No Smallies ???

[BucktailJiger]

No Smallmouth , any ideas ? Been fishing the tail waters below the dam for 17 + years , and have never pulled or seen anyone else pull one out . The conditions seem perfect , rocks , sand , rock piles plenty of forage craw dads , shad , minnows and leech's . Plenty of breaks from the main channel as well as deep holes back flow current as well . But no Smallmouth . Go down river 7 miles and there is a old wagon crossing dating back to the 1800's that has survived the years of the rivers fury and you will find them . Just don't understand it . Can go up on the main lake and find them in various areas . Makes no sence to me . But as for other species Walleye , Crappie , Perch , Wipers , White Bass , Northern Pike and once in a great while a Musky will be caught in the tail waters . Any thoughts ?

 

[Fatman]

Never seen many smallies below dams, alot of places back home there were big catfish and they eat a smallmouth. Probably easier pickings further down and they don't have to fight with any other species over food. Just my guess.

 

[SaltyBuckster]

Just for grins and giggles try an inline spinner.Like a Mepps #2 Aglia with a silver blade.

 

[BucktailJiger]

I hate to think how many dollars worth of Mepps I've fed the rocks .

 

[AtticaFish]

If they are above and below (downriver) the dam, they are there too...... somewhere.

I have fished both low head dams and overflow discharges from dams and found smallmouth close by. Have caught more fish than i care to even guess from the white water and froth right at the foot of the dam. If there is a seam in the current where the moving water hits a pool area and creates a small eddy...... that would be one of my choice spots to hit with a big, heavy, fat, leggy, buggy, crabby, dumb looking jig that will contact bottom in that eddy. If no visible seams or eddy, chuck right into the froth where the concrete ends. They will hold in other areas but they will stack up just waiting for dis-oriented creatures that get washed over/thru the dam. With all those other predator species in the rivershed though, there may be a picking order for the best seat at the bar.

Can you spot any areas that have bigger boulders rather than cobble, gravel or sediment? Sometimes a single boulder will hold several good size fish if it is big enough.

Logs on the shoreline are another hotspot if the flow is shallow.

 

[smalljaw]

I will tell why you aren't pulling smallies from an area that should be full of them. It is the amount of forage along with cross currents which creates multiple eddies that act as waiters and waitresses bringing food right to the fish. I've fished areas like that and unless the current sweeps your offering right under their nose it won't get bit. The fish in those ares have no need to chase food, they simply hold in a spot and eventually it comes to them and sooner or later more fish will move in because of prime conditions and when it happens it will create competition for food but only for a brief time until the new fish move out leaving the resident fish to their haunts. I fish a place like that and you can fish that area 9 days straight without a bite and on the 10th day it will be lights out and awesome fishing for a few hours and then nothing again and the above scenario is the conclusion I came up with to explain why it is like that.

 

[JUNGLEJIM1]

I catch smallies right below dams,usually in seams along the eddies. Usually I catch them fishing for other species but when I fish specifically for them I don't catch many. Sounds like they should be somewhere around there.

 

[JSC]

Could it be that they hit only certain levels .. example when water starts to recede or fall I like to look for those funnel places .. like the mouth of Sloughs and etc .. I would consider the largest flow place to be the funnel during the right conditions/levels.

Just a thought

 

[Pup]

Have any spotted bass in the area?

 

[New River Rat]

Crappiejgr

Is it a hydro dam? Bottom release?