Exploring a Small River for Smallmouth Bass

Resumed my exploration of the South Branch Raritan River smallmouth bass fishing today. Some largemouths are present too. If I were as earnest as I could be, I would spend many hours on weekends wading far between bridges, but I'm busy with other things. That sort of deep gain of knowledge about a stream I exercised in my teens on Stony Brook in Mercer County. Some day I want to walk between the North Branch Raritan's confluence with the Lamington River and the route 28 bridge, a five-mile hike round trip. Whether or not I'll ever actually do this, I'm not sure. Years ago when my son was six, we got downstream a half mile or so. He had gone far enough for the day.

The water was high and off color today, but not so off color that I had no chance with my favorite killies. All sorts of ways exist to catch bass in small rivers, and not all of them have been dreamed up, but I love using these hardy fluke baitfish. I parked on a bluff about 25 feet over the river and made my way down, which wasn't as easy to do as it would have been as a 17-year-old. My knees are not in the best shape and I weigh 70 pounds more than I did then. But I don't balk and stop at being active. I just take care and don't feel as much of the dancing step I used to, but it's not altogether gone.

Some three or four feet of water to the left of the photo looked inviting, but nothing took the killie. I fished almost a half hour altogether, and when I took the killie off the hook and chucked it into the river, it swam off in good shape.

I read in The Fisherman magazine three years ago about a 6.6-pound smallmouth and seven-pound largemouth caught in this river. I felt deeply moved. This river certainly has mystery if bass like that exist. Stop at any bridge or pull over, get out and fish, and I bet you'll doubt they do. Even so, what's the point, exactly, of pursuing a big one, if only 3 1/2 pounds or so rather than near state record size? Did Lewis and Clark explore the Western United States just to send report to the government? Not that my little exploration is anything near the scale of theirs, but we get away from the known and familiar to be aroused by whatever we may experience.

If I'm going to park and fish here again, I want low, clear water so wading upstream is possible. I don't know what's around the bend.

Island Beach, Trying for Bluefish, Striped Bass, and Fluke

We fished Island Beach State Park, Fisherman's Wharf, which the half of the wooden walkway is wiped out from Sandy and not replaced. Reports of bass thin, I only bought fresh bunker in addition to a pint of live killies.

The surf fairly light looked real good for fluke, but I didn't get a hit. I even put a killie out on my eight-foot Tica with a two-ounce sinker. Otherwise, I used a heavy split shot like I usually do in the surf with my medium-power freshwater St. Croix. So long as the surf is light enough, that's usually all it takes to catch some fluke.

Wind shifted from out of the south to out of the west, and with it came biting flies. That's when I decided we would leave early. All we caught was a sting ray of about 18 inches in diameter, the rounded kind. That's the first we've hooked in New Jersey. My son hooked a southern sting ray of about 100 pounds at Avon Pier, North Carolina.

We used to catch a lot of stripers as late as June 22nd. In recent years, they just don't seem to be around as they were six years ago.

Largemouth Bass Weedline Outside Edge

Noticed aquatic vegetation--think I came upon the name of the weeds once, forget--had thickened and when retrieving a cast I had made deeper, collected some at the head of the Chompers worm. So I figured the bass lay deeper along the outside weed edge, not having had any hits in the shallows where I get them in May. I caught one fishing my usual time of less than an hour. Took the worm in about seven to 10 feet of water, the worm cast straight out from shore.

Habit always resists. I've caught so many very shallow here at Mount Hope that I felt reluctant to fish deep, even though the thought made sense. It got much easier to try once I caught the bass.

Rainy Day Largemouth Bass Round Valley Reservoir from Shore

All sorts of alerts in the media about heavy storms today. As expected, it rained. Often happens. 

I tried Round Valley Reservoir from shore and for the first time in June, caught bass. Three on the seven-inch weightless Chompers.

Weeds have thickened in about 10 feet of water, but with the inset hook, no problem getting the worm through. If I could get out in a boat, I'd fish 10 to 20 feet down and look for rocks with weeds nearby. It's not very difficult to find rock formations in the reservoir.

I've never seen such cloudy water on the reservoir as I did today, but that's either from wind stirring it and rain runoff from sediment along the shores, or water being pumped in. I wasn't certain which. Water remained fairly clear, but not with the gin-clear quality it usually has. I'm sure the main body is as clear as ever.

The size of the loon's head and beak photographed below shows it means business when it comes to fish.

Bass at Rain Swollen Feeder Stream

Walking our black lab well after sunset, I noticed a lot of water entered our neighborhood pond from the stream that feeds it. Minutes later, I was back with a spinnerbait, but not getting any strikes. So I walked the pond's length to a drain pipe and caught a bass of about a pound-and-a-half, swooped on it in the wash.

The situation had looked very inviting. I've known times when bass crowded a flooding stream entrance. Maybe it was too dark.

Rain puts Trout off the Rise

Tuesday and Wednesday I stopped by the North Branch Raritan on my bike rides and trout rose incessantly. This evening, I fly fished with Oliver and saw two rises. Rain had begun as the tropical storm approaches, early in the season now for tropical storms. (Unfortunately, with south seas warmed beyond prior average temperatures, we're likely going to experience tropical storms and hurricanes more often and more powerful.)

The dry fly fishing has been best after calm, mostly sunny days. I viewed the stretch earlier than sunset yesterday.

Oliver caught a wild brown and a rainbow in fast water not much more than two feet deep. The nymph weighted with tungsten putty allowed high-sticking the rod to control drift under the tip.

Summer Smallmouth Bass: Herring for Suspended Bass, other Techniques

Summer Smallmouth Bass Lake Methods

Lake smallmouth bass can get depressed during summer. Sounds crazy? Not if it’s Lake Hopatcong, Spruce Run Reservoir, or other lake with oxygen stratification. This has little to do with depleted brain cells, but exile from home. Good-size smallmouths suspend over their natural habitat—deep, rocky drop-offs. If you’ve ever had the blues, you know the feeling of suspense and unwillingness to do much. Suspended smallmouths will show up on the graph recorder, but chase almost nothing offered them.

Ripping and rolling crankbaits through the water column may work in favorable conditions. But usually a better approach is to match the homeless mood. No bass will bum money off you, but a few may swipe live herring.






If wind is not heavy, a slow drift over drop-offs with a few live herring out, no weight, just hooked through the nostrils on a size 6, plain shank hook, can work wonders even on a sunny afternoon. Herring head right down to the oxygen break and make their way at the zone until bass find them. On Hopatcong, that’s about 15 to 18 feet in August, possibly 12 feet on Spruce Run. Set the hook quick to ensure a clean release.

Nothing perfects the approach to stratification as herring do. This is an opportunity to appreciate the beauty and specific effectiveness of using live bait. To whet curiosity, we’ve tried live herring in Stony Brook, Mercer County, and small bass only play with them. But good-size lake smallmouths have no compunctions.

The situation for smallmouths with a breathable retreat path to the depths calls for any number of lure choices. Find these summer bass associated with rocks and gravel anywhere from the shallowest reaches several feet deep, down to 40 or 50 feet deep or more. I know someone who caught a smallmouth on a live herring intended for a lake trout 90 feet deep in Round Valley Reservoir during summer.

Where bass will stage along the routes they take from deep to shallow, shallow to deep, and on migrations around a lake depends on so many variables volumes could be filled on the subject. A good book to read is Will Ryan’s Smallmouth Strategies for the Fly Rod, which goes into detail about smallmouth bass behavior. But a good rule of thumb is that changing weather patterns, especially falling barometer with the onset of rain, usually jump starts action towards shallows.

A typical fishing depth may be 10 to 20 feet. Among rocks, bass will hit subtle presentations throughout the day, and may slam crankbaits retrieved at moderate speed. I caught a 3 ¼-pounder during a partly sunny afternoon in three feet of crystal clear water one recent summer—it didn’t hurt to try that cast. 4 and 5 inch Senko-type worms are my go-to choice. They cast a mile and sink fast, no weight needed to get down 20 feet pretty quick with control of line in a steady breeze. Wacky rigged in the middle is effective, but an inset worm hook allows the worm to nose dive into wide rock crevices where smallmouths wait to ambush. If the day is really slow—no breeze on clear water absorbing a demon sun—I use a seven-inch Chompers worm, perhaps with two inches of plastic removed from the head, on a size 2, plain shank open hook. Slow descent and subtle feel can literally make all the difference. For one thing, a slow-descending worm stays in the bass’s visual field longer.

With optimal weather conditions that really get bass on the move feeding, crankbaits may out-produce any other lure or bait. All sorts of diving lips offer a range of depth options. Crankbaits come in very small sizes too, but the notion that smallmouth bass want small offerings is not necessarily true. For example, when I use a Senko, I almost always choose a five-inch worm over four-inch and have caught plenty little smallmouths on the larger. 

Years ago when I first encountered a Rat-L-Trap, I thought it was a clumsy, awkward, useless device. One day with stained water on the Delaware River, I chose to try it for the rattle and have been hooked on this lure ever since. Since lipless crankbaits sink, you can work them effectively 20 feet down and even deeper. They can be yo yo’ed, ripped and paused, etc.

Jigs and smallmouth bass are inseparable. Now that hard metals such as steel and brass are replacing lead, the possible effectiveness of tapping jigs along rocks is increased. Whether or not this really makes a difference, harder metal gives you a little better feel. Tungsten jigs would be best. This metal is denser than lead and extremely hard.

Fly rodders have fun on lakes for smallmouth too. Weighted streamers don't serve the same function as jigs. A sinking 6-weight fly line may be best, must be a sinking line. Jig action is more irritating by stops, starts, and clicks; streamers behave like dissociated forage fish cruising and darting just off bottom or suspended. Fly fishing in lakes is a subtle approach that may be effective when other methods fail. It’s certainly a way that could be tried on suspended smallmouths.