THE SMALLMOUTH: Second Generation (Part II)
by Cap'n Chuck Duggins

I really do not know whether the River Smallmouths were the second generation or not. I don't care! For our purposes, it's not really all that important. What is important is that they represent a DIFFERENT adaptation of Smallmouth Bass from those in the lakes. Oh, they look the same, and they feel the same, and they eat many of the same things, when available, but there are actual physical differences. Here in Maine, on average, our River Smallie is a little bit lighter, for a given length, a little more compact, slightly leaner looking, and I believe more aggressive than most of our lake fish.

I think they strike more readily, fight harder, jump more when the temperature is right, and have never learned the meaning of giving up! I love 'em! I also believe that they are more predictable and easier to catch, will fight longer and harder, and do things that will totally surprise you more often than lake fish will. I love 'em even more, which is why I PREFER to fish for them. There is a penalty for this. In the rivers where I fish there are lots of two pound fish. There are quite a few three's, an occasional honest four, but only very rarely a five. In twelve years spent fishing Maine rivers I have only seen one six pound fish come over the side of the boat, and that one was eight or nine years ago! We give up any real hope of a giant to gain steady, more constant action with good fish. I think the trade is worth it.

Somehow, as born out in the discussions on the River Smallies.com and Bronzeback.com bulletin boards, these fish seem to shrink in weight when they are put on a set of accurate scales. From my point of view, ANY smallmouth, kind enough to get on whatever lure we are using, has done us enough honor to be worthy of MY RESPECT! In my boat, we have caught five inch smallmouths on six inch Gary Yamamoto Senko lures. These smaller fish are both the indicators of a healthy fishery and a promise of a fun filled fishing future for my grandkids! I love 'em!

OK, now let's see just how we go about locating these fish in strange, flowing waters. The physical aspects of the particular body of water will, at least to some degree, affect what you can safely do. If it is too rocky with too much current to be able to safely take a boat into, and these kinds of water do exist, I ain't going! At my age, with my experience, forget it. I'm willing to work, and work pretty hard to catch fish! I'm NOT into working hard, too HARD, to find them! That being said, if you can operate the boat with safety, what should you be looking for? One of my prime targets is gravel banks and one of the prime ways of finding them quickly is to look for gravel IN THE BANK! Often times you can see it in the clay, mud, or whatever, of the river bank itself. If you can see it in the bank, it is probably in the river! FISH IT! Gravel, by itself, anywhere IN the river, is worth five points!

Next thing I look for is what I call "wind shadow". For a lot of you, this is probably a new term for what you have always called a lee shore. We call it something different on the river because of the way the wind tends to swirl around and be less predictable on a given shore. Some times a patch of wind shadow will be not any larger than my boat. You must still learn to recognize it. Sometimes, hopefully, you can find a patch the size of a house. Wind shadow has very little effect on the fish. It does have a large effect on the guide, the fisherman, and what lures might be most effective. Wind shadow is worth from zero to ten points. Zero points if there are no fish there or if the bottom structure is no good for the fish and up to ten points if there is a bunch of fish and the wind is howling! Normally it would be worth five points on a mellow day with some fish present.

Another thing to look for is shade. Shade kind of ties in with season and temperature. Early and late in the season, shade may very well be something to steer clear of (zero points). Mid summer, high temperature days, it is something to look hard for. We have had days, on the river, midsummer, when the BEST shade available on the entire river, WAS RIGHT UNDER THE BOAT! We have had times, under these conditions when we caught six or eight fish, FROM right under the boat. We have seen a situation when there was an extremely heavy shade line off of an island, and just as the lure came out of the shade and into the sunlight the bass would strike! Shade can be worth from zero to ten points, depending on time of year.

Current/flow are something to always be aware of on the river, and they are NOT the same thing. Flow is the volume of water that is moving past a given point in the river. It is measured in cubic feet per second or per minute. Current is the speed at which the water passes AROUND objects or a given SPOT in the river as it shifts and swirls on its downward journey to the sea, and is measured in miles per hour or feet (linear) per second. Both the width and the depth of the river influence the speed at any given location while in a situation such as mine, where there are dams both above and below where we fish, the dams control the flow. I can even show you places where the current reverses! The flow is always downstream. I can't put a numerical value on flow/current variations. You just have to develop a "feel" for them. There is a value there, I just am not smart enough to be able to quantify it.

Islands are another factor. In addition to the effect they have on current, splitting it and speeding it up along the sides of the island, there are normally bars, both on the upstream end and the downstream ends. These are often spawning as well as feeding areas. Always deserving of extra attention, on both ends, during all seasons. Island ends are five pointers. The sides are treated just like the other banks of the river.

Now if you aren't sharp enough to have picked up the fact that I'm putting, as much as possible, numerical values on many of the structural elements of river habitat, maybe you should be taking up golf! As we go along on this route, I'll be tying this all together to give you my book on river fishing. It will help you to find your own shortcuts. The higher the numerical value of the combined elements, the greater the likely hood of finding fish.

Eddies are something I always keep an eye out for. Especially those with "dust" on them. The "dust" may be blown dirt, pollen, leaves or most any other light material that lives in the surface film. Cap'n Chuck LOVES dusty water! The dust itself is nothing more or less than an indication of an area of calm water where insects get trapped in the surface film, bait fish come to get the insects, and smallmouths come to get the bait fish. These are worth five points.

Now lets look at a possible situation. One that occurs frequently on the river. Mid summer, the water temperature is about seventy six degrees, bright sunny day, just below a rock ledge sticking out into fairly fast current. Dust on the water in the eddy pocket below the ledge with a broken off tree into the eddy, with the entire tip under water. All of this is being split right down the middle by the shade line from the trees on the bank. Don't even think about casting into the dust unless you really want to get your string stretched! This one is a little on the obvious side, but I set it up that way to show you how combinations of the individual elements have much higher values than just the sum of their values.

Our next little story will take you even farther into the realm of the RIVER SMALLIE! So far we have discussed only the habitat itself. Constantly changing, always in motion, warmer, cooler, all considerations. Understanding these factors allows you to fish with a plan. Without a plan the fish will win. Its instincts are better than yours, it's that simple. If you leave your powers of reason out of your tackle box you have already lost!