Upper Mississippi River smallie report 10-1-07

The bite right now on the Upper Mississippi River is nothing short of fantastic right now. Lots of numbers and big fish to boot! The time of year every smallie angler waits for is RIGHT NOW in my opinion. Lots of aggressive fish in very tight quarters makes for some fast, exciting and to top it all off…predictable!
The last few weeks I have been visiting 3 different familiar sections of river that I have been fishing all summer long. One thing that is common with all these pools is that the smallmouth bass have the feedbag on in a big way and they are staged in their fall haunts in big numbers. This past week’s trips were no exception from the past several weeks of fishing on the river.

I have received a few emails in the past couple weeks regarding questions about locations of these smallies this time of year on their particular river section they like to fish. I thought I would put forth a little insight to what I see on an annual basis up here in Central Minnesota. How to find them and where to find them? Every year about late August of early September time frame I start to see smallmouth bass stack up in areas where they will spend their cold water months. First off, one main characteristic seems to hold true for location of these spots, and that is that they are all just off the main flow of current. Whether it is a mouth of a backwater bay or cut, backsides of islands, mid river sandbars, or as simple as a bump in the shoreline or an inside turn of the river, they usually all have some kind of deeper water nearby and out of the current. Obviously food needs to be present for a spot like this to be worthy, but often times these spots are not obvious fall spots looking at the shorelines. Its what’s under the water that counts. I know there are several spots that I simply throw my hands up in the air with question, but year in and year out produces lots of big fish. Harder bottom content is a common factor as well such as sand or gravel bottom. Add some vegetation into the mix and you have a good all around spot. A better way to describe this is by looking at your favorite shoreline and finding that one spot where they all will hang out. Usually its not too far from the areas where you find them during the summer months.

Now, how do I find them this time of year? Right now water temps are still in the low 60’s (depending where you are) and should be able to find fish with typical search presentations ie, topwaters, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, cranks. Once you find an active fish or a fish misses on a lure, stop right there and work the area over thoroughly with slower finesse presentations before moving on especially if it is a good sized fish. This time if year we typically find big fish hanging around other big fish! If you stop and find no more smallies willing to hit, keep on moving quickly until you find another one. Once I find a pod of fish I will usually start out throwing my more finesse approaches such as stickworms, Jimmy D’s Riverbugs or a drop shot rig. Sometimes I feel I can maximize my catch out of the school more by a making my offering more subtle. When conditions get tough, live bait will also up your odds in those conditions where they may pass on artificial.

This past week’s catches have been very good. We have been averaging right around 55 fish or so per trip. With plenty of big fish right now on the prowl, our average size has been just shy of 18″. Top of the tape honors have been 2-4 fish per trip that has been reaching the 20″ mark or better. Biggest fish this past week hits the tape at 20-3/4″.
As always remember Minnesota has a statewide catch and release restriction on all smallmouth bass right now. If you catch a good fish for a photo, handle it with care and get it back in the water quickly and I can almost bet that fish will be there next year waiting for you.
See you on the water!

Look for more photos to follow.