When it comes to feeding behavior, smallmouth bass are generalists, and you can catch them a lot of different ways on any given day. Sometimes they will focus on specific forage – for example, crawfish, certain baitfish species, and at some times of the year they’ll start capitalizing on insects, and after a rain, frogs, salamanders, really anything that washes into the river.
Point is, late-summer river smallies can be caught a lot of different ways on different presentations. And you must keep an eye open for preferred habitat and strategize your efforts in high-probability areas.
River Conditions/Time of Day
During late-summer, river levels are generally lower and clearer than earlier in summer. Water temps are still relatively high in the mid-70s into the low 80s on most rivers throughout smallmouth country. But the fish are still going to be active.
Some days, especially if it’s cloudy or crummy, smallies may be active all day, but a lot of times when sunny in late-summer, they’re going to be more active in the morning and afternoon to evening.
Veteran river guide Jay Anglin in the Michigan/Indiana/Illinois corridor and river smallmouth bass expert noted: “River smallies feed on both sight and sound. On most rivers there will be smallies feeding on crawfish around cover at any point in time besides everything else available. Especially this time of year, you really must figure out where they are in terms of depth, shade, and water flow – the fish really seeking out cooler, oxygenated water but are moving around throughout the day for feeding opportunities.”
Anglin continued: “They’re very adaptive. They’ll change gears quickly because they’re not necessarily locked into one food source. It’s not always a match the hatch situation like trout. Whereas trout might be totally focused on a certain mayfly, a smallie will take advantage of the fly hatch, but also switch gears and go chase down baitfish, crayfish, or bugs.”
Read more about late-summer river smallies here.
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