while fighting a smallmouth that I felt that 8 lb. test wasn’t quite enough. I would have felt a lot better with 10 or 12 lb., as she definitely had the upper hand for most of the fight. Obviously I lost all sense of time while fighting the fish, but I’d guess it took me about two minutes to get her to the bank, and then I saw what a tank she was. I knew immediately that she was pushing 20 inches if not over 20. And her depth was so much more impressive than any of the 19 inch fish I’ve caught. I had the thought that she was in a different category of fish, that she might as well have been a different species. Holding her up for pictures, I was confident she weighed at least four lb.s, although I’ll never know for sure. While keeping her in the water I carefully measured her several times and she was a little over 20 inches. I've caught the same fish twice several times on this creek. When released she swam off strongly, so hopefully I'll have another run in with her in the near future. What a thrill.

I had a similar experience a few weekends ago. I explored two creeks that I'd never been to before, but which have reputations for being decent smallmouth fisheries. The first creek I visited was awful. The scenery was beautiful, but there were hardly any bass, and the few that were there were small and tight-lipped. The second creek was completely different in terms of results. I was throwing a Shower Blows 77 WTD lure and almost immediately I caught a 14" smallie. A good start, and in stark contrast to the first creek. I made my way upstream, and continued to catch fish, but after that one smallie all I caught were 10 - 12" spots. It was definitely fun to catch these fish on topwater, and their strikes made them look a lot bigger than they were. But after a while I started to get tired of them, and wanted to catch a big smallie. I plan to try some different sections of this creek and will hopefully find some that are less crowded with spots.

Well said. I've been fishing for almost 40 years and I've learned a lot, but it's obvious that there's still SO MUCH MORE to learn. Most of the time when I try something new I end up very glad I did, because I uncover some new wrinkle that changes the way I think about fishing, almost like an unlock in a video game. To me the experimentation you can do while fishing is one of the most satisfying aspects of the sport.

Did my second creek trip of the year, this time to one of the Mississippi tribs. IMO there are about 9 miles of good smallmouth water in this creek, and I decided to start with the middle section since there’s good access and it would be easy to switch gears if the fishing were bad. I arrived at 8:30 am and yet again I was surprised by the height of the water and how fast it was flowing. I guess that’s what happens when you only fish a creek in the summer and then one year you show up in early May. The first two hours were disappointing. I didn’t see (let alone catch) a single bass of any kind. One pool that used to be awesome but wasn’t looking too hot last year was even worse now. The corridor of rocks at the head of the pool was completely silted over, as was the previously deep run. Just sad. Still, it was toward the upper end that I caught my first fish of the day, a chunky spotted bass, on a Zoom Speed Craw. After that I had a one hour dry spell, but then I got to a pool that has been consistently good for the last five years, and most of it still looks good now. Toward the tail end there’s a mostly shallow section with a narrow, deeper run against one bank, and with the high water it looked very fishy. On my third cast I felt a solid thump and began fighting what turned out to be a gorgeous, tiger-striped 17 incher. All of a sudden I was feeling a lot better about the trip, and I figured I’d get at least one more smallie of similar size toward the upper end of the pool. But that was not to be. I did get another good hit, but I missed the fish. The next pool upstream was entirely transformed compared to previous years. It used to be slow and deep, with a big tree running down its length. Now it was much shallower, and water was ripping over a rock ledge at the head of the pool. I made several casts into the fast water right below the ledge, and soon hooked a nice fish. It was a solid 16 incher with a nice gut, presumably a prespawn female. The next section was very disappointing. Three pools in a row, all of which used to be great, seemed to be devoid of bass. I can only hope that some smallmouth filter into these pools over the summer. I decided it was time to try the upstream section, so I hoofed it down to my car and drove up to the next bridge. This section wasn’t great, but it was definitely the best of the trip. At one point I was walking up the bank, intending to cast to a root wad about 50 feet upstream, when I heard a splash immediately to my left. I looked over and saw three roving smallies in less than a foot of water just 20 feet from me. This was the first “wolf pack” that I’ve seen this year, and I was surprised that the fish seemed to be completely oblivious to my presence. I cast about 10 feet upstream of them, and they immediately accelerated towards the jig. I didn’t see or feel a bite, but after a few seconds I reeled up and the line came tight. It was another healthy fish, maybe 13 inches. I had ALMOST forgotten how much fun sight fishing for smallies can be. I had high hopes for the next pool. There I caught several small fish in the deep section toward the tail end, but the tapered section leading up to the head seemed barren. The upper section was the highlight. I had just checked the line above my jig and found some fraying, but I figured I could wait a while before retying. I quickly regretted that decision! On my second cast toward a fallen tree along the far bank I got a solid hit and found myself fighting a beastly fish. It jumped twice and made some hard runs in the current, and I had to take my time playing her for fear of breaking the 8 lb. line. But I finally landed her and she was gorgeous. I estimated 18 inches and that’s what she measured with my tape. She had a nice round belly, again suggesting that she hadn’t spawned yet. Two casts later, throwing to the exact same spot, I hooked another big fish. This one was 17 inches and had the same thick, round belly. There were absolutely more big fish in the pool - I could occasionally see them cruising up and down, but I didn’t catch any more. After that the action slowed down. About an hour later I caught one more 17 at the end of a long, slow pool, and that was it. I made lots of casts into good looking spots, but no more bites. There were a few more good pools further upstream, but the sun was starting to set, and I wasn’t looking forward to wading back to my car in the dark. All in all a decent day, but hopefully it will be a lot better this summer.

Festus is a much more favorable location than St. Louis for smallies! And yeah you definitely have to pay attention to those gauges. I was looking at the Joachim gauge in De Soto and dang that thing can spike.

Thanks, basska! They were indeed healthy, and they fought hard, especially in that swift current. Looking forward to another creek trip on Saturday.

On 4/26 I did my first creek trip of the year. Based on what I've read here, creek fishing is best from June to September, but I was prepared to learn that the hard way. On 4/20 I visited the same creek and it was completely flooded. This time I kept my eye on Big River gauge at Byrnesville, since the destination was a tributary of the Big River. At Byrnesville the flow was down to 1600 CFS, compared to around 10,000 CFS the week before. I was expecting the creek to be totally manageable, but I was surprised that it was still a lot higher than I’m used to. Wading through certain sections was difficult, both because of the strength of the flow and because the water was so high I had to worry about dunking my backpack (which I did). Also, it was cloudy and breezy with air temps in the mid 50s. The water was cool and after about an hour my teeth were chattering. I started with a Zoom Speed Craw on a ⅛ oz. jig head, and I stuck with that almost the entire time. I think it was a good option, since the strong current would have made a weightless fluke or wacky worm difficult to fish, and the water was probably too cold for a good topwater bite. Maybe a small spinnerbait would have been good, but I forgot to bring those. Anyway at the tail end of the first pool upstream of the bridge I saw about a 14 inch smallie cruising back and forth. I couldn’t get him to bite, but I was happy to see a bass. I got no bites at the next several pools that were hotspots last summer, and I was starting to get discouraged. Finally, after about two hours of nothing, I caught an 11 incher from a narrow run. It was a sorry looking creature with a hump back, but it was my first smallmouth of the year and I was grateful to lip it. I didn’t catch another decent fish until I got upstream of all my known good pools. It was at the pool just upstream of the farthest one where I caught a good fish last year. This pool LOOKED good then, but it seemed to be devoid of fish. This time, about midway up the pool I saw a big splash right next to the bank, and I was confident it was a nice bass. I made several casts to the spot but didn’t get a bite. Then I threw upstream to the head of the pool, in the middle of the strong current, and immediately I hooked a 15 - 16 inch bass. Man it felt good to have a nice smallie pulling drag on my spinning rod again. A little farther upstream I caught maybe a 12 incher, but I didn’t have much confidence in the creek upstream of there, so I decided to check out the pools downstream of the bridge. In retrospect I’m not sure whether this was a good idea. Perhaps I would have done better had I continued upstream. Oh well, I didn’t have time for both. I walked/waded downstream of the bridge about half a mile, intending to fish my way back up. At that point there was a broad, shallow section and I saw a handful of bass, some of which were on beds. But I didn’t catch any fish in the shallows (less than four feet deep). It was only when I got up to a pool where I caught a bass last year that I got action. First, when my casts were getting close to the head of the pool, I saw a nice smallie chasing the Speed Craw but he didn’t take it. Then, when I cast to the very head of the pool, just like earlier, I almost immediately hooked up. This fish was a chunky 16 incher. I made lots more casts throughout the pool, but I got no more hits. Maybe it would have been worth trying a different lure, like a jerbait or a fluke. Further upstream, and probably within 100 yards of the bridge, there’s another deep cut where I’ve never done well. There was a small tree sticking out into the water, and casting near the tree led to several hits, from which I caught two or three smallies, the biggest of which was maybe 13 inches. At that point it was a little after 7 pm and I called it a day. After about 8 hours of fishing I only caught three photo-worthy fish, but considering that this was my first April smallmouth trip, I wasn’t disappointed. What was interesting to me about this trip was that I didn’t catch any fish in the sections of creek that didn’t concentrate the current. I had figured that with the cooler temps the fish would be chilling in the slower sections (and some fish were, but they weren’t eating Zoom craws), out of the main flow. Nope, the fish that were willing to bite were in the strongest current at the heads of deep, narrow runs.

Very nice fish. I've been hitting the ponds around St. Louis and have done my best this spring during the periods of nasty weather, and between sunset and complete darkness. Crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and chatterbaits have all been good.