Extreme low water fishing was a success

[chucknduck]

Went out on Swan Creek this afternoon. Got over 10 of these little bluegills, a couple that were palm sized. Got a couple smb's, the biggest being the one in the photo. Also got a few suckers, man those little guys are aggressive down here. Lots of fun and challenging. I have never fished conditions like this before in my life. 

[Haris122]

Wow, no kidding on the extreme low water. What would you say was an average depth there? Hope those fish get some more water soon. Looks to be on the brink of drying out.

[chucknduck]

2 hours ago, Haris122 said:

Wow, no kidding on the extreme low water. What would you say was an average depth there? Hope those fish get some more water soon. Looks to be on the brink of drying out.

I know, poor fish. I fished 3-4 little holes that varied between 2-4 feet but all the water between holes was mostly ankle deep occasionally shin (so 6-12"). I was still spotting fish in the between water but there wasn't much for them. Good thing this whole week is supposed to bring storms to bring the levels up a bit for them. You ever fish anywhere like this? 

[Johnsfolly]

1 hour ago, chucknduck said:

I know, poor fish. I fished 3-4 little holes that varied between 2-4 feet but all the water between holes was mostly ankle deep occasionally shin (so 6-12"). I was still spotting fish in the between water but there wasn't much for them. Good thing this whole week is supposed to bring storms to bring the levels up a bit for them. You ever fish anywhere like this? 

I have fished a creek that had vanishing sections some summers. There may have been 50 feet or more between spots of water. I did find that the fish were ultra aggressive in the actual pools. Also that they would stack up at the heads of those pools in the water that was cooled by running under the gravel. 

 

[chucknduck]

14 minutes ago, Johnsfolly said:

I have fished a creek that had vanishing sections some summers. There may have been 50 feet or more between spots of water. I did find that the fish were ultra aggressive in the actual pools. Also that they would stack up at the heads of those pools in the water that was cooled by running under the gravel. 

 

That's a unique fishing experience for sure. I'll remember that next time I go out. I'm really starting to enjoy these strange fishing conditions because it's so different. 

[moguy1973]

I've fished a small tributary of the Meramec that gets pretty low in the summer.  There's parts where it's only a foot across between the pools and the pools are only a couple feet deep.  Still holds some small mouth in those conditions and they are pretty eager to eat usually too.

 

[Haris122]

On 9/20/2019 at 4:09 PM, chucknduck said:

I know, poor fish. I fished 3-4 little holes that varied between 2-4 feet but all the water between holes was mostly ankle deep occasionally shin (so 6-12"). I was still spotting fish in the between water but there wasn't much for them. Good thing this whole week is supposed to bring storms to bring the levels up a bit for them. You ever fish anywhere like this? 

Maybe a few shallow spots on the meramec but still had lots deeper spots for the most part. 

[FishnDave]

There's a smallmouth river up here in Iowa that at one time, 3 out of 5 years it went basically dry.  Water in pools, but no flowing water between the pools.  The fish in the pools were pretty aggressive, as some others have noted in their streams.  I was very concerned about the survival of the Smallmouth, so I contacted the IDNR here to see if we should get some fishing clubs together to try and save some of these fish by collecting them and putting them in some better, deeper water.  They said not to worry about it.  The Smallmouth have been in that river for a long time, with similar conditions, and they seem to manage just fine.  He was right.  The numbers seemed lower after that, but they were still there.

[OzarkFishman]

It kinda makes me think of this situation .... if you see a nice fish in a shallow, drying pool that is seperated from the main river in the middle of the summer ... what do you do?

Usually nice fish don't get caught in this situation, but what if ... I would get it out and put it in the deeper, flowing water and give the guy a chance. Might have to go home to get my cast net, but if it is a nice fish in a special piece of river I say do what you got to do. Sure there will still be fish if that nice fish doesn't survive, but we all know how long smallmouth take to grow.

 

[chucknduck]

2 minutes ago, OzarkFishman said:

It kinda makes me think of this situation .... if you see a nice fish in a shallow, drying pool that is seperated from the main river in the middle of the summer ... what do you do?

Usually nice fish don't get caught in this situation, but what if ... I would get it out and put it in the deeper, flowing water and give the guy a chance. Might have to go home to get my cast net, but if it is a nice fish in a special piece of river I say do what you got to do. Sure there will still be fish if that nice fish doesn't survive, but we all know how long smallmouth take to grow.

 

This is exactly what is be tempted to do too! I'm new to this state so these conditions are very interesting to me. I keep exploring these creeks that aren't flowing looking for this exact situation because I'm curious.