Help me if you can! I live in the Upstate of S.C. and would like to try my hand at Small Mouth fishing. I know very little about them,as I mainly fish for trout, crappie, and lg mouth bass. Is this the right time of year for them and does anyone know of a place I can go between Ashville, Brevard, and Shelby. The reason for the narrow geographical area is time and opportunity. I can either wade fish, or use my SOT, however, I must be able to paddle back to the put in. Please be detailed with directions if Ya got um! Thanks for your responses!
river smallies
Have you tried www.riversmallies.com ? A great source of information. Smallmouth fishing out there should still be pretty good, but I have no first hand knowledge. Any clear, flowing river with some deeper holes should hold smallies. I would try fishing deep-running crawfish crankbaits or senkos.
The smallmouth bass
In our neck of the woods the water is too cold for the smalies to be very active. I’ve never caught any in water that was colder than 58 deg F. They may act differently in N.C. but I doubt it.
Don’t think you will find river smallies
in that area. The two possibilities are the lakes around you, Jocassie is probably the best choice, or some of the rivers and creeks at lower elevations.
rickers…I beg to differ…
– Last Updated: Nov-27-07 8:24 PM EST –
The larger Smallmouth will remain actively feeding all year round down to water temps approaching 35 degrees. I have caught smallmouth in February with ice on my line guides.
The bigger smallmouth MUST eat at least once a day once they get over about 17-18 inches long. The trick is to find them and then entice them to bite. You need deep water with slow current, good structure and features and being close to shallower, faster current... and you need to fish s-l-o-w-l-y. I prefer tubes and jig and pigs below 50 degree water. Get it to the bottom and let it sit. You need to resist the urge to jerk, bump, creep, or wiggle the bait. The undulating legs on a tube or J&P is enough motion to attract their attention. It needs to sit still for a minimum of 5 minutes at the time. Longer if you can stand it. If you move your bait at all after that time..move it only about 6 inches max..and again...VERY s-l-o-w-l-y. My largest fish have all come out of sub-45 degree water in the winter months.
You may fish all day for a single bite...but when it comes, and you get a hook-up...chances are that fish is going to be 18 inches or better.
i agree with drr,
i have caught smallies with ice on my guides also. you won’t get many bites , but the majority will be bigguns…mike
Well hey there Yakbow!
Good to see ya on here Bud.
We need to get some ice hanging off our ‘toons’ this winter.
Our river small mouths
don’t get very large and I can’t even figure out where they are hanging out when the water is cold. In the summer they’re everywhere and in the winter they seem to frigging disappear ! All I can catch in the winter is trout, pike and perch through the ice on lakes. I also never see anyone fishing the rivers near me in the winter for some reason ! It’s only 30 deg right now maybe I’ll go give it a try today but I’m a little doubtful I’ll catch anything, I only seem to get lucky while ice fishing or fishing from my boat in the other seasons.