Avoiding smaller fish

[Corey Steffen]

I think this post and question falls under the Techniques category… on Friday I was able to fish a new stretch of the Vermilion (Livingston Co) I had been wanting to try and it definitely produced.   The numbers of fish were amazing.  Recent spawns must have really been good.   For the first couple of hours I was getting hits on nearly every cast but most of the fish were in the 10 to 14 inch range.   By the end of the day I had managed a few chunky 16” fish but nothing bigger.   But I’m confident larger fish were present.   The water was super clear and I saw bigger fish… including one that swam next to one of the 16” bass as I was fighting and bringing it to the kayak.   It was definitely in the 18 to 20” range.

The problem seemed to be that the smaller fish were so abundant and so aggressive that the larger fish usually didn’t have a chance.        Often I’d get a hit as soon as my lure hit the water.   By mid-day I found myself doing all I could to actively avoid the smaller fish.   I went to bigger baits (though unfortunately I hadn’t anything really big with me) but even that didn’t seem to help much.

So my question is, what should I have done to improve my chances at the larger fish and keep the smaller bass off my hook?
 

[Kev-mo]

Pretty area!!!

Honestly idk if there's anything you can do. First time I fished the dupe I caught like 50 plus fish all on the small crawbug. One was 18, maybe a second fish close to that, a 14 and then a whole lot of small fish. Surprising what we remember....haha! Also on the dupe I had a 15 inch fish eat my squarebill and it had a 20 swimming next to it. I don't think the 20 wanted to eat. Seems to me if the 20 really wanted to eat...I mean it was probably the biggest fish in the hole. Point is I think those big fish are just particular..

[Corey Steffen]

Very true, the bigger ones may have just been less aggressive or more choosey.    But it was hard to tell because the smaller ones was like casting into a tank of piranhas.   It was fun for awhile then it got downright annoying.   😅    Often if I could see an area I wanted to target held a lot of smaller bass I wouldn't even cast there, haha.

[Paul Trybul]

Big fish are particular and some days its tough to get them to bite. 

• I would start by fishing that section again. You have a section with numbers and some big ones mixed in so I would keep hitting that until you unlock its secrets. 
• Bomb long casts - The water looks low and clear so the big fish can get spooky. Approach good spots with stealth and bomb long casts before the fish can see you.
• Bigger baits - Sounds like you tried that and little ones will still tap on bigger baits. Bigger topwaters have been the key of me. They don't catch as many dinks and they can trigger some really aggressive strikes from the king of pool. Topwaters like walk the dogs, chug bugs, and whopper ploppers are all able to cast very long distances as well.
• Fish the low light periods - When the water gets super clear like that, big ones seem to get tricked more often around the sunrise/sunset periods or on cloudy day with an impending storm front.
• Some people will call this cheating but bring some creek chubs. Drift one through one of those nice pools where you saw a big one but couldn't get it to bite. Make sure you work over all the dinks first or they'll just steal your bait. Preferably catch your creek chubs out of a tributary of the same river basin so you're not introducing anything invasive. 

[Terry Dodge]

1 hour ago, Paul Trybul said:

Big fish are particular and some days its tough to get them to bite. 

• I would start by fishing that section again. You have a section with numbers and some big ones mixed in so I would keep hitting that until you unlock its secrets. 
• Bomb long casts - The water looks low and clear so the big fish can get spooky. Approach good spots with stealth and bomb long casts before the fish can see you.
• Bigger baits - Sounds like you tried that and little ones will still tap on bigger baits. Bigger topwaters have been the key of me. They don't catch as many dinks and they can trigger some really aggressive strikes from the king of pool. Topwaters like walk the dogs, chug bugs, and whopper ploppers are all able to cast very long distances as well.
• Fish the low light periods - When the water gets super clear like that, big ones seem to get tricked more often around the sunrise/sunset periods or on cloudy day with an impending storm front.
• Some people will call this cheating but bring some creek chubs. Drift one through one of those nice pools where you saw a big one but couldn't get it to bite. Make sure you work over all the dinks first or they'll just steal your bait. Preferably catch your creek chubs out of a tributary of the same river basin so you're not introducing anything invasive. 

 

This reply makes for a nice  Lock Screen on your phone if you screenshot it. Thanks, Paul!

[John Gillio]

That’s such a pretty river wherever you fish it. I’ve fished the lower stretches of the Vermilion, LaSalle county, for most my 67 yrs on this planet . It sounds like your stretch of river is fishing like the lower stretch fished before it was infested with all of the invasive carp species. Numbers downstream are much lower than they once were. I’ve talked with others who agree that there are areas with some big fish up by you, if you can find them. It sounds like you found them. I agree with all the above comments. I would go with Paul’s plan. The lower stretch fishes better with top waters when the water is on the low side. It looks like you may be able to find a good topwater bite.  If not other larger baits should cut down on the number of smaller fish.  I would stick with single hook soft plastics, like larger twisters and paddle tails. It’s amazing how many small fish will try to eat a large crankbait and manage to get stuck. Be sure to carry a bunch of softbaits with you, as the smaller fish are notorious for taking the tails off of them. I agree with the early and late in the day thing for the big boys too, that has produced my biggest fish from most bodies of water, unless I’m after carp. 
Those are some nice photos and fish. Enjoy the action and the scenery. The bigger ones will come. They are bigger because they have learned to be more elusive, but they have to eat too. 🙂

[Eric]

Paul’s info is spot-on. I was gonna say low light + topwater seem to be cheat codes for big smallmouth.

Fish that same area when nights get into the 50s consistently. Sounds like you found a cherry of a spot!

[Corey Steffen]

5 hours ago, John Gillio said:

I would stick with single hook soft plastics, like larger twisters and paddle tails. It’s amazing how many small fish will try to eat a large crankbait and manage to get stuck. Be sure to carry a bunch of softbaits with you, as the smaller fish are notorious for taking the tails off of them.

Yes, for sure!   It was amazing how many paddle tails I went through on Friday.   I had a place a restock order that night after I got back home.   😬

[Corey Steffen]

Thanks Paul and Eric and everyone for the helpful advice.   I definitely hope to try this stretch again this year (if only I could quit this crazy day job!)   Now that I was able to mark some of the better spots I should be able to hit it with more bomb casts as Paul suggested.   There's very few public access points on this stretch of river so it takes a bit to reach some of the better spots.   I had hoped to have multiple days so I could sleep on the river and utilize the low light periods but that didn't work out... maybe next time.   Overcast would have been nice too but instead I was given mostly bright sunshine.

Again, thanks for all the pointers.   That's one of the reasons I enjoy the ISA so much.

[Paul Trybul]

DieZel MinnowZ™'s. This is the answer to all your problems of littles ones biting off the tails of your paddletails. They have a Jr version too if you want to go on dink clean up mode. You'll snag and lose the plastic before it wears out most of the time.

[John R. Flannery]

All excellent points. The only thing I would have to add from my experience almost everywhere at this time of year during low water, is that bigger fish will often be in spots that have some type of overhead cover during bright daylight and clear water, like overhanging rocks on the Mazon or the gnarliest woodpiles on the Muskegon, undercut ledges and undercut banks, or even deep slots with broken surface water.  They often emerge during low light. They will often bite if you can get a lure to them and you will have to make some tackle sacrifices. There is usually a way to use wading position to get a bait to them. My go-to recently on the Muskegon was pitching a Z-Man TRD on a Mister Twister Weighted Keeper Hook, with the hook buried in the plastic, upstream and working it gingerly through downed trees. The small ones were in the easy snag-free spots. The bigger ones were back in the trees. The keel weight combined with the buoyancy of the TRD and maintaining contact with the bait as it drifts through the wood made it possible to get a few bigger ones without losing too many baits. We had already figured out from the few dinks we caught on topwaters and plugs that they were on crawfish, from all the parts they choked up when caught.

[Joe R]

Wow some great comments here from veteran anglers.  With bluebird skies, clear water, the big fish 18" plus most always will be under cover of shade, under a log, under weeds, etc.  If you have very fast water with rocks and holes just very dynamic water they may be up shallow in feeding positions and will bite in sunny bluebird sky.  I get very particular on color selection with paddle tails depending on conditions. For clear running water using a paddletail that has some blue or purple tint with some sparkle can really trick the bigger fish into thinking they have a larger baitfish and they will chase. Also clearer water low I often fish going upstream walk the river tow yak. Its more side casting with some drift but you spook less fish.