Fishing Forum

Smallmouth fishing has been a bit erratic, but still very good, since the flow below Swan Falls was reduced. This morning I received quite a shock when I found the river up 2' and the flow doubled from what it was the end of last week. The water was muddy with only about 1.5' of visibility, and it was full of floating weeds and junk. And I had my hopes and tackle aimed for the great Super Fluke bite that was developing.

After trying several spots with slim results, around 8:00 AM I anchored in a seam between two riffles. For 45 minutes the bite was fast and furious. In those 45 minutes I caught 13 smallmouth, 2 channel cats, and a rainbow trout. All were caught on a trout size Chatterbait with a pearl curltail grub attached. On the drift back to the ramp I added a few more fish to end with 18 smallmouth, 3 cats, and the trout. It is the first time I have caught more than one catfish on bass baits in a single day.

What looked like it would be a disastrous day turned out pretty well and a lot of fun. The heat drove me off the river by 11 AM.
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Can you fish here with a small boat or do you need a jet I live in Parma and finally got a small fishing boat. WAs hoping to learn the river a little
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Quote:Can you fish here with a small boat or do you need a jet I live in Parma and finally got a small fishing boat.

I don't really know the Snake in the Parma area. I think there should be areas of the river that can be fished with a regular outboard, as there are almost everywhere I fish. However, running some of the Snake in the Treasure Valley you will meet some very shallow gravel bars - and also some very thick weed beds in late summer and fall.
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at a pawn shop recently i picked up a plano 3700 chock full of flukes for 6 bucks. have never used them. do you fish them weightless or spitshotted or ? thanks in advance...
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[quote hulapopper]at a pawn shop recently i picked up a plano 3700 chock full of flukes for 6 bucks. have never used them. do you fish them weightless or spitshotted or ? thanks in advance...[/quote]
I fish Flukes weightless, but I'm sure there are lots of other successful techniques. I usually nose hook them with a Mosquito type hook. I believe you get maximum action when they are nose hooked. If the river/lake is weedy I then Texas rig them. I love fishing Flukes because you provide the action to the lure, and most strikes occur near the surface where you see what's happening. Fluke fishing was very good this spring on Lake Lowell, and is just coming on now in the river. Smallmouth love Flukes. My favorite color is pearl, partially because I can see it and what it is doing in the water.
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thanks again smartweed ! if i ever get to fish this summer i will give them a try[fishin]
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Flukes are one of my favorite lures. They work great for largemouth as well. They are absolutely killer up around flooded vegetation in the spring. You can also walk the dog with them, then kill them and let them sink into holes in the weeds. Very fun to fish. Some other ways to fish them are on a jig head, on a Carolina rig, or on a scrounger head. They can all be effective at times.
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