Winter Smallmouth fishing

[Mitch f]

26 minutes ago, Brian Jones said:

I've caught them down to 36 degrees but I already knew where they were located, and had been catching them for about three weeks straight.  Not to contradict Mitch, but I'll throw a wiggle wart as well as another crankbait until the water temp gets to 40 with good success.  One other thing I've noticed is that the fish seems more active as the water temp is falling through the 40's as opposed to the temps rising from the 40's.  

Ive also caught Wiggle Wart bass at high 30's water

 

[fishinwrench]

I know that Smallies in small to medium sized creeks don't all migrate downstream to deep pools or the lakes they might dump into.  I have witnessed them swimming across sections of bedrock miles away from any water waist deep and settling into little crevices during the coldest part of Winter.  Just like a crawdad crawls under a rock, a smallmouth will slither into a little crack just big enough for him to fit into.  There might be some spring seepage in those crevices or something but they seem to know they are safe and can survive the winter there.

[Buzz]

19 hours ago, joeD said:

Not to be flip, but one must go where the fish can be caught. Buzz, I don't know where you fish or how often, but, in order to catch winter fish, they have to be there in the first place. It's no accident that big smallies caught in the winter are caught on streams that generally produce big fish anyway. You are limited, but not shut out, by using a kayak. 

Sorry, they didn't tell you that. It certainly helps to have a boat with a motor. 

To be honest I've found a few locations over the years that hold fish in the winter. Most of the time I was bank fishing. I have gotten away from winter bass fishing over the last several years because of trout fishing so I thought I might change it up a bit.  This year I've found a few more spots that are easily accessed and have long stretches with good southern exposure and several of the other characteristics mentioned by Al and others and do hold fish Spring through Fall.  I'm not sure if I would do a full blown float or not, but I'd like to give it a try after a warm spell.

[Al Agnew]

The other key, as far as I'm concerned, when it comes to crankbaits is that the water needs to have some color.  I have very little confidence in crankbaits in the ultraclear water often encountered in late fall and winter, no matter what the water temps are.  If there is much more than 4 feet of visibility I seldom throw cranks, depending a lot more on small jerkbaits.  But if the water has good color I'll throw a crank even in water temps lower than my scale, as Mitch said.

Location, location, location.  And not only location as to whether the fish are there or not, but also as to whether it's likely that CATCHABLE fish are there or not.  As Wrench said and I think I said, some fish stay in the smaller tributaries all winter, but those fish go into hiding and are far less likely to be active.  As well as I know upper Big River and as many years as I've fished it, I cannot consistently catch winter fish there; the vast majority of bass in the upper river go into hiding and go dormant, it seems.  Oh, there are big pools where you can catch a few winter fish, though more largemouth and spotted bass than smallmouth, and even in big pools that should theoretically have a bunch of wintering bass, you'll usually only find one small school, maybe a half dozen or so fish, that are actually out and active enough to catch.