Last Smallmouth Bass of 2015?

Last smallmouth of 2015?

On November 12 in NW PA, winter arrived way too early with unexpected ferocity. With a blanket of snow on the ground and below freezing temps, lakes were skimming with ice and the rivers/creeks were icy slush. When it climbed into the 40 on Sunday Nov 23, Dale Black and I decided to hit the Allegheny for what we thought might be our lasting smallmouth bass outing of the year. We arrived to view large sheets of ice floating down river and water temperature at 32 degrees. Undaunted we fished hard, crawling small critter jigs, tubes and hair jigs over shallow flats, down slopes and into deep winter holes to no avail. We did witness a walleye angler fishing live bait catch a very large fish. After 3.5 hours, we were going to call it, but Dale had one more winter hole to hit which required an upriver ride through a wild rapid. I had just tied on a chartreuse Jimmy D River Bug hair jig after loosing my six jig of the day. On my second cast, I felt mushy resistance and set the hook on the only bite I had all day. That single smallmouth was a great boost to our spirits. Was this going to be my last PA bass of 2015? Remains to be seen. Moderation in the temperature should keep the river open through next week.

12 pound walleye taken on live bait