Small Mouth Timing

[gene goss]

Most lakes at 3000 ft. have a population of Small Mouth and right now its spawning time for them, look for them off rocky points, creek channels, and around rocky structure. I used a intermediate line with a size 8 marabou streamer 3 inches long that had 5 colors in it.
In 4 hours of fishing i caught over 20 Small Mouth up to 15 inches, you need to drive around the lake and look for a good place to fish, then i would launch my float tube and check it out.....if you don't hook-up in 15 minutes its time to move to a new spot.....if you keep looking you will find them.

[jbird]

Love it!!!

[peterkoistinen]

Gene,

that's a good day

which lake were you fishing?

Pete

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Timing for Small Mouth Black Bass in moving water is a little later in mid-summer and early fall after the water comes down some, clears and warms up. This is not a hard fast rule but it is from talking with serious moving water SMB chasers.

Fly fishers seem to use sink tips or full sinking lines for the lake fishing for spring SMB.

Woolly Buggers and Clousers seem to be popular pattern for these fish.


Many years ago old friends Chuck Bobby and Bill Lynch use to use medium size poppers for SMB in the spring in Lake Berryessa.


Spring in lakes and reservoirs is the big deal for still water SMB because they are spawning. This is valley reservoir time for all bass.

Over the years I have met many who do this spring reservoir fishing or use to for years.....Pete Peterson, Dave Hudson, Gary Hinman, Chuck Campana, Steve Ohrwall, Andy Guibord are just some that I have gotten good feedback from over the years.

I have also heard that the Spotted Bass are displacing the SMB in some Nor Cal reservoirs, like Shasta Lake for instance.

Places for very big SMB:

http://peteheley.com/544/

.

[SHigSpeed]

Gene,

that's a good day

which lake were you fishing?

Pete

Hmm... Jenkinson? Prosser? Collins? Boca? Bullards? Clementine?

heh...

_SHig

[gene goss]

I was fishing Jenkinson Lake.....Sly Park
SHig ..... all those lakes have Small Mouth.
Here's a few more lake that have Small Mouth.... Lake of Pines, Scotts Flat Res., Rollins Res., Union Valley Res., Lake Wildwood, Lower Bear River Res., Lake Almanor, Stampede Res.....etc.
With the drought conditions we are having most of these lake are low, its a new ball game for each lake where the Small Mouth will spawn.

[JAWallace]

Kiene has a Chub imitation that got about half the smallies yesterday at Sly Park. Also got some on an olive cone head zonker and poppers. Best fish was about 2#, the rest were smaller, but a fabulous day in a beautiful setting. The fly take was visible for almost all of them too, a cool bonus.