Wintering smallmouth

Hey guys……………just wanted ask some of you knowledgeable people about wintering for smallies.

Do they migrate at all or does the bite vanish and the fish just find low current undercuts (4-8ft. deep) and/or deep holes (8-12ft. deep).

Curious to know what the typical behavior is? I’ve read about migration to bigger waters and deeper holes…………but just yesterday I had a (approx.) 15″ smallie come out from under a bank of small stream near the family cabin and head for a new spot to hide. Dad and I were testing ice thickness for a possible crossing and tossed a pretty big rock onto it, broke through, and studied the ice and shoreline for a while when the fish came out from under the embankment of this outside bend. It swam right under the open hole in the ice and I could see it’s markings clearly in all the sunshine. It was a nice fish! I didn’t even think they were in there because this part of the tributary that flows to the Chippewa River is a LONG way from the river!

The sighting has me shopping for a cheap canoe and waders!

Still curious though…………..it may be easier to winter in this stream than the Chippewa. Any thoughts or insights? If smallies are in there, I can just about bank on everything else being in there also!

Hey kid, i know that here in iowa they mirgate to the river about 4 miles away then come back up in the spring. I do know that a certain amount stay in the deeper holes thought but most swim back up creek in the spring. I know the walleyes use the sand and gravel bars in this creek to spawn just after ice out.

I’m with mossydan on this one. I recently read a report from the Iowa DNR about a study they did wherein they tagged a variety of fish in the Turkey river up around Elkader, which is a solid 30 river miles from the Miss. The study showed that a majority of the gamefish wintered in the big river and then moved back in the spring.

There’s always bound to be a few stragglers that linger in the deeper holes on any river though. Here in NE Iowa where every town has a dam they simply have no choice. Couple that with the fact that the rivers are so shallow, and almost any deep hole will probably hold fish.

Was there any speculation on the migration purpose? Is there a lack of food in the smaller streams under the duress of winter? It’s easy to see abundant food availability through the summer months but it would seem to me that food resources could become quite scant. Possible ice bite as a result??? I may have to try it…………

I think there’s just an instinct for the fish to travel until they can find deep enough water to winter. For most of the rivers in NE Iowa, that means they’ll travel to the Miss, since they average depth of a lot of our rivers runs in the range where BFD has to get out and push (photo evidence in prior posts on this forum), and that was in one of the ‘larger’ rivers!

Obviously, these fish can survive the winter in the shallower inland streams, as the fish blocked in by dams prove, so I doubt it’s lack of food that’s making them move, but a desire to find a comfort zone in the water column that’s not available in the shallower inland streams. Of course, I’m pulling all this out of my butt based on what I’ve seen and have no real science to back any of it up.

hi john, my dad told me it was because the water in the deeper pools is warmer, don’t know for shure. I know thier matabolism slows way down so it would only make sense to find slower water to just wait the winter water out in the deeper non current areas.. i know alot of fish can survive on a minnow a week in winter, if not longer. Not completely shure though

i used too trap alot when i was a kid and walked the creek water until it froze in late fall or early winter, in my waders. I seen a food chain drop in the creeks, definately minnows included. The deeper holes that you would think would hold minnows too were vacant of any and you could see to the bottom in 5 ft. of water, maybe the 6 to 8′ holes were the ones the minnows would move too. Seemed like the whole foodchain went south when the leaves fell. Here’s something that might have a hand in this is those same creeks would hold chubs but most minnows would leave, except for some shiners but not many of those stayed. Seems like the creeks that were spring fed held more chubs, the runoff creeks didn’t. Maybe the warmer springwater held them there with minimal food to tide them over until spring. Theres a few creeks here just loaded with chubs, those are good eating too. Its like when the lakes roll over its about the same time the creeks do too if not a little sooner with the creeks. Shallower water rolls over faster than deeper water? Never heard that one but it makes sense.