Took the day off to have some dental work done in the afternoon, and get a few hours of fishing in during the early morning hours. The water was moving good, as the USGS had the Montgomery flows still around 3200 cfs. Most of the water I encountered was in the low 50s to high 40s in temp with only 2 to 6 inches of visability. I started popping small 2" twisters (typical white, pumpkinseed, and junebug) on 1/16th oz. leadheads in and out of the current seam that separated two different flows that met alongside an island. Only a few bumps, which usually meant carp, so I decided to put to use the minnows I had leftover from my weekend adventure out West. That was the ticket, as every cast for 13 in a row ended in either a landed smallmouth or a quick release at my waist. Most of the fish were in the 10 to 13 inch range, but the big one of the day was pushing the 16 inch mark (pictured).
After the action died down here, I ventured downstream looking for more seams and pockets of slower deep water. Same technique and same bait yielded 5 more fish: 2 bluegills, 1 walleye (15"), 1 more smallmouth, and a chin-hooked quillback. None of the fish had any real size to them, they were just average fish for their species. All these fish were caught off a small current break near a logjam on a quick drop down to 4+ feet deep water upstream from a set of riffles. Perfect spot for fish this time of year to be honest.
On a side note, the leaves were not as big a problem as I thought they would be. Usually this time of the year, the falling leaves foul almost every cast, but not today. This will make my evening excursions in search of old marble-eyes so much more enjoyable.
As promised:
