Buck,
Splitshot has good advice. Fish upstream if possible. kicking up silt and fishing downstream is a sure way to get skunked. If you must go downstream, do so out of the water. Get good felt bottom thigh high waders so you dont bust your a$$ on a slick rock and get poison ivy or snake bit.
Riffles do hold the most oxygen, so fish will be near them. Generally, the big, long pools are going to hold fish at the front and back, where the water starts to move fast again. But I've caught smallmouth in water less than a foot deep in riffles, too. Secondly, look for any rocks, stumps, wood, whatever, that creates a break in the current. Some may be slightly submerged. But if there is slack water behind the stump or rock, you can drop your rig right in there and usually will catch a smallie. Third, any trees turned over by the storm which have left deep holes in the sides of the creek are money for big fish.
Here's a big tip - when you first approach a good looking pool, tie on a small buzzbait and make a long cast. Usually, if there is a dominant fish in the pool, he will attack it on the first cast. If you throw it two or three times with no strike, put something else on.
There has never been a better creek producer for me than a natural color 4' cabin creek lizard, T-rigged (1/0 or 2/o hook) and a 1/32 bullet sinker on 4lb test. Try that, if its not working, go with a really small white tube of some kind. If that doesnt work, go home and come back another day. Rebel 'wee craws' work great as well, so do chartreuse rapala suspending/floating minnows in small size. 4lb test you want because of the action it allows the smaller bait, the longer casts and the low vis. But you've got to have a good balance of enough drag not to break, but not so much you can't set the hook with the light line. Rod has alot to do with that.
Good luck to ya, man.



Reply With Quote