[Deazl666]

I snuck out of work early, picked up two dozen pond craws from R&R, and hit the Scioto, hoping for a bunch of smallies and channels. The water was a lot higher and faster than I expected, and I only managed one smallie in a couple of hours. With an hour of daylight remaining, I pulled the plug on the frisbee hole and hit the creek. The water was stained and the craws weren't drawing any hits so I switched over to a Big Joshy (Slush, 3.25") and landed three nice bronzebacks inside of a few minutes in a pool below some riffles. Each hit the Joshy real hard and put up a hell of a fight...

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[Big Joshy]

Nice fish. That presentation worked well for me this week on the smallies also. I don't know if the sunny days are making the algae bloom a bit stronger but I was also surprised at how dingy the water has been in the flows as of late. Of course this rain will change things.

BTW its called a disc not a frisbee! I used to play there 3 days a week sometimes!

 

[Riverdog]

Nice fish! Looking forward to my first smallie!

 

[Deazl666]

Nice fish! Looking forward to my first smallie!

Don't wait too long; after a few cold nights they hit the pavement and are gone until spring. Some guys can catch them in the fall, no doubt, but I'm not one of them...

 

[Rainer Wolf]

Way to go
Creek smallies are so much fun

 

[Hezzer]

Good looking fish there! I myself will focus entirely on river , stream, and lake smallest in the fall months. My favorite time of the year for fishing or just about anything outdoors. Always enjoy your posts, keep up the good work!

 

[Bubbagon]

Don't wait too long; after a few cold nights they hit the pavement and are gone until spring.

Ironically, Fall is one of my very favorite times to catch smallies.

 

[acklac7]

Ironically, Fall is one of my very favorite times to catch smallies.

Don't tell tall tales....everyone knows them Smallies quit feeding by the second week of September

 

[Big Joshy]

yeah my personal best creek smallie came on a buzzbait on october 15th so we still have time yet.

 

[Deazl666]

Ironically, Fall is one of my very favorite times to catch smallies.

I've wasted a lot of hours trying to catch them in the fall with little to show for the effort. The literature says to seek them out in the deeper water above an impoundment, which I admit is something I haven't really tried yet. (Smallie expert Tim Holschlag says the creeks empty out once it starts cooling off and that stream smallies can travel up to 50 miles looking for a wintering hole.) Of course, I know of only one impoundment on the creek and the property owners, allegedly, will chase you off if they catch you fishing it. I suppose I could try Griggs above the dam or look for deeper holes by kayak...

 

[MuskieBoy]

Mine too! Last Fall. Sometime in late September I was at Griggs and I tossed a white buzzbait between a dock parallel to the shore and the shore and got my PB smallie

 

[Bubbagon]

(Smallie expert Tim Holschlag says the creeks empty out once it starts cooling off and that stream smallies can travel up to 50 miles looking for a wintering hole.)

I've read just about everything Holschlag has written. He's the man on technique, but many, including myself, disagree with him on smallie migrations.
You gotta remember he's an Upper Mississippi river guy. So I'm sure there are documented cases of smallies migrating 50+ miles, but IMO it's a completely different story around here.
Many other experts say that small stream smallies may only migrate 1/2 mile up or down until they find the first suitable wintering hole.
All I know is that the smallies on the streams I fish in Ohio don't go tooooo far.

 

[Big Joshy]

The big one I got in the fall was at the head of a large deep hole that was the size of a small pond where a bridge passed over the creek. Plenty deep and with current breaks and slack water, Im sure lots of smallies spend the winter there. Of course they were there all summer too. Seems to me like deep is all relative to the flow. I have caught several fish in 3 ft deep holes in october, just because everthing upstream was all 1-2ft deep. As long as the food is there the smallies will be there IMO.

 

[StuckAtHome]

We catch them year round, fall you seem to get the big gals, the saying go big or go home is spot on, I'll throw huge spinners with huge trailers, or my favorite sub walk, it's the same size as a super fat cigar. When the water cools late fall, and even in winter we still pick them up on burning spinners

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[Deazl666]

Thanks for the tips. I look forward to putting them to work. Picked up this 15 incher tonight on a 2.75" BJ slush...

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[BassSkipworths]

Where in the Scioto do you fish? It seems to have been really high and muddy lately!

 

[Deazl666]

Where in the Scioto do you fish? It seems to have been really high and muddy lately!

I usually fish the frisbee hole (sorry Josh - disc hole ), but I caught these in another river...

 

[Koehler97]

Nice fish!