Small Stream Wintering

[Dave Stephens]

I know its a bit early, but our winters tend to freeze alot of the streams and creeks we fish. With this in mind, we realize the smallies live through each winter as well.

I, with the help of dan'l, have found them in the medium size rivers, but the dead of winter small stream smallie goes where? To a larger trib or a slow deep pool seems obvious but how about in situations where there is not much depth or cover available.

As a side thought all the bait fish go into hiding to. Where?

Just tossing thoughts late night after reading an article on the web.

Dave

[loticjoe]

They go to where they need to go in order to survive the conditions that are approaching. Differs for just about every system and in some places they need not move but a fraction of a mile and on others, they may travel a surprisingly high number of miles. Those that fail to move to slower/deeper water and areas well protected from the inevitable high flows, will most likely not survive the winter. If you know where the smallies were during the summer, start working your way down river till you find suitable water and you will most likely find the fish.

As an aside, the idea that the shallow/fast moving waters are devoid of aquatic life during the winter months is not true. There are a number of aquatic organisms which need the colder temps to complete important parts of their life cycles and there are indeed fish species, including some pretty important smallie prey species, that will be there doing what it is that they tend to do.

[Dave Stephens]

Thanks Joe. I guess one of the things i was wondering was how far will they go to find what they need for the winter.

Will the bait fish and smaller species do the same? I have got one smaller flow that is littered with carp. Do you think they follow suit?

Dave

[loticjoe]

Again. it varies by the given water and local conditions. We sample 12mos out of the year for benthic critters and most of our protocols call for sampling the "best available riffle habitats." Over the years I have found species like blacknose dace, sculpins, darters and other "coolwater" type species in shallow/fast water even when there's a foot of snow on the ground. Can even recall finding white suckers in such areas during the winter too. Can't remember seeing carp, fallfish, common shiners, or the various shad species in such places during the winter though. Keep in mind that all the species found in any given water have slightly different preferences and conditions that would be unsuitable for smallies or carp, might be about perfect for others. Aquatic systems are always in a constant state of flux.

As to the distance a smallie will travel to find acceptable conditions? I know of a few local streams where the entire population will move out of the lower 10 to 15 miles and into the larger downstream river each and every fall. Those lower 15 miles contain suitable spring & summer conditions, but are devoid of the habitats needed in a typical winter. I know other streams where the smallies rarely move more than a mile or two over the course of a year. All depends, but one thing is certain:

If you are finding adult smallies in a particular spot during the summer, it's a pretty good bet that there is suitable wintering habitat available downstream. You just need to go looking for it and remian confident that once you find it, you will indeed recognize it. Fishing is tough in the dead of winter and you can spend a day where the smallies are concentrated and still never get a bite. If you find what seems to be acceptable habitat, fish it hard and fish it a few different times, before you decide to look elsewhere.