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Recent Storm Kills Smallmouth Population!

2K views 9 replies 3 participants last post by  fishheadfred 
#1 ·
Well just got back from fishing two of the best smallmouth streams in our area and no smallmouth!!!!! The recent storms in our area were so devastating to the streams. The flooding was so severe that one of the streams actually changed course. It use to have a sharp right turn and now it flows straight where it goes into another stream and the old section is completely dry. Never seen anything quite like it. Did end up with a few spotted bass and one white bass and a couple bluegill. Nothing like the 50 fish days in years past. This was the first time I had been out since the big storms and must say I'm shocked. :confused:
 
#4 ·
most of the larger freestone streams are still very high, but running cold and clear to a nice green, but the water is very fast. Alot of damage to perenial sandbars and mud flats. Where there was once structure and cover is now flat and featureless. One large hole on Paint Lick Creek which is usually 10 to 12 ft deep, is now wadeable. Filled in with silt, fine gravel, and even part of what appears to be some poor guys fence row. The heavy storms and rain that plagued us this year have really set back the spawn in some of the larger feeder creeks of the Ky river, the Big Sandy, and the Elkhorn, but things are slowly gettin' right. A few streams seem to be suffering from low water as a result of debris and timber jams at their heads...So wome water is high and still vicious, and some is low. The Streams in Eastern Ky are lower than normal while the streams in the Bluegrass area are still rolling. Stood in the bridge at Hickman Creek in Jessamine Co and listened to the rocks slam and slide against one another is the run that i favor. Thats just a little fast for me!!!!
 
#5 ·
oh, and by the way, went out sunday.....caught several keeper smallies in a creek that i didn't even know had smallies....been fishing it for years and this was the first time bronzebacks were caught...one went over 16 inches. Maybe the crazy weather or high water forced them in , Who knows? Gonna try it again this coming weekend........PS Dahlberg's giving great results. Use Black or olive at dusk...traditional frog patterns in the afternoon.
 
#7 ·
Most of the streams were damed up years ago to form lakes and I usually fish the sections several miles down from the dam itself. That's another problem when the lake level gets high they open up the dams so it's a double hit of the rain and the dam water that really takes a toll on the streams. Up above the lakes the streams have never been very productive for some reason. Just about all of the streams in this area eventually make their way to the Ohio River at some point.
 
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