still water smallies

okay, I know most of you folks on here play on the river a lot. But I’m looking for advice of the kind that goes to helping me understand the difference in fishing smallmouth (versus largemouth) in glacier lakes….think Clear/Roy Lake South dakota…

Taking a high school grad up there in early June as a reward for a high school diploma…

I’m figuring a lot of tube baits, smaller finesse style jigs…senkos (4″?) smallie beavers on stand up jig heads…

Jerkbaits…flukes…

do I want to take smaller profile spinnerbaits?

typically, these fish spawn right around June 10 … we’re there from June 5-12 and will be chasing pike and bass (both brown and green)…water temps are expected to be anywhere from 58°F – 62°F

Look forward to your thoughts on how, where to chase down some footballs…

thanks for the assistance.

KURT,
You can catch smallies from presscott all the way up to the high bridge. target rocky shorelines,points, boat docks out in the river, marinas, and trees. smallies spawn at 64-65 degrees so you should be hitting it perfectly.some of my best rigs on the croix for smallies have been topwater early in the morning. during the day when targeting docks/marinas a slip bobber with a leech or crawler off the tips of the docks. then casting a yum mega tube or split shot /crawler/ leeech in the middle and working it back. when targeting points i will mainly use a gittzit or split shot leech/crawler. also rat-l-traps. trees i will mainly use a bobber rig or a spinner bait. and rocky shorelines i will use a shaky head or cranks. if you need anymore help just message me..

Is that Stillwater ( Like in the city on the Minnesota / Wisc. border ) or like Still water ( Like as in the none moving kind )

The original poster was referring to natural lakes such as Roy Lake and Clear Lake, SD.

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okay, I know most of you folks on here play on the river a lot. But I’m looking for advice of the kind that goes to helping me understand the difference in fishing smallmouth (versus largemouth) in glacier lakes….think Clear/Roy Lake South dakota…

Taking a high school grad up there in early June as a reward for a high school diploma…

I’m figuring a lot of tube baits, smaller finesse style jigs…senkos (4″?) smallie beavers on stand up jig heads…

Jerkbaits…flukes…

do I want to take smaller profile spinnerbaits?

typically, these fish spawn right around June 10 … we’re there from June 5-12 and will be chasing pike and bass (both brown and green)…water temps are expected to be anywhere from 58°F – 62°F

Look forward to your thoughts on how, where to chase down some footballs…

thanks for the assistance.

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Kurt,

I think you are right on track. You can use all the same techniques and baits you use for largemouth. The only difference may be where the smallies spawn versus where the largies spawn. That varies lake to lake and i have not fished either of those lakes. I need to! But I don’t find it unusual to find smallies and largemouth using the same general areas for spawning. in my experience, the smallies might prefer more gravel/sand if it’s available while the LM may go for a little more of a soft bottom. But I’ll find both in pencil reeds and off weedbeds that time of year. If there are gravel or sand flats, try jerkbaits ofr suspended smallies. Otherwise, I think I’d start looking for them near spawning grounds and use tubes and senkos. Good luck and have a great time.

thanks Wade…yep…natural lakes (left over from glaciers)…

will see where we’re at as time draws closer…some very nice, thick smallmouth in those lakes…some that may push 22″…we’ll be happy seeing something close to 20″…and a whole bunch of snot rockets…

Kurt,

I’ve chased Smallies quite a bit on shield type lakes up around Orr, MN. It sounds like you’ve gotten some good advice on spawning locations. I can add a couple of thoughts on presentations.

It seems that they want big, aggressive baits…OR… small tiny subtle baits, and not much in between. Agressive would include 1/2 ounce spinner baits, big Husky Jerks, and even top waters (depending on water temp). We stumbled on this while fishing for Pike. We’d fling a big three-hook Rapala up against the rocks and Bang a Smallie would clobber it. I’ve hads great luck with big willow leaf spinner baits, especially along weed-to rock trasitions. Then on the other extreme would be something like a 1/8th ounce marabou jig, just slowly swim it very slowly across the bottom. Some of the biggest Smallies I’ve ever caught (up to 21 inches) fell to small 1 inch long streamer flies we were using while panfishing.

Since there are going to be a few of you in the boat, you can mix it up and see what kind of mood they’re in.

It sounds like a fun trip!

Rootski

Kurt, from my experience I’ve never really had to downsize baits for smallmouth. I use the same baits I use to catch largemouth bass. Depending on the lake all downsizing tends to do is downsize that fish that you catch. What I like to use for smallies are lucky craft slender pointers (MR97), any shakey head type of bait, Venom Hot Rods on a standup jig head, any stick worms and any of the lucky craft Skeet Reese line of crankbaits baits. Venom hot Rods are basically a 5” uncut tube. Rigged on a chompers standup jig head they act much like a shakey head, but better. That time of year the fish will be relating to rock more than anything else as most vegetation is just starting to grow. Like Wade has mentioned about the only difference between the smallies and largemouth would be the spawing locations. The largemouth will spawn much shallower than a smallie. Largemouth will spawn in 2-4 feet of water in a location protected from the wind and weather. Now a smallmouth can spawn 12’ or deeper depending on water clarity and Roy is pretty clear. Because of thier depth they are well below the wave line so they don’t need to spawn in the very backs of protected areas. Like the largemouth smallies will seek out a hard bottom, but may relate more to rock and/or gravel. Hopefully, this info will help you out and you guys should have a great time.

thanks jason, wade, et al…

I set up the idea of this trip a year ago for this kid who I thought could use some positive motivation for his high school diploma.

Earn diploma; take trip. Looks to be working…and it’s a win-win…this kid has a real passion for fishing, good kid, good parents…

I’m expecting a good trip…as there are multiple species and I’m not totally ‘tuned in’ to only certain ones…catching supercedes species prediliction…but I suspect the pike will be more than willing as will the bass…both species.

I’ll be running my new Lowrance HDS with StructureScan/DownScan and am hoping to be amazed…

One more quick question: hear rumors that powerbait/Gulp! can be like smallie ‘crack’…are these lakes ‘like that’?

thanks again guys.

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One more quick question: hear rumors that powerbait/Gulp! can be like smallie ‘crack’…are these lakes ‘like that’?

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I personally have not had much luck throwing either of those for smallies. It would not hurt to have a little bit on hand just in case though.

I see others have answered most of your questions but I would like to add a couple things:
Old reed beds with scattered rocks can hold huge numbers of spawning smallies.
Not all smallies will spawn in deeper water than largemouth so look shallow also.
Light colored tubes and sencos are a great help when sight fishing smallies on beds. White is easy to see and when it disappears set the hook.
No need to downsize baits, good size smallies get caught on muskie baits quite often.

If you have any other questions feel free to PM me as I chase smallies more than any other species.

Ron

Of course tubes are always a good choice. Start on some deeper flats and work shallower… end of the day boat will be hitting bottom. A big all chart spinnerbait is a great bait. I like a bubblegum sluggo too. you’ll be surprised at the bass that hit these rude lures. A few huskyjerks in the boat in the morning won’t hurt either…