Small local streams and tribs

[goodeyesniper]

I am 15 and alot of times i have my mom drop me off at local streams and i walk for miles from sun up do sun down and throw spinners and little grubs with spin fishing gear and some crank baits and catch sunnies and rock fish all day. Maybe a LM or SM bass every few trips well under 10". Usually 3" or so. really small. i think part of the problem is i am just using an UL and trying for the sunnies and rock bass but if there are smaller bass there and sunnies are there usually bigger SM and LM bass there? Would they be there from late feb all the way through summer till it starts to get cold again? Also what flies should I use for waters like that. I want to try fly fishing for them but I heard and I am sure I will have a tremendous lower catch rate then if i would use spinners. I want to catch a SM at least 12" this summer on one of these small creeks and streams. Weather it be on a fly rod or spin tackle. So basically I want to know if there are sunnies and baby small mouth and LM bass are the bigger one's in that water to? And what flies should I use for them?
Just for more info on the streams they never dry up and are always deep in spots all year. And most of them get stocked with trout but die because of how hot they get. And they all hold big carp. Sorry for the long post and any info will help. Thanks alot
Kyle

 

[gfen]

I don't know about the small streams and tribs, but I do know that you can find largemouth all day long in the Lehigh canal, and that the Lehigh and Delaware river hold populations of smallmouth.

The canal will also do you for pickerel and cats.

As for the fish, maybe not. If there's too many fish in a given spot, the crowding for food will stunt the growth, this is why you might find a pond loaded with wee little gills, but nothing larger: Nothing has reached apex predator to keep the gill population in check, so it runs amok until they starve themselves out. "Stock" a couple of apex predators in there (I've been close to playing bucket biologist on a couple of retention ponds I know), though, and they'll have a field day on the littliest fish increasing the size of the ones who remain as they no longer crowd for food.

I know the canal from Bedlam to Freemansburg ran dry this year. Dunno about anywhere else, as its outside my 15 mile comfort zone.

 

[goodeyesniper]

Okay! Thanks. The streams I am talking about are the Perkiomen, the Neshaminy, and a few others that i can't seem to remember

 

[gfen]

I was labouring under the assumption you were up in Bedlam, but I do not know why.

 

[fordman]

I'm not familiar with the streams your fishing and can only offer some advise for spinning gear as I'm totally new to FFing.
I like to use the smaller jointed Rapalas (2"-3 1/2").I remove the treble hooks and replace with a single.Look for the nastiest structure on the stream,log jams,under water roots,rock piles etc.
Most times I'll "flip" the lure rather than cast it.Present the lure a delicate as possible.Let it sit for a few seconds(3-10),keeping the rod tip low,give a quick short jerk-much like you would a popper.
Create us much surface noise/disturbance as you can.This can draw some violent strikes,you'll be suprised how many 5-6" gills and SM will hit a 3" lure.But be ready when Ol' grandad comes outta hiding!!

 

[Fishidiot]

Kyle,
Smallmouth bass in small streams are almost entirely seasonal, esp the bigger fish you seek. I fish a lot for bass in little creeks but rarely bother doing it much before about May 15th. The best months are July to Sept. Usually by first frost in the fall, the bass will disappear. Some small ones will winter over but the bigger fish migrate downstream. Once you find a pool that has bass in your favorite creek, it will usually have them year after year. Small stream bass are easy to catch and - in my opinion - vulnerable to overharvest. A 12" small stream smallmouth is actually quite an old fish and it takes several years of growth to reach that size. An 18" creek bass is probably 8-11 years of age. A lot of people don't realize how slow growers these fish are and when they catch a "keeper" it goes on the stringer. I'm not against fish harvest, but sometimes when other fishermen discover a pool with bass, many of the fish are gone by end of summer. With some practice, you should be able to catch SMBs almost as well with a fly rod as spin gear. The love poppers and streamers.

 

[goodeyesniper]

Thanks fishidiot. Exactly the info i was looking for. Yeah I don't understand keeping bass either. If your starving and have no money thats one thing but as far as I know bass don't taste good? Could be wrong but thats what I heard from everyone that heard it. Don't want to make this thread that argument im just saying. God for bid if I catch a 5 lb small mouth in a small creek im most likely gonna keep it and get it mounted but thats a different story. So you think there are bigger bass in the creeks then? I know there are smalller bass like i said and sunnies but as i said i never really "tried" for a big one. And what kind of poppers and streamers? I have some wooly buggers but no poppers

 

[Fishidiot]

You can find bigger bass in creeks but - of course - big is relative. For most of the small creeks I fish, 12" is pretty big. In the many years I've fished small creeks for bass, I don't think I've caught an SMB bigger than about 16 or 17 inches although I have seen bigger ones. I do get a fair number of 15" fish in a typical year. Medium sized rivers will have bigger fish obviously but when I refer to small creeks we're talking trout streams, usually only 10-30' wide. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd estimate that of the total population of SMBs in the small creeks I like to fish... probably 95% of the SMBs are under 12 inches.

Small creeks are great fun but it isn't a big fish game.

Any poppers work, keep 'em on the smaller side and you'll improve your hookup ratio. You can go larger with Wooly Buggers. Colors don't matter.

 

[goodeyesniper]

Okay thanks! I have a credit to cabelas. Any brand size or color you would recomend to start out with? I have alot of wooly buggers. there not huge though

 

[Fishidiot]

With regards to Wooly Buggers, you can go fairly large but if you have small ones they'll work too (and catch some redbreast sunnies as well). If you're looking to pick colors for WBs or similar streamer flies, go with olive or brown. Creek bass feed very heavily on crayfish in summer along with some aquatic insects and they are usually brown/rust color or olive. For poppers, keep 'em simple. No need to buy the fancy (and expensive) deer hair bugs. Instead look for poppers with a head about the size of your fingernail and with a tail maybe an inch to 1.5" - pretty small. Don't worry about rubber legs and other cosmetic junk. It won't make any difference. Light colors like white or yellow are staples. Creek bass aren't picky. They'll hit big poppers but since most of the fish will be small, they will miss the hook with big poppers. The reason this doesn't happen with Wooly Buggers is because you're fishing the WB on the bottom and bass will actually attack bottom flies more deliberately and will seek to suck the prey in headfirst so you can still stick 'em with the hook even if the fly has a long tail.

 

[sandfly]

the creeks you mention fish well with buggers ( white, olive,brown), crawfish patterns (olive clouser ), and small olive/white minnow patterns. keep them on the small side for the neshaminy, tohickon etc. go to a bucks county T.U. meeting and talk to Lou or Henry. they can help a lot.

 

[goodeyesniper]

Sweet! Thanks everyone!!! I got everything I needed too know!!! Thanks alot! I love this site

 

[sholgate]

If you don't mind me adding ...

small Clousers
Old school streamers like Micky Finns

I like white, gray, and reds too.

 

[JakesLeakyWaders]

Exploring small streams is fun. I fish smaller tribs probably as much as I fish large streams. I even went out and bought an ultralight two weight fly rod finally, because I find myself driving down the road looking for any little trickle of water I can gain access to.

I like to fish those little brooks that run through a small town or a park just anywhere other people pass by without even noticing. I lean over bridges looking into the water. I'll even get out and walk a length of small stream out of curiosity even if I don't have my rod.

Some of those smaller streams, a rapala is just too much and will spook a number of fish when you cast it. Many times a small popper landing on the surface is about all the fish will put up with and any more of a disturbance will send fish scattering. Like you, I started out on small streams with an ultralight spin rod, heck I still have one.

As Fishidiot said, a Wooley bugger in green or brown is a great choice and you can easily cast them with your little spin rod using the bow and arrow technique. A weighted beadhead bugger can be slung a good 30 ft. or more using the bow method with a spin rod. You just have to get the timing down with a spin rod. Stick a small split shot on there and your good to go.

 

[trevor]

Haha I'm in the same position as you. I'm 16 and wade fish those kind of little streams in the summer and love it. My "secret weapon" is the Trout Slayer by Leland's Lures. Amazing lure, and for me much more effective than anything else (including Mepps). The biggest SM I have caught was around 13 inches, and that was in Mill Creek, Lancaster PA. A five minute drive! And it was on the fly, to top it all off. But the Trout Slayers work on Rock Bass, Smallmouth, Sunnies, Chubs, and my personal favorite: big carp! Do yourself a favor and fish for some carp. Search "carp on the fly" and look at some of the fly fishing carp websites. Even thought they are fly fishing, the same techniques apply for Trout Slayers on ul. Good luck!

 

[goodeyesniper]

Thanks JakesLeakyWader! I guess i worded my post wrong but I have a fly rod i was just woundering what to use with my fly rod! I willl be throwing buggers on my fly rod!!! Thanks everyone

 

[Love2fish]

Not sure what area of the Neshaminy your fishing but around Tyler State park and Playwicki Park I've done very well with all species with small yellow foam beatles, Wooly Buggers in olive brown and black, small crayfish, poppers, sneaky petes, and some colorful creations that look like Trout Magnets. Most SMB are not big to most people but I have gotten a few pushing 3 lbs. Have fun.

 

[KeithS]

Pick up a few Muddler Minnows. I seem to get most of my hit in the Perk on those. Look for sizes 6 through 10. You'll get fish 3 " up to 12", or so I've experienced.

 

[iceyguides]

good eye, if you're feeling really ambitous you could try tying a small streamer off the bend of your popper, not unlike what trouters call a "dry dropper". I would go with a small lightweight wooly bugger. Marabou works great when fished slowly.