A Guide For Catching More Smallmouth Bass
By Steve vonBrandt
Steve and Kurt vonBrandt have spent more than 35 years fishing
the lakes, streams, and rivers of the United States in search
of largemouth
and
smallmouth bass. They have guided clients to numerous trophy
small mouth here in the northeast, and have entered enough
trophy fish
to be inducted
into the N.A.F.C. “Hall Of Fame” in 2003. In this article,
Steve and Kurt of S&K Guide Service, will share some of their
best tips to help you understand and catch more and bigger smallmouth
bass
here in the northeast.
Smallmouths Are Not Like Largemouth Bass!
Time and time again over the years, we have listened to many
anglers and clients express their frustration at trying to catch
small
mouth bass. Most anglers don’t realize that these fish have
their own set of behaviors that sets them apart from largemouth bass.
The
major
differences between a small mouth and a largemouth bass are as
follows:
If you fish for small mouth here in the northeast, especially in the
Susquehanna river in Maryland, you will find that small mouth bass
do not stick that tight to cover. This is even more apparent in some of
our slack water reservoirs. Smallmouth relate much more to a sudden
or rapid depth change than they do cover. When we fish for largemouths,
we are all taught to fish brushpiles and thick weedbeds, but small
mouth bass are more likely to be caught on a rock ledge that drops off quickly
from about six to twelve feet.
When fishing in the reservoirs here such as Conowingo, or in
the rivers like the Susquehanna, small mouths are sometimes
caught shallow,
but they are seldom more than 10-20 yards away from deep water.
Everywhere we go, we see the majority of bass anglers beating
the shoreline, and as this may work for largemouth bass
most of the time,
if you are after big small mouth bass, turn around and cast to the
open water
rather
than beat the shore.
Unlike
largemouth, smallmouth often group together by size. We found
that if we were catching smaller fish, in the eleven
to fourteen inch range, we rarely caught a big one in the same
area. On the other hand,
when we caught a small mouth that was above four or five
pounds, many times there were several that size and even larger
swimming right along
with them. Big largemouth bass are loners, usually found
by themselves on the best piece of structure, while larger smallmouth
bass will
often school together.
There are several things that tell you that smallmouth bass are much
better suited for strong current than largemouth. For one, their
pointed noses and the sharp angle of their fins are indicators that they are
more suited to current. They often get behind a rock or stump and
rush out to feed. Largemouth can adapt somewhat to current, but are much
more at home in slack water.
SPRINGTIME
When the water temperatures start to reach about 45 degrees, here
in the northeast that happens around mid to late March, we start
looking for big smallmouth bass. Water temperature is critical this
time of year, as just an increase of a few degrees can really turn
smallmouth on.
In the spring, in Maryland, and especially in New York, our
two best baits for small mouth are the hair jig, usually
in black or
brown,
and a Yamamoto grub, in smoke or chartreuse. We fish these
baits in about six to twelve feet of water where there
are clay or gravel
flats. When smallmouth start moving up out of deeper water
they are spooky, so stealth is very important. Don’t drop anything
on the bottom of the boat, and keep the trolling motor on as low
as
possible.
The best method is to cast shallow and retrieve the lure slowly
back towards the deeper water. Slowly is the key word here.
In cold water,
a slow, steady retrieve is deadly for big smallmouth.
When the water starts to get above 50 degrees, the smallmouth
will start to move around the flats more. Some of the best
spots for
smallmouth don’t
really look very good to the average angler that is used to fishing for largemouth.
The better areas are just some pea gravel or some clay with maybe a stump or
two, but fish these areas slowly now, and you will connect with a big smallmouth.
Swimming a Yamamoto grub in these type of areas is absolutely deadly at these
water temperatures. Keep working these areas slowly and don’t move
too quickly, and you will hook one of the better smallmouth in the area.
Many times here in the northeast, we get a lot of heavy rains,
which really muddies up the water such as the Susquehanna
River and flats.
This can really
ruin a lot of the small mouth fishing, but finding clearer water
can produce good fish even under these adverse conditions,
as we proved
earlier this year
out on the flats. By searching out some clear water in the same type
of areas, we connected with several big fish while we were hearing
nothing but complaints
from other anglers. In lakes or reservoirs, as well as the rivers,
if you move to the back of creek arms and crank the advancing mudline,
you
can still connect
with good fish. Another thing that works well in these situations
is slow rolling a spinnerbait, such as a Terminator T-1,
in 3/8 ounce
or smaller, along the
banks that are windblown that contain some chunk rock. This has always
worked well in various parts of the country for many years.
SPAWN
Smallmouth will spawn when the water is about sixty to sixty-five degrees,
and they like to do it on gravel flats, clay points, humps, and protected bays.
They spawn anywhere from about two to six feet deep here, but most of the time
they are too deep to see on their beds.
When fishing for bedding largemouth, where it is allowed, such
in Delaware and Maryland, the largemouth have to be finessed
into striking many times.
This is not true for smallmouth, as these fish are very aggressive. It
is really very simple to catch large bedding smallmouth by
swimming a smoke or chartreuse
colored Yamamoto grub across their beds. We always practice catch and release,
and if you want to continue to enjoy this type of fishing, releasing them
right away after they are caught is crucial.
POST-SPAWN (Late Spring)
When the water temperatures reach sixty-eight to seventy-two degrees, you can
really catch quite a few good sized smallmouth in the daytime even in bright
sun. The small mouth move into two different patterns at this time and really
smash top water baits such as Zara Spooks. They will either hold near the bedding
areas or on the outer edges of flooded bushes, and nail Spinnerbaits and floating
worms, or they suspend between two points on main lake flats. Either way, these
lures and methods will provide some great daytime action.
SUMMER
Here in the northeast, the smallmouth action really slows down during the
hot summer months. When we aren’t with a client here, or fishing a tournament
trail that demands all of our attention, we usually head south towards lakes
like Pickwick in Alabama. We have had great success here throughout the years
in the summer months. There is a lot of current at Pickwick, and it keeps the
water much cooler, and very well oxygenated, and this is key in catching big
smallmouth. The best places here are on the channel drops and offshore rock
piles. If you don’t know this area, it is best to hire a guide unless
you are planning on spending more than a few weeks there and enjoy the challenge
of trying to locate these areas yourself. It is usually very hot and humid
this time of year, and we would rather fish for them at night as we do the
largemouth here this time of year. Smallmouth move onto humps and roadbeds
looking for crawfish and a Yamamoto spider grub on a jighead is our best
lure at this time. Another good bait is the Terminator night bait, a single
Colorado
blade in black, and it works well in many areas at this time of year at night.
At night, we do catch some smallies shallow at times, but you are still better
concentrating your efforts in about six to fifteen feet of water.
FALL
By October, the lakes and rivers around here are about seventy to seventy-five
degrees, and the fish are suspending in the deeper water. After there are a
few nights where the temperatures start to really drop the water temperatures,
the small mouth start to become far more catchable. Long points that run out
into the river channel are perfect spots to use a crank bait to catch these
smallies-especially on the windy days. We also take good size smallmouth on
blade baits and spinnerbaits that are suspended on rock banks.
WINTER
When the water temperatures are about 52-56 degrees here, usually
about mid November, the smallmouth we have caught were always on
a point with a fast
taper into deeper water. If the smallmouth are in water deeper than fifteen
feet, we throw a blade bait or tailspinner, if they are shallower than that,
we throw the Yamamoto grub again. We always load these baits with a new product
called “Megastrike,” which is a revolutionary new advance in
scent technology.
When the water starts to drop below fifty degrees again, the
small mouth become a little more lethargic and start suspending
off points and sloping banks.
We use a hair jig then, or a drop-shot rig with a grub for these fish.
Sometimes when these tactics fail, (and they do when the
water temperatures drop below
forty degrees), we then reverse our tactics and try larger baits such as
a big jointed Rapala or similar type bait. We have even caught
them trolling
these bigger baits this time of year. Although the action is slow, many
times the fish are giant!
A BIG CHALLENGE
Locating and then catching big smallmouth is a real challenge. That is
why it is so much fun. Hopefully by reading some of these methods you have
gained
a better understanding of where these trophy fish go and what they are
looking for, and of course, this will hopefully get you the fish of a lifetime.
Remember,
get out early and late in the year and brave the elements, hit these prime
areas with the baits we described, and remember most of all, you are after
a completely different fish! “These are NOT Largemouth's!”
Steve vonBrandt
Delaware
Bass Fishing
Steve and Kurt
vonBrandt are tournament anglers as well as guides and video producers,
and have their own radio and TV shows on the Internet and Comcast
cable in the area. They are also Redman/BFL regional qualifiers,
and the 1998, 99, and 2001 Big Bass World Champs/De.Copyright
2003-04, All Rights Reserved. No part of
this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed,
stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any language
or computer language, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, magnetic, optical manual, or otherwise, except as
provided in the license agreement or by prior written permission
of Steve vonBrandt.
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