Last Tuesday, river rat buddies and I caught our first 2010 Allegheny River smallies under extreme low, clear and icy water conditions. We complained the water was too low for this time of year, hoping it would go up about 4 feet. Mid week we had our first back-to-back 60 degree days, accompanied by a large yellow globe in the sky -- something we had not seen all winter. The snow pack disappeared quickly, the river gauge went from 3 feet to 10 feet in 48 hours. The rush of high water down the Allegheny is like flushing a toilet -- no eddies, no current seams, and no shoreline boulder cover to fish. However, with no rain in the forecast for the next several days, I expect the level to drop to what I consider a fish-able flow. When river is good to go, you can see the types of lures I'll be fishing in the second photo. To learn more about river smallmouth location and lure presentation in the early spring, check out my article "Early Spring On A Smallmouth Stream" in the 2010 In-Fisherman Bass Guide currently on newsstands.
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The river is still pretty high and stained. Managed to get out for a couple of hours this evening. Set the bar pretty high. First smallie of the year 19". Starting to hit pretty hard even though the water was a cool 46 degrees.
ReplyDeleteHey Darl, Hopefully I can get out this weekend and catch a few of those smallies.
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