Spring Techniques

[Presco]

Every year, I head north to Canada for their walleye opener. In the last few years, the smallmouth population in this lake has exploded so my group always takes a day and fishes just smallies. While the water is generally still cold (low to mid 50's), we've always had good luck pitching cranks and flukes. However, this past year coming off a pretty cold winter and an earlier opener, the water temps ranged from 44 to 50 in most of the spots we visited. We had trouble finding fish where we'd always done well. I know smallies don't migrate far, so I know they are just sitting deep waiting for warmer water.

So, this year being another early opener, I'd love to get some thoughts on early spring techniques where the fish are suspended in deeper water or sitting off deep breaks and not willing to come up for cranks baits. Any help would be much appreciated.

[EBass]

I've never fished up there so take this with a grain of salt, but I'd look for the warmest shallow water then work out deeper from there. I take it you know where they spawn, so you're right they are not that far away, probably off the first break.

Small jig with crayfish trailer, 4" senko, jig and lizard, jig and curly tail grub would be my finesse baits for starters.

[Presco]

We've never been there for the spawn, buts its pretty obvious in most spots where its happening. Very shallow, rocky areas, and we've always fished just off those areas. In the good years, we've never had a problem. Last year was different and I'd love to try something new. I'll give your jig and trailer a try this year, see what happens.

Its sort of strange situation with what weather to hope for. Colder weather means later ice out and the walleye fishing is crazy, but it also means fewer smallies. Warmer weather means early ice out and we miss the big females, but smallie fishing is great. Good problem to have I guess.

[IRISHbaseball]

i dont know too much about smallies but tube jigs ussualy work well like 2 1/2 inch is good size in a brown or grey color.

[Bass Whacker]

jerk baits would probablly be the first thing I would try with long pauses if you think you paused long enough pause longer

[Larson15]

Texas rigged tubes and spinnerbaits are pretty hard to beat

[waterbound]

Leech under a bobber would probably work well. My dad and I were fishing walleyes in the BWCA early June this year and we couldn't keep the smallies off our bait!

[Superduty]

Like Bass Whacker said. Jerkbaits are tough to beat in cold water. You might be able to sit over the top of 'em with a dropshot rig if they won't come up and hit the jerkbait. Watch the weather while you are up there and don't be afraid to go shallow if you get some warm and calm sunny afternoons.

[DeBo101]

Many of the In-Fisherman smallmouth segments the last few seasons have been filmed on the shield early in the season. They pretty much only fish grubs, x-raps, and husky jerk-baits. I fish early season smallies during my south dakota fishing adventure and the top baits the last two years were x-raps, rogues, and husky jerk-baits. Suspenders seem to be the key in the cold water (40's main lake).

[RickyBobby]

I fish the Upper Peninsula Michigan in May every year and jerkbaits definitely catch the majority of the fish. Suspending jerkbaits do better than floaters, and red seemed to out fish every other color. Its the only time of year that I have success with that color. I'm talking bright bright red. Has anybody else had success with that color? Its pretty tough to find. I've got a few old thundersticks in that color but both Storm and Rapala have discontinued it. I think sebille and bandit still make it. When its a particularly cold spring, dead sticking or letting the bait hang motionless for long periods worked well.

[carpmanjake]

fly fishing hands down

[RK]

Hiya -

If they haven't moved up yet, drop shotting can work pretty well. So can small (3") tubes, 4" grubs, or hair jigs. Depth can really vary fom lake to lake but it seems like they sit right at the base of the rocks at the bottom of a break. Might be in 14 feet, might be in 24 - depends on the lake and the spot. But the zone where rock turns to sand or mud seems to be the key. It's a pretty small space, so something precise works well. Crankbaits just don't stay in the zone long enough. Later on they'll start to move up to the tops of the breaks and grubs and jerkbaits can work.

That having been said - some smallies move up a lot earlier than most guys think. I often scout new lakes just to learn spots right after ice out when the water's as clear as it gets. I've seen hundreds of smallies in shallow water while there's still ice chunks floating around. Don't look at spawning areas per se - this isn't a spawning movement. Look for nearby black-bottomed bays. They look like mud bays but they're most often sand bottomed with a thin layer of crud over the sand. You'll find isolated boulders here and there too. They're worth checking out with a suspending jerkbait. Sometimes the bigger fish move in really early, so it can be a low numbers, big fish kind of deal.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[TonkaBass]

That bright red is an awesome spring color... I think its because fish are all active with the spawn and fighting a lot and wearing bloody spots on their bodies... It seems to loose its magic once summer sets in...

[RickyBobby]

Tonka,

What bright red baits do you fish?? My stockpile of old thundersticks is getting low and like I mentioned, Storm and Rapala discontinued that color. Are you aware of other companies that make jerkbaits in bright red??

[TonkaBass]

I know lucky craft has a red craw color. I mostly use the red color on crankbaits... I do have some of the old red husky jerk-baits though, but no storms for me

[TonkaBass]

RickyBobby-

I saw this one just now in the bargain cave at the big c online... Looks like your color

it's a long A

[RickyBobby]

Yes, that's it.... thanks for the heads-up