With not much rain the rivers are pretty low. Since there isnt much current pushing smallmouth to where you would normally find them I have been struggling a little bit. My thinking is i need to work deeper rock with tubes etc? Any tips on slow to almost no current?
When the current is low fish spread out side to side and top to bottom. I.e. most spread out you’ll ever find em.
Finding the highest current areas in the body of water will be rewarding with concentrations.
Lots of suspended fish when current is null.
Look to narrowest sections of river or where flow is channeled through narrow areas. IMO, easier than chasing them in the vast minimal current areas.
I’d be looking for the most current you can find when the river gets low. If that fails I’ve stumbled into some really good bites fishing frogs around wood and weeds. The smallies weren’t in the weeds like a largemouth, but swimming the edges. Finding the most current on the river is still your best bet.
I’m quite positive I know what specific river you’re referring to Carter. As others have already stated, look for the best current you can find and start there. If there are any deeper holes nearby, even better.
And pray for rain lol
We fished a river up nort two summers ago when the guage was reading .98 feet. Could see bottom 2 to 3 feet deep. Most areas you could see bottom shore to shore. Fantastic smallmouth fishing in these conditions. You could see every rock, boulder and log in the river. Made casting to them very easy. Amazing how much structure there is on the bottom. At times we pitched to the smallmouth we could see.
Good tips. It makes sense why the tiny areas with a small amount of current held fish. They were small though. Not many big ones. But I will give that a try! I know a few spots that might pay off.
Tried tonight. Not enough current to make any seams. Ended up with a decent 16” on a tube on deeper rocks.
Fish metabolism also slows when the water warms and oxygen levels get low. That will play into how good the bite is right now. They simply aren’t feeding as much right now.
I have always been told fishes metabolisms speed up in the summer based on warmer water. Could be wrong though.
Should add we caught fish on just about anything we tossed at them in low water conditions. Top water got the bigger fish as it does usually. Jigs catch the most fish but size goes down. It was a lot of fun dropping those jigs under every hole a log, rock or root ball made. Tops of boulders would make small current breaks and sometimes you could see the fish laying right on top.
It makes sense why the tiny areas with a small amount of current held fish. They were small though. Not many big ones.
I have noticed a similar pattern the past few summers too. There is a noticeable lack of quality fish. The numbers are there but the majority of them are about 12-14 inches long. I used to catch a lot more bigger brownies years ago. The first pandemic year in 2020 added a lot more pressure, followed by years of drought. Of course we’re back in another drought so I’m sure the same pattern has developed.
I have always been told fishes metabolisms speed up in the summer based on warmer water. Could be wrong though.
Fish farms…
It’s an industry like feeding chickens or cattle. What is different between fish and cattle is the obvious… cold blooded, warm blooded.
What do people in industry do? Maximize efficiency, Maximize profits.
Never feed more or less than the critter your raising can turn into profit into a day.
If they don’t eat it all… feed less.
Feed them too much… make expensive poop.
What’s learned over years in this fish farm industry: metabolism is directly impacted by body temperature.
For the cold blooded:
Body temperature goes up…requires more feed to maintain and grow.
Body temperature goes down, less to maintain less to grow.
The scale is not linear but is at times exponential.
Read Brad duricks book cracking the channel catfish code if you want the data collected from the fish farm industry. I’ve been fishing accordingly with that info for many years and no other thing has increased my catch rate than knowing when fish are aggressive or neutral as a result of body temp. 
Must not starve any fish or animal of oxygen without impacting their short term health.
It is slow, even for the roughfish. Tried drowning a crawler in the Minnesota yesterday – tried a couple spots and finally found some current below a bridge with some deeper spots and barely nibble – had a few taps but a 100% bust and usually it’s not tough to pick up at least a drum or a baby channel cat. Plenty of carp jumping, I think they’re mostly hitting surface bugs and not sucking off the bottom.
Warm water yes, you need more food but by the time that happens their is a lot in the system-cold you need less(food) but you have less in the system-almost a perfect balance except for post spawn, fish need calories to recover and you have little food in the system-So spring-is spring pretty good for fishing????That said right now is a good time in general to switch to larger stuff and/or faster stuff. IMHO
We did well this weekend on Smallies pitching tubes and wacky. Most hits happen soon the lure hit the shore bank water would blow up. Caught a few coming out deeper but not many could see a lot on the shore . Pike where tough to keep off the line. River was down but bite was still good. Rocks or tree piles where holding fish. We have not made this trip since the Covid. Part cause of just tough to get out. Size was down a bit but still got a few 19.5 but no 20’s . Past we would get a few 20’s and few over that. Was great to get out and only two boats we ran into fishing,
Warm water yes, you need more food but by the time that happens their is a lot in the system-cold you need less(food) but you have less in the system-almost a perfect balance except for post spawn, fish need calories to recover and you have little food in the system-So spring-is spring pretty good for fishing????That said right now is a good time in general to switch to larger stuff and/or faster stuff. IMHO
Adapt to the season man.
Spring fish are CONGREGATED.
Warm months they couldn’t be more SPREAD OUT.
I was catching smallies this weekend after our big warm-up last week. Water was barely moving, but fish were in traditional structure spots on my river. Behind boulders, under overhanging bushes, and around timber. Getting them to bite was tougher, they seemed to prefer smaller rigs, while the largemouth wanted the biggest things possible.
Water is dropping like crazy on the Mississippi up north. Looks like it’s going skip from 3.5 to 2′ pretty fast. My trolling motor remote crapped out or I would be out today. Also worked on getting the small jon going this weekend. Bring on late summer low water.
Tip of the day: When you see them cast to them.
Rocks with the most current, crayfish plastics w jig caught us a bunch this weekend. Hair jig and crawler also came in handy once the mayflies started hatching into night. Nice wally as well.
Sadly I have not hit a river since that last update. Id imagine the rivers have to be up at least a little with the recent rain. Hopefully they push into spots!
Water is dropping like crazy on the Mississippi up north. Looks like it’s going skip from 3.5 to 2′ pretty fast.
I heard on the radio today that the Brainerd area has recorded only 0.67 inches of rain the entire month of July. Which is over 4 inches below the average.
.98 feet is the lowest I’ve seen the river go in the Brainard area. .68 I believe is the record low for the area.
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