Low and Clear Water Smallies?

[goodfortune]

I did some smallmouth fishing yesterday evening, using poppers, as well as crayfish and hellgrammite imitations. The stream I fished was very low and clear, with barely moving water.

I caught one smallie out of a deeper pool with a popper, but couldn't manage any others. It seems that alot of fish, especially the ones holding in knee-deep water or less, were spooked just by the fly hitting the water. I used deerhair poppers and lightly weighted flies to cut down on the disturbance, which didn't seem to help much. On the other hand, I don't think I fished any flies smaller than a #8, and used 1X tippet.

So, how do you guys change tactics for smallmouth in low, clear water? Do you use smaller flies? Longer leaders or lighter tippet? Anything else? Just looking for some ideas so I can change my approach next time around.

Thanks as always guys :-D

 

[David]

Glad you got at least one...
Smallies can get just as/ even more spooky than trout. Try the same tactics.
Fish from far upstream so the fly is the first thing they see.
Go smaller (tippet and fly size).
Try and find the deep spots and / or moving water where the fish feel more secure in their lie.
Put the sun at your back.
Use less weight and cast further upstream.

I find that when smallies are stationary in the shallows, they aren't going to be very active...maybe their just catchin' a tan...and get spooked easily.

 

[kevin07]

I dont fish for them much with a fly rod but i know when the water gets really low and clear they get very spooky and if you see them they see you. Deeper pools and long casts are your best bet for catching them. If you fish late evening they dont seem to spook as easily.

 

[troutbert]

You might try some terrestrials, such as beetles, or a small Letort cricket. That is often good for trout in lower water. Might work for smallmouth too.

In the recent edition of Mid-Atlantic Flyfishing Guide, there's an article by Bob Clouser about fishing for smallmouth in clear water. I just haven't read it yet. The magazine is available for free at many fly shops.

 

[j_man]

Fish those flies quick and keep the profile sparse. I fished yesterday and all white clouser was the ticket. Pausing did nothing. Those fish wanted it quick, they would appear out of no where. Small poppers were good the night before. But small #6 ones.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

So, how do you guys change tactics for smallmouth in low, clear water? Do you use smaller flies? Longer leaders or lighter tippet? Anything else? Just looking for some ideas so I can change my approach next time around.

No except for one thing.

I was out yesterday afternoon to evening fishing smallmouth in Lancaster County. I threw a size 4 brown rabbit fur and black marabou streamer. Just throw way past and to the shallow sides of the creek. Twitch slow at times and deep and faster at others. I do use a 3wt and 4x but i dont think you need to do that. Its just what I do.

The stream I fished is a limestoner, even if highly degraded, is loaded with smallmouth. Its a good time

 

[greenghost]

Try to fish for them early in the morning, evening or on a cloudy day.
Concentrate on the shady side of the stream. For me poppers work best in the morning and evening around dusk. Clousers and crayfish imitations are good searching patterns. Wear drab clothing. Avoid fast movements. Avoid false casting or keep it to a minimum. If you spook a bass remember its location and come back later on in the evening when the lack of light will be in your favor. I use a 8 to 9 feet leader for all my smallie fishing with a 5 or 8 lb tippet. In clear conditions, I might try smaller flies but generally, I size my flies to the stream being fished and the potential for larger bass. Good pop. of big bass, bigger flies 2 to 6. Other wise, 6 to 10. Also in murky water I'l upsize just to displace more water on the retrieve.

A tip with poppers: Do not make a couple of casts with a popper in one prime looking spot. Make at least a dozen casts. I'm convinced you can make a bass strike out of aggravation. It just happened to me a couple weeks ago on the Yough. I saw a nice bass holding along rock in a slough. I cast 6 or 7 times and he didn't budge. I was almost ready to tie on a crayfish pattern to bounce past him. Thought I'd give it one more shot and WHAM, for whatever reason, without hesitation he came up and exploded on it. I honestly think he just got mad at it. (If fish are capable of getting mad.)

 

[Fishidiot]

Clear water smallies can be tough. When faced with the sort of conditions you describe, I like to make long casts with poppers. I don't bother with light tippets and stick with 12lb test even in clear water. Using smallish poppers, you can get some "stand off" from the fish and temp 'em without getting close and spooking 'em. I think it's much harder to detect strikes with sub surface stuff from distance without a strike indicator. Bass laying in shallow water this time of year, while spooky, are highly catchable. They're in the shallows because the food is there and a well presented fly stands a good chance of getting bit. Once you see the bass swimming downstream towards you and then bolts, forget about 'em (at least for an hour or so). When creeks are low and clear, hunt bridges. The shadows cast by the bridge often have bass under them combined with what is often a log jam on the pilings....these are hotspots in summer. Usually what I'll do is throw the popper from as far out as I can. As I work closer to the bridge, if there's a piling in mid stream, I'll sneak up along the piling wall and cast around to the other side. Finally, if you don't get anything under the bridge, wade carefully up to the log jam and hop a streamer as close to it as you can. Often, the biggest bass is laid up under the cover and you can temp him out with a streamer fly (another reason for heavy tippets).
Finally, with the water as low as it is, the bass aren't likely to move much until later in the fall (probably mid Oct). If you've found a pool with bass, they should stay there for awhile.

 

[RLeep2]

Actually, these sorts of conditions are about my favorite settings to fish for stream bass. I really get a kick out of what is often basically sight fishing for these fish. The low water makes the fish queue up and you can often fish over a pile of bass in the same 200-300 foot run, often being able to spend literally hours without moving out of the pool/run.

I've yet to run into a smallmouth bass that was leader shy, at least so far as spooking them with too heavy a tippet. I fish 2X pretty much all the time. But I will lengthen out to say, 8,9, or even 10' of overall leader length, with a tippet that is in the 30-36 inch range. This seems to help with spooky fish. A 10' foot leader with even a modestly weighted fly isn't the easiest thing in the world to cast, but you can compensate with your stroke and learn to lay it out there with minimal disturbance and with a single backcast, which I also think is pretty important in these settings.

Unless it is early or late or pretty low light, I seldom fish poppers in these situations. although I'm sure they'd take their share of fish. What i do more often than not is plant myself within about 50 feet of where the cover indicates the fish will be (near instream rocks, short depressions with a little extra depth and shady banks) and I'll stand there and wait and watch the water.
Usually sooner than later, I'll start seeing the black tails of the fish as they cruise around. I try and use a long enough rod and have enough line off the reel that I can reach up to the 50 feet or so I need with a single backcast and hence a minimum of motion on my part. Otherwise, I pretty much stand still. I use a lot of lightly weighted simple fur leeches in all black or dark brown or a Murray hellgrammite, all usually in a 3XL size #6. In these low water situations, I seldom use anything I have to actively work or strip like a Clouser or one of the 350 different crayfish patterns. I'm trying to be still and not spook fish. I flip it the fly out near the fish and then I walk the fly very slowly back towards me by slowly lifting the rod. If you aren't making a big commotion when you cast and particularly if you've been standing there relatively motionless for a couple of minutes, you'll find that half or more of the takes will come on the drop. The fly will hit the water and the fish will have it. The balance of the takes will come pretty much in the first third of the retrieve. Occasionally, a fish will follow it a long ways and take then, but this has been the exception, for me at least. So, if I don't have a take within, say, the first 15 seconds that I'm drawing the fly back towards me, I'll move it along more rapidly until I have it at a point where I can put it back out with a single flip and start the process over again. But smooth and as silent as possible is the key. No splashing with the line when you flip it over. Single motion, quick drop.

These can be spooky fish, but you can out wait them by being still and patient and minimizing the disturbance of your presence.

I really enjoy it. It's kinda like being a heron...

 

[marriemb]

Night time is better in such cases may be using a floating lure will help

 

[JeffK]

Low water smallies are tough, and the wait around approach works on my local stream. However, it involves a lot of time for not many fish. Upside is that you can learn water well for when conditions improve. I think my style is pretty much the same as Rleep2.

I walk around slowly on the bank and watch for fish. Near me they cruise the channel and bust the shallows occassionally for minnows. First step is watching so you get some idea of when and where the fish feed in the shallows. Then wait at the hot spot for something to happen. My experience is if the smallies are just cruising the channel they are ultra spooky and hard to hook. However, when they bust the shallows and are chasing minnows most streamers adequately placed will draw a strike. The big problem with this strategy is it involves plenty of time watching and waiting. I didn't have the patience for this until I was older than 55; your experience may be different.

A slight variant of this is to watch what rocks the fish hang under and then drop some kind of nymph or soft streamer right in front of their hideout. Just covering water can spook clear water fish - saving your casts for known lies often works better for me. Once again this approach involves more watching than casting.

I haven't found bass to be leader shy either. After going 6x or even smaller for summer trout it is a relief to use tippets you can horse a log in with.

My favorite time for poppers is post spawn in June when the fish are still shallow and hungry. I do OK with sunnies on poppers in late summer, but do better with smallies subsurface. That said I do carry a blue damsel fly with me because some days they are chasing damsels and nothing is better than dry fly action.