Where have all the smallmouth gone?



A fightin' Susquehanna smallmouth.

It has been a rough year on the Potomac River as well as the Susquehanna.  I've mentioned it before recapping trips on the Potomac, where I have caught two fish all year.  On the Susquehanna, fishing has been a little better, but I know from reports on a smallmouth fishing forum, others have been struggling.

I'm still relatively new to river smallmouth fishing, so I can only guess as to what has been causing the poor fishing.  Rain for most of the ideal fishing months LAST YEAR caused major changes.  At least that's my best guess.  Fish moved to spots they aren't usually found in or they're just not biting.  I can't believe they just vanished.

On Monday, a study was released on the assessment of smallmouth bass in the area -- the Susquehanna, Potomac and Shenandoah rivers. 

"Anglers, fishing guides and fisheries biologists all have noticed a precipitous decline in the number of smallmouth bass inhabiting our Mid-Atlantic rivers over the past few years. Where have these fish gone and is this just a naturally occurring cycle or an indication that something is amiss in the water itself?"

Further assessment from the report, poor spawning rates and unstable weather are among the factors over the last several years to have impacted smallmouth bass numbers.  One exceptional spawn occurred in 2014, but other than that, it has been fairly bleak.


Although it wasn't a heavy rain, river level went up more
than a 1-1/2 feet but was down to normal in about 24 hours
a few days ago on a smaller Maryland river.

That being said, I haven't had any dropoff on the other "P" rivers in Maryland. I've still caught fish at similar rates from previous years (an average of about one smallmouth bass per hour). While rains certainly affect these waters, they don't have sustained weeks-long high-water periods.  River levels are usually back to normal or close to it after two or three days.

Last month, Karen and I had a trip booked with Jason Shay of Susquehanna Smallmouth Solutions.  The day before, Jason texted me asking if we wanted to reschedule since the guided trip he had that day was going really slow.  Only a couple fish by 11 a.m.  Since the weather was also going to be sunny and hot, we decided to push it back a month.

Which leads up to last Saturday (Oct. 12) and the re-booked trip with Jason.  We launched from the Fort Hunter ramp with cloudy skies.  The forecast called for the sun to break through later on, but it didn't really happen.



Jason untangles one of Karen's fish from the net.

After motoring away from the ramp, we weren't getting much early on until we noticed fish activity around a grassy island.  The water was really shallow on the edges, and you could sometimes see dorsal fins knifing through the water with baitfish jumping out of the water ahead of the bigger fish.  Jason took the boat over and told us to cast if we saw feeding fish.  Usually, the fish were just out of casting range (go figure), and by the time we got in position, activity had died off.  If one of us happened to plop a lure in the right spot at the right time, a fish hit.

Karen and Jason were using Whopper Ploppers, and I had a Rapala X-Rap Prop.  The latter a little longer but skinnier, and it had a propeller on either end. Despite having two props, it doesn't churn across the water like a Whopper Plopper. I caught one fish, and they each caught a couple at least.  But both lures had equal interest with some missed hookups.



My first fish of the day on the Rapala X-Rap Prop.

We basically did three or four loops around the grassy knoll chasing fish that were chasing baitfish.  The fish usually stopped feeding as soon as the boat was positioned within casting distance, but everybody caught fish and had several hookups and topwater attacks.

We moved upriver and didn't have much luck, then moved back down to the grassy knoll, and didn't have any luck at all.  It was like the fish checked out.

We moved upriver just past the Juniata confluence and floated down tossing spinnerbaits at underwater ledges and rock formations.  This seemed to entice the most interest from the smallmouth.  I caught two fish and lost three that were hooked up.  One of them, I did all the right things keeping the rod low to try and prevent the fish from jumping.  About 10 feet from the boat, its nose protruded from the water, and the spinnerbait came flying loose.

We called it quits at about 1 p.m.

I might fish some of the little Maryland rivers before winter comes in.  The latest fishing report from the Maryland DNR says walleye are starting to bite in the Upper Potomac, so maybe there's that.  As far as smallmouth fishing on the Potomac and Susquehanna, like Nebraska Cornhusker football, it may be better luck next year.

Topwater frenzy



Topwater river smallmouth caught on a 1960s
Mitchell 300 reel.

I haven't fished in the area since Sept. 1, so I went out this morning mainly for casting practice since Karen and I are fishing on Saturday with Susquehanna Smallmouth Solutions.  Maybe I could catch something, too, but I didn't know what to expect because temps have dipped down into the 70s, and the rain has been infrequent for the last two months.

The river was the lowest and clearest it has been all year -- the bottom was visible in almost every section.  The water wasn't crystal clear, though.  With the rocks and gravel, they created shadows that made it difficult to target and track fish.

With the water level and overcast skies, I started with a Heddon Zara Puppy, and the small topwater lure produced immediate interest.  Unfortunately, none of the fish could get hooked from the mix of "real" smallmouth strikes and passive sunfish slurps.

On my other rod was a Reaction Innovations Little Dipper, and I cast the swimbait in spots where the topwater lure was getting bites.  And it was like casting crickets. Not crickets as in live bait, but crickets as in silence from the fish. While I saw a few sunfish following the lure, the fish weren't actually biting.  Weird since the Little Dipper had been my go-to lure this year, and the topwater bite has been infrequent.

In another pool, I finally hooked a smallmouth, but for some reason, the drag on the reel was set really loose. With the drag squealing, it sounded like I had a tarpon on the line.  As far as I know, there are no tarpon in Maryland.

I paused to tighten the drag, the fish seemed to sense the lack of tension, jumped, and got off the hook.  Reely weird since I have drag set tight on all my reels because I'm not expecting an epic fight from a monster fish

The little largemouth bass.  Sorry it looks like the
fish was captured on The Grassy Knoll.

Anyway, more of the same in this section -- the fish lurked below the surface with hits on the Zara Puppy but didn't feel the need to bite the Little Dipper.

Since the attacks on the Zara Puppy were coming after pauses, I changed the lure on the other rod from a Little Dipper to a Z-Man Finesse TRD.  I figured pausing the worm on the bottom might trigger bites versus the steady swimbait retrieve.

Sure enough, the first cast with the Z-Man worm enticed a little largemouth bass to make a beeline to scoop the lure resting on the bottom.  I have never caught a largemouth bigger than 11 inches in this river, and this one was no different.  It was maybe 10 inches if it was lucky.

But other than that one largemouth, no other fish were interested in the bottom-bouncing Z-Man worm.

Zara Puppy snagged in a tree last month, recovered today.

When I fished here last month, I hooked a Zara Puppy in a tree, couldn't free the lure, and had to break the fishing line.  In between casts today, I started looking for the lure, and sure enough, it was still snagged in the same branch.  Because of the water clarity, I saw a larger rock just below the surface and thought, "You know, maybe I could reach the lure."

I waded down, reached up, used a fishing rod to pull the branch down, and easily plucked the lure free.  If you notice in the picture to the right, it doesn't have a treble hook on the back.  I've been removing rear trebles on most lures because they are more of a nuisance.  Almost every smallmouth bass gets the front treble hook in their lip, and the rear treble flops around (fun when trying to unhook a squirming fish) or sometimes hooks the fish on their body.  Or when catching a sunfish or fallfish, they almost always bite the rear treble hook, making it a pain to remove it from their little fish mouths.

On to another spot, and again the Zara Puppy (the one I brought with me, not the one I recovered from the tree branch) had the fish breaking the surface to try and snatch the lure.  Finally, a smallmouth bass persisted, going after the lure three times before getting the treble hook (barely) in the corner of its jaw.

After that fish, the bite completely dried up.  I think with the shallow water and the clarity, fish were easily spooked.

Fallen leaves weren't much of an issue, but I suspect in a week or so, getting leaves snagged will be more of a problem.