80dF in November?

[hookup]

So, it's summer time temps in November and what is a man suppose to do. Got the kayaks out and did a float. Due to the time change, we left an hour earlier than normal so that we don't have to float in the dark.

Day started out nice and just got nicer. No photoshop here - just God's great paintbrush at work



Water's still as low as can be.



Since push water seemed to be the ticket you gotta work each piece of cover or structure



They weren't as scattered as they were last week but bunched up in spots. Where we found one fish we found five.

Pretty much harassed the fish all day





Got off and a jet was about to launch. Good luck! Low water in the mid-Atlantic rivers too

 

[Hawnjigs]

Nice structure, clean water, unspoiled wilderness.

Were the fish running smaller than previously?

What were they biting ?

 

[hookup]

The river is recovering from pollution and farms dumping their chicken & livestock waste into the rivers. The regulators stepped in about 10 years ago and the results are showing.. No panfish to speak of yet

Water's still very low. Fish are concentrated in area's with deep pools. Bass, catfish & carp. Hard to get a big one when they are all freaking each other out. Fish were actively feeding so the bite was good.

Think about it. If all of a sudden your living space is decreased by 50% and you still live with all the same people and have all of your stuff, wouldn't you freak out a bit in the smaller space?

We were throwing J-n-Ps,stixbaits, flukes, and small swimbaits on either very light jigs or no-weight hooks. To much weigh and you'd get snagged. Usually the bite is soft this time of the year, but there was no mistaking the bite. Fish exploded on the baits.

 

[Hawnjigs]

And, overpopulation of smaller fish ?

How long were your "small swimbaits" ?

 

[hookup]

Pigs are there. I can see them. Hooked one today & got a heartbreak.

Smallest swimbaits were 2.5". I don't fish them that small because I want to cull the dinks. Still of the school of bigger baits bigger fish. I fished with 3.5" to 4"

 

[Hawnjigs]

Over here bigger smallies tend to hang together in packs, same out your way? This ain't Lake Erie, so "bigger" = 14 - 16", and 17 - 18" are rare monsters.

Can't seem to find the biguns this year, maybe cuz wallys are fished out of the canals and smallies are actually esteemed table fare in NE. Sounds like the chunk smallies are scarce in your rivers?

Hooks size matters too, for trout #2 pinned with plastic gets hit & missed often by dinks (under 12"), #6 short ties stick everything including bumping state record size.

 

[hookup]

I've seen big smallies hanging in pack but most tend to be loners on the rivers I fish. They own the hole.

Only exception is when the water is this low, then they all hang in the same hole.

The chuck smallies are there just freaked out by the low water. Also the small flows I fish don't normally have schools of big fish hanging out together. They're scattered.