Smallmouth fishing is red hot right now! The spawn is in full gear, and we caught some big ripe females and saw several males guarding nests. Regardless, if you can get your lure past the small fish, there’s some bigger ones (about 2lbs) hanging in the “shadows”. Just about anything was working, but I had the most fun watching them chase Husky Jerks. Top water has been really good too, which is a lot fun no matter what the size fish. We caught the occasional rainbow, with one around 18 inches. If you like to fly fish, the cicadas are thick down in here in the Canyon, and the rainbows and smallies are crammed full of them.
Kokanee fishing was tough again this morning. We caught a few, along with a couple of rainbows and a couple of lake trout in the vicinity of Jarvies. We’re still graphing a lot of fish from 15-35ft, but the bite is slow. We switched up lures and depths a lot, and the best rig (for all species) was pearl/red #2 Needlefish, running under a 3oz. snapweight behind a planer board. Boat speed was 2-2.4mph putting the lure around 25ft. Water temp was around 62F.
It’s a good time to fish the Gorge. There’s not a lot of people on the water, so if you like the solitude, cooler temps, and some good fishing, it’s the place to be. Hope it helps, Ryno
So, I am glad to see that another couple of warm days did it for the bass spawn at the Gorge. When I was there a few days ago the kokanee in the area were tough too. Only caught one in that area. I wonder if the flies you are mentioning are the cuase? Maybe the fish are just filling up on them, not wanting any other lures? Don’t know though, they were hitting good around Anvil.
Sounds like a good time. Can you give some details as to where you were fishing for the smallies? We are launching from Lucerne Marina and want to get into those smallies. Thanks.
We’re fishing near Mustang Ridge and Jarvies. I was up in Sheep Creek a couple of weeks ago and did well too. I think the pattern will be about the same lake wide, but you never know. Down in the canyon, shallow points, humps, and coves are loaded with bass. Rocky structure with some flooded cover is the best. Sand or clay isn’t as productive. If you get one smallie in stretch of shoreline, you’re almost guaranteed to find more. I keep a couple of rods ready with different lures (like a jerk bait, jig, and topwater) so I can throw a different presentation for other fish. Most of my bigger fish have come on jerkbaits, but the topwater bite is a lot of fun and produces a lot fish. The smallmouth bite is really good right now, offers a lot of fun, and those smaller smallies (8-10in) are really good to eat. Hope it helps, Ryno