As the leaves start to turn colors and fall, and the temperatures drop, river smallmouth bass go somewhere. I'm not sure where, but they can't be found for the most part in their usual warm-weather spots. Some say they find deep holes to chillax during the cold weather, some say they migrate somewhere else. If they can be found, it usually takes a slow, slow presentation to entice a bite.
I don't think the weather is there quite yet, but it sure feels close. A couple weeks ago, I fished the Little Patuxent River and didn't catch a thing. Had a quite a few bites and even had a nice 12-incher hooked up, but none of those fish found the shore.
Today it was really similar on the Middle Patuxent. I would see a fish grab a lure, take off with it, but then the lure came out right away when setting the hook.
But unlike two weeks ago when I got skunked, I managed to catch something. The first fish was a failfish on a Reaction Innovations Little Dipper. Then I moved upriver to a spot where I always have some kind of action, and it was more of the same this time. Three cookie-cutter smallmouth and a redbreast sunfish, and a lot of bites and follows.
This was one of those weird situations where I cast upriver and worked the lures down -- the Little Dipper and also a Z-Man TRD Finesse Worm -- and didn't get anything. Then I moved to a sandbar and cast straight across the river to the same area and caught the fish. It's interesting how using the same lures but casting them at a different angle can sometimes entice a bite.
The water as clear here, too, and I counted almost 10 fish resting on the bottom at one point secluding themselves away from the current. Most looked like smallmouth bass but I think a couple were failfish. There was also a nice smallmouth (for the Middle Patuxent -- probably 14 inches) in the mix, but it didn't sniff at any lure.
Maybe I'll make a couple more trips to the Upper Potomac, but it feels like things are winding down for the little rivers near my house.
I don't think the weather is there quite yet, but it sure feels close. A couple weeks ago, I fished the Little Patuxent River and didn't catch a thing. Had a quite a few bites and even had a nice 12-incher hooked up, but none of those fish found the shore.
Today it was really similar on the Middle Patuxent. I would see a fish grab a lure, take off with it, but then the lure came out right away when setting the hook.
But unlike two weeks ago when I got skunked, I managed to catch something. The first fish was a failfish on a Reaction Innovations Little Dipper. Then I moved upriver to a spot where I always have some kind of action, and it was more of the same this time. Three cookie-cutter smallmouth and a redbreast sunfish, and a lot of bites and follows.
This was one of those weird situations where I cast upriver and worked the lures down -- the Little Dipper and also a Z-Man TRD Finesse Worm -- and didn't get anything. Then I moved to a sandbar and cast straight across the river to the same area and caught the fish. It's interesting how using the same lures but casting them at a different angle can sometimes entice a bite.
The water as clear here, too, and I counted almost 10 fish resting on the bottom at one point secluding themselves away from the current. Most looked like smallmouth bass but I think a couple were failfish. There was also a nice smallmouth (for the Middle Patuxent -- probably 14 inches) in the mix, but it didn't sniff at any lure.
Maybe I'll make a couple more trips to the Upper Potomac, but it feels like things are winding down for the little rivers near my house.
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