Where'd they go?

[MoCarp]

Large flat rocks can be a surprisingly good lair….however poachers can wipe out whole stretches this time of year the elk river drainage has had issues with newly American using Hawaiian slings snorkeling…sometimes Gil nets…..MDC hired and additional agent there a few years back

[Gavin]

They seem to head downstream out of little creeks and headwater sections around the Harvest Moon. That was about 10 days ago. It can be great if you can catch them on the move.

[Seth]

Fish will be on the move this time of year and things will change a lot in a weeks time. One thing that surprised me when I started smallmouth fishing is just how much and how far they will move when they start moving in the fall. We've had days this time of year like you mentioned where we crush them in an area and then not even get a bite a week later. This is on the Gasconade where they have plenty of water to roam in.

[Gavin]

They tend to stop in the deep holes near creek mouths for a time, but they can move 20 miles or more.

[Lloyd]

One of the spots I fished does have a relatively deep undercut bank as well as a big root wad about 30 feet downstream. I investigated both but it's definitely possible that I just couldn't see them. I've been surprised quite a few times when a nice bass popped out of a stump or small tree branch that I didn't even bother to fish because it seemed too shallow and exposed. Seems they're really good at finding nooks and crannies you had no idea were there. 

As for the hybrid. Interesting that in my two-year experience with this creek I've caught a whole lot more hybrids than straight spotted bass. Kinda like some of the places I've fished in St. Louis that have way more bluegill/green sunfish hybrids than green sunfish.

[MObassin95]

I don't mean to hijack, but I'm alittle curious for a quick answer. If they leave the smaller creeks where do they go? To the lakes? To a larger river? 

Example: I enjoy fishing Beaver Creek. Will they head closer to Bull Shoals? 

[Flysmallie]

Just now, MObassin95 said:

I don't mean to hijack, but I'm alittle curious for a quick answer. If they leave the smaller creeks where do they go? To the lakes? To a larger river? 

Example: I enjoy fishing Beaver Creek. Will they head closer to Bull Shoals? 

The ones around don't seem to. They just find good spots to hide when they don't want to be seen. Maybe these SW MO fish just aren't smart enough to know there is better water downstream. 

[Gavin]

The go downstream to were they can find, food and refuge. Black River fish seem to head downstream to Clearwater Lake, Fish in the Huzzah & Courtois head down to the Meramec. Fish in the Jacks Fork head down to the Current. They head back up in the spring.

 

[Al Agnew]

Gavin has it right.  But it all depends upon several things:  first, in the winter, they instinctively "know" they need one thing above all else; a place to hide.  This can mean deep water.  It can mean an undercut bank or rock or mess of logs they can get UNDER.  They are more sluggish in the winter and escaping predators isn't as easy, so they want refuges where they aren't visible from above, and also room to evade underwater predators.  So that's the first requirement of a wintering spot.  Second, they will seek out "thermal refuge" if it's available.  That means spots where significant springs enter the stream...not because they feel more comfortable in warmer water, but because it keeps their metabolism moving better so they are faster and better escape predators.  Third, they also know they need refuge from the occasional big wintertime flood.  When a fish is sluggish, they can't fight heavy current, so they need spots to get out of the current.

So think about your favorite small stream...how many places on that stream fulfill these requirements?  Not many.

So they move to places that do fill the requirements.  Some may remain in the creek, finding smaller spots where they feel secure.  But many move downstream to larger bodies of water, whether that be a larger river or a lake.  But here's the kicker that I think might be true, though I can't prove it...I believe that smallmouth in these streams winter in the same spots every year, and very possibly in the same spots where their ancestors did.  Because tagging results have shown that migrating smallmouth often pass up a bunch of very good wintering pools that other smallmouth are happily using, and end up traveling a lot farther downstream than they need to, while others end up wintering in less than optimal spots that USED to be better wintering pools.  And they crowd into good wintering pools, a few I know of in such numbers that some of them spill over into pools immediately nearby that aren't good wintering spots.  Meanwhile, some pools that to us anglers look like perfect wintering pools are almost devoid of fish.

[fishinwrench]

The Smallies in my little creeks here, for whatever reason, don't migrate to the lake.  I can count the number of small mouth I've caught from the Gravois arm of the lake in over 30 years, on one hand. They settle into cracks and crevices in the bedrock bottom areas.....which I assume have some spring seepage.  

During warmish sunny spells in the middle of winter you can sometimes spot a few cruising over the bedrock in 1-3' of water.    They are spooky as hell, and will disappear in a flash if they notice any movement at all. Believe me, I've tried.