PRIME SMALLMOUTH TIME

Prime Smallmouth Time Bill Cooper 7-10-24 Anglers will argue until the end of time about when the prime time to fish for smallmouth bass occurs. I tend to agree with an old fisherman I met own the Meramec River a few decades ago. He wryly concluded that prime time was anytime you had time to go fishing. Some bass fisherman swear by wintertime fishing when smallmouth in Ozark streams are concentrated in certain wintering holes. No doubt, stickbait fishing can be phenomenal at times from November through February. Then there are those that promote fishing the spawn. The big thrill at that time of year is sight fishing. Anglers spot big females on the nest and pitch baits that intimidate the fish into biting. Often smallmouth do not intend to eat those baits. They simply want to get them away from the nest. Usually they will grab the bait, attempt to crush or kill it, carry it a couple of feet away from the nest and spit it out. This behavior often makes it difficult to hook the fish. Summertime anglers, often called fair weather fishermen, perhaps shout the loudest. Fish are cold blooded creatures and their body temperatures rise as water temperatures rise. The result is higher metabolism, meaning that fish must feed more often to maintain energy levels. Anglers conclude that fish bite more at this time of year and, therefore, spend more time on the water chasing smallmouth bass. A lot of anglers believe, too, that prime smallmouth fishing times revolve around the barometric pressure. It is commonly believed that during periods of high barometric pressure, bass tend to become more sluggish and inactive, making them more difficult to catch. Conversely, during periods of low barometric pressure, bass become more active and aggressive, making them easier to catch. I don’t mean to burst anyone’s bubble, but one of the most persistent myths in fishing is that barometric pressure controls the activity of bass and other gamefish. Although many researchers have tried, scientific studies have been unable to demonstrate that such a relationship exists. Every scientific report I’ve seen, in which barometric pressure was studied, reached a similar conclusion: no direct relationship is evident. I did, however, look at one report that looked at the possibility that changes in barometric pressure were more important than absolute pressure. When the barometer was falling slowly (less than 0.21 inch per hour), 65 percent of the bass that were presented lures struck, while 35 percent did not. On a slowly rising barometer, only 30 percent struck, while 70 percent didn't. But the fishing sample was small. In a larger sample of tracked and observed bass, 29 percent fed offshore on a slowly rising barometer, while 24 percent fed offshore on both a slowly falling and a steady barometer. Schooling and aggregating behaviors are apparently associated with increased feeding and vulnerability to angling. When the barometer was high, 54 percent of the bass observed were aggregated (groups of 3 to 15), 12 percent were schooled (moving synchronously), while 44 percent were alone or paired. When the barometer was low, 57 percent were aggregated, 5 percent were schooling, and 38 percent were single or paired. When the barometer was rising slowly, 64 percent of observed bass were aggregated, none were schooling, and 36 percent were paired or alone. When barometric pressure was falling slowly, 53 percent were aggregated, 20 percent were schooled, and 28 percent were alone or paired. If it weren't for other factors affecting bass activity, the data might suggest that a falling barometer, approaching storm, increasing cloudiness, or a combination of these and other factors increased feeding activity. With a steady barometer, 34 percent of observed bass were within 1.5 feet of cover, 31 percent more than 6 feet from cover, and the remaining 35 percent were in between. A slowly falling barometer found 30 percent in or close to cover, 25 percent away from cover, and 45 percent in between. Various cloud conditions also had an effect on bass behavior. Under overcast skies, bass were observed farther than 46 feet from shorelines in 23 percent of cases, while 19 percent were offshore under broken skies (50-80 percent sky coverage), 33 percent under scattered clouds, and 32 percent under clear skies. Bass apparently found little difference between partly cloudy and clear daytime skies, but most likely moved offshore under bright sunlight. Feeding was seen under overcast (42%), broken (23%), scattered (24%), and clear skies (28%). While overcast skies were clearly associated with increased feeding, clouds, even a broken ceiling, had little effect. The low light of heavy cloud cover apparently makes preyfish more vulnerable to predators and encourages bass activity. Surprisingly, we documented slightly more feeding activity under totally clear skies than under partial clouds. The maximum brightness of clear skies, which creates optimum feeding opportunities for plankton-eating prey, likely encourages maximum preyfish activity, which in turn may stimulate increased predation. The only sure biological fact is that adult bass that have recently fed heavily and are digesting food tend to be inactive or neutral regardless of any environmental factor, including barometric conditions. The length of time since many of the bass in an area fed heavily and the time required to digest that meal are perhaps the most important clues to when a significant proportion of any bass population will next become active. I seldom pay much attention to barometric pressure. However, I pay lots of attention to an approaching front and cloud cover. On a recent trip to the Meramec River, I was betting on those conditions providing a good trip. Bingo! I knew I was on to something when I caught two smallmouth on my first five casts. It was prime time for smallmouth.