This Upper Mississippi River smallmouth bass report is about a week outdated but will still hold today as the patterns and presentations will hold true from now until mid to late October. With cooling water temps gradually taking place everyday, the smallies have one thing on their mind right now and that is the anticipation of cold water period coming with the need to feed and feed heavily. A few weeks back I mentioned that the fish have moved into their fall locations and now the reunion packs of fish are even larger now. Very predictable bites will take place from here on out until water temps reach the upper 30 degree mark. Here the fish will still cooperate, but moving very slow and working harder for less will be the name of the game up here.
What’s the best way to find an active pod of smallies right now? Well, the easiest right now is to get into the search mode and cover water quickly with spinnerbaits or jerkbaits and possibly even a variety of topwaters (depending on the day). Once you find a fish or get a fish to show itself, slow down and work the spot over with soft plastics such as unweighted stickworms, lighter tubes, drop shot, Carolina rigs, etc….Seems to be that you will catch a few active fish right away out of the school and the rest of them get wise in a hurry. Rest assured there are plenty more fish there if you are able to catch more than one in the spot.
I had the opportunity to drop the camera down in one of my honey holes right now and I was amazed at how many species were present in the area. The most abundant appeared to be smallies but including them were suckers, walleyes, channel catfish and even a large musky lurking just outside the school. This particular spot we have been pulling about 15 fish out of the spot upon each visit and there were easily 3 times that amount swimming around in the area. I was simply amazed at how many fish stack up in these areas, which is one of the many reasons why Minnesota has implemented a mandatory catch and release on all smallies after mid Sept over the years. This is the prefect time to catch a pile of nice fish and capture a few pictures and gently return them back in to the river as soon as possible.
This year my plan is to try to see how long I can go and still catch these smallies up to ice up this fall. I am excited to see how lethargic these fish will get as we get into late October and early November.
Sorry for the late report as I typically have a weekly report out this time of year, but as you can imagine right now the reports will be very similar from one week to the next in the coming weeks.
This is a perfect time to get your kids out and enjoy the bite as the smallies have a tendency to bite better and better as the afternoon approaches. So there is no need to get up super early this time of year!
See you on the water!
Look for more pics to follow the report!
Here are some photos from John Duhon and his nephew Joe.
Thanks again guys for joining my boat on your trip! I had a great time and we will see you next year!
Here are some more photos of Brian at the helm!
Thanks again to Brent and Brian for sharing my boat with me and look forward to doing it again someday!
Nice work Buddy
Once again….
Nice fish everyone!
Awesome report DZ!! You have successfully distracted me from paying attention to my professor in lecture! Awesome pictures! I love to see the little guys getting in on great smallie fishing!!
Luke,
Glad I could be of assistance…..
now pay attention! 
Great Report Steve.
What is the Water Levels up that way? i know you have a jet boat but am wondering if there is enough to get a boat with motor up there.
Awesome report, Steve!! I might have to head up that direction this weekend with Jake.
DanK,
There is plenty of water. Really depends on the stretch of water you want to fish. The bottom end of all the stretches before the dams are all bigger waters that you can run any boat you wish. The upper stretches of these sections are where it gets skinny. Regardless, of the water you are fishing, I would employ the same search and seek approach for the smallies!
I have been fishing 3 different sections the last 2 months and they are all in high gear right now!
Hey! That kids in my class!
Steve,awesome report,love the pics,hope things are going well for you.
Ryan Hale
Nice report Steve..
Great photos…
Nice fish guys. Steve, I am wondering the type of water to look for this time of year. I am on the Cedar down here in Iowa. I have been catching smallies right along but have been looking for the bigger fish. Are you looking for deeper water below riffles, deep water near wood, rocky shorelines, etc.? Thanks for the help. OUT…
Sleep in. Go out and catch sumo smallies all afternoon. Sounds like heaven!
Captain,
Some of the locations I really like to look for this time of year would be sandbars. Sandbars that have deep water nearby. Depending on your depth of river that you are fishing….deep water may be only 5 ft or might be as deep as 15-20 ft. Most often sandbars that are on the back end of islands or points offer one side that might be shallow and slow tapering while the other side may be a real quick drop to the deeper water. These areas are very common pile up spots up here and usually congregate lots of fish. Other locations that are going for me right now are not that noticeable from a shoreline perspective, but the areas that offer a quick drop to deeper water are good to check. IF you have a long shoreline that has a quick drop along the entire shoreline, look for the beginning or the end of the shoreline where the depth changes and the shoreline no longer has that quick drop characteristic. These changes like this are areas that congregate fish for me as well. You will still find fish on those riffles right now without a doubt, but the mother load will be in very specific spots right now.
One common denominator in all this is the easy access to deeper water closeby. Of course the food needs to be there too, but hit enough of these kinds of spots and you will be rewarded eventually. Remember, find one and chances are you will find a pile of them this time of year.
Thanks Steve!! we do have some 9 to 10 foot deep water spots with sandbars nearby. I have been fishing the deeper side. I will try the sandy side this weekend.
Thanks for the report Steve, as it goes for me I think I need some more smallie 101. Those are great looking fish!