by Darl Black photos by the author

www.fish.state.pa.us Pennsylvania Angler & Boater • November-December 2004 21 “I bet you a cup of coffee and a piece of pie

“You’re on!” Replied Our planned ramp departure coin- Nowadays, knowledgeable anglers buddy Kneal Wiegel, a second- cided with the mid-morning bite. We understand that bass continue to eat as generation Allegheny River rat and anchored within an easy cast of a water temperatures drop, although the owner of a local boat dealership. “You breakline where smallies had been mov- frequency and amount of food intake lure me out on the river in December ing twice a day to eat. I explained to my lessens. However, with water tem- to fish smallmouths when everyone boat mates where to place casts so that peratures in the mid-30s, the point of knows only walleyes bite in water this either their live bait or jigs would drift diminishing returns has likely been cold. Then, instead of rigging one of into the pocket. While Kneal scooped a reached: The effort expended to catch these excellent river chubs that I ‘bor- red-tail chub from the bait bucket and a single smallmouth may not be rowed’ from my brother’s bait box, you my wife dosed her tube jig with garlic worth it. insist on fishing an artificial lure and scent, I was already firing a cast to the Furthermore, river bass change loca- claim it’s going to outfish live bait. current break that brushed a steep tions in the late fall, moving from shal- That’s being a little cocky, or crazy. Let dropoff on a submerged gravel bar. lower and stronger current-flow areas me say this…I like my coffee black and My scented stickworm sank slowly to relatively deeper and slower current- I want a scoop of vanilla ice cream on and drifted into the pocket. I simply let flow areas. In December, it is unlikely that slice of warm Dutch apple.” it rest on the bottom without imparting you will catch bass in the areas that I hadn’t intended to sound arrogant, any action. I began to count quietly to produced through the summer. For although I will concede to being a bit myself. At “one-thousand five” I felt a some bass, the location change may be crazy and at times a touch competitive slight tick and the line began to move. I a hundred yards, but for others the when it comes to fishing. Nor am I a responded with a sweeping hookset, and change may be measured in miles. gambler. But making a friendly wager the first smallmouth of the day immedi- for dessert on this day was a sure thing. ately went airborne—even though the To catch a During recent weeks, I had encoun- water temperature was in the low 40s. chilled smallmouth tered smallies stacked in apparent Got to love those river smallies! First, you don’t catch smallmouths wintering holes on the Allegheny, and in the late fall or early winter by staying they were feeding on a predictable Cold-water adjustments home or going Christmas shopping. schedule. The weather and water con- When I was a youngster just getting You have to get your line wet, which ditions had remained stable, and I was into fishing, a local river told means you are probably going to get optimistic that we were going to catch me that smallmouths could not be cold fingers and rosy cheeks. But if you bass that day. So optimistic was I that I caught in cold water. He claimed bass dress appropriately in layers topped even persuaded my wife to take a day of quit eating when water temperatures with a windproof and water-resistant vacation to join us. If I failed to pro- dropped much below 50 degrees, and shell, the rest of your body should be duce, I would feel the heat from several walleyes took up the slack. Over the just fine! Always wear your PFD. directions. years I learned that the old-timer’s opin- Second, fishing without a boat dur- ion was inaccurate. ing this time of year is a major handi- cap on most river sections. Sure, there may be a key bass winter-over spot in your river that shore anglers can reach from the bank, but those areas are surely limited. Persuade a buddy who has a boat that fishing for smallies in late November and into December is more energizing than sitting in front of the television! Next, you can leave the live bait at home—at least most of the time. The serious river smallmouth angler has complete confidence in a minimal selection of lures for cold-water bass. In my experience, when fishing live preyfish in the late fall, you end up

22 Pennsylvania Angler & Boater • November-December 2004 www.fish.state.pa.us e that I’ll have a smallmouth in the boat before you get rigged and baited.”

www.fish.state.pa.us Pennsylvania Angler & Boater • November-December 2004 23 catching incidental walleyes, muskies, jighead weighing between 1/8-ounce • Soft sticks. This grouping includes pike and smaller bass. That’s fine if you and 5/16-ounce and available in an the blunt-end stickworm and fish- are simply fishing for whatever is biting. unbelievable array of colors, a 3.5-inch shaped soft jerkbait. Many anglers rec- But if your sights are set on quality or 4-inch tube can represent whatever ognize the soft jerkbait as an incredible , go with selected arti- smallmouths are feeding on at the surface and sub-surface jerk lure when ficial lures. time. The tube jig, like any jig presen- water temperature is above 50 degrees. Finally, Commonwealth rivers typi- tation in a river, should be fished with But few anglers fish it once the water cally run slightly higher and slightly the current flow. Make quartering temperature dips into the 40s. Yet, the more off-color in the late fall than in the casts upstream, and let the bait be swept soft jerkbait and the salty stickworm are summer. This isn’t a bad thing. But along with the current. Use a heavy fantastic for a cold-water do-nothing when a river turns the color of chocolate enough head so that it just lightly ticks deadstick drift. a baitfish-colored milk, smallmouth success takes a nose the bottom occasionally. My favorite 4-inch stickworm on a 2/0 wide-gap dive. High, muddy water is not a good colors vary depending mainly on water hook or a 5-inch to 6-inch soft jerk on thing. In this case, consider that Christ- color: Smoke-purple flake or water- a 3/0 hook. To make the soft plastic sink mas shopping you still have to do! melon for clear water, golden shiner faster, insert a nail weight into the body (black back/gold-flake sides) or green or crimp a splitshot onto the line. Cast Fantastic five pumpkin for average or normal clarity, the lure slightly upstream of the target With water temperatures between and dark pumpkin with chartreuse tail area, allowing the stick to drift to the the high 40s and mid-30s, a limited for dingy water. bottom. Do nothing. Wait 60 seconds number of lures are in play for • Action-tail grub. This category for a pickup. If there are no takers, reel smallmouths. I routinely carry only a covers both the curl-tail and shad-tail in and redirect the cast so that the lure handful of baits this time of year: versions of popular brand-name grubs. takes a slightly different path. • Tube jigs. Tubes are arguably the I go to an action tail when I want to • Suspending jerkbait. These most universal lures for river swim a soft plastic off the bottom, sort hardbody minnow baits have a reputa- smallmouths in any season. I’ve caught of like slow-rolling a spinnerbait. tion for catching bass in lakes during smallies on tubes with water tempera- When the water turns dingy, I opt for 5- early spring. They are every bit as effec- tures in the 30s. Fished on an insert inch larger-profile grubs in darker col- tive on rivers in the late fall for depths to ors with chartreuse or orange tails.

24 Pennsylvania Angler & Boater • November-December 2004 www.fish.state.pa.us 6 feet and water temps to about 40 de- grees, perhaps slightly colder under some circumstances. Cast out, wind the jerkbait below the surface and be- gin a pull-pause retrieve. The burst of flash and movement followed by the suspended pause resembles an injured or stunned baitfish. This drives smallies wild. Don’t get over-eager in working this lure—it’s the pause that triggers strikes, and the longer you can withstand the temptation to pull or jerk the bait, the more strikes you will get in cold water. Also, some brand-name lures in this category perform much better than others. So if you acquire a dud, don’t give up on suspending jerkbaits—sample several brands. • Hair jigs. Hair jigs are the “go-to” An overview of smallmouth bass seasonal migrations in Penn- lure for hardcore smallmouth anglers sylvania rivers goes something like this: during the coldest part of the fishing ● During the summer, active, aggressive smallmouths (that is, season. Hair-jig presentations are very catchable fish) will be stationed on current breaks relating to fast much a bottom-contouring pull-pause water, including runs, chutes, riffles and hardpan lifts; or they’ll roam retrieve. Quality hair jigs in weights shallow shoals during low-light periods. They feed on a variety of from 5/32-ounce to 3/16-ounce have prey, including crustaceans, insects and minnows. an undulating swimming action in the ● When the river temperature starts to cool in early fall, water. They very much look alive. Hair smallmouths begin to target baitfish more intently, while still relat- experts on the Allegheny, Susquehanna ing to relatively fast, shallow-water areas. This “shallow-water” feed- and Delaware rivers favor brown, olive ing frenzy generally peaks with water temps in the mid- to low 50s. or basic-black jigs. Commercially ● As water temperature continues to drop, smallmouth bass mi- available quality hair jigs are a rare grate to wintering areas. Wintering sites are characterized by slower commodity. You will not find good or deflected flows. These protected areas include extended natural ones in a mass-merchandise tackle pools (particularly outside bends); dredged sites; “holes” of slightly store. Most hair jig fishermen tie their own with natural rabbit, bucktail or deeper water situated in eddies, downstream of islands and below bear hair, and some excellent products bridge pillars; or slack-water pools in slower-moving tributaries to are occasionally made from craft hair. the main river. Most sites will have additional obstacles on the bot- Never add scent to hair jigs. The oily tom (large boulders, ledge rock outcropping, sunken logs) to break residue mats the hair, destroying the the current further and provide added cover during times of par- fluid movements. ticularly strong flows. Keep in mind that smallmouth bass ● By the time water temperatures drop to the upper 40s, a major- are “bunched-up” at this time of year. ity of smallmouth bass have vacated fast-water locations and are It takes extra effort to find them be- settling in to slower water for the winter. However, cold water tem- cause they are not as spread out as in peratures do not preclude smallies from moving shallow to feed, as summer. Therefore, keeping limits long as they can immediately drop back to their sanctuary. There- from these winter-over sites can jeop- fore, it’s not uncommon to catch river smallies in only a few feet of ardize quality bass over wide water during stable or warming trends during the cold-water period. sections of a river. Please release all When applying this information to your locale, remember that bass. each of Pennsylvania’s major river systems is uniquely different. Late fall offers excellent small- Bottom composition, structure and wintering depths are not iden- mouth bass fishing on Pennsylvania’s tical. Furthermore, although smallmouth bass in all river systems rivers. Don’t let a little cold weather— undergo a similar seasonal progression, the time will vary slightly or old thinking—keep you from the because weather is not uniform statewide.–DB. action. www.fish.state.pa.us Pennsylvania Angler & Boater • November-December 2004 25