Fishing the St. Lawrence River: Techniques and Baits for Catching Smallmouth Bass with Bob Downey
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Bob Downey, a Bassmaster Elite series Pro, talks about the St. Lawrence River, where he has been fishing for the last three years. He discusses the unique characteristics of the smallmouth bass in the river and shares some tips on how to fish for them. He explains that the smallmouth in the ST Lawrence River are built differently than other smallmouth across the country because they are fat on gobies. He also notes that they can be found in the entire water column and that the best places to start fishing are areas with good bottom composition that has boulders, sand and weeds. He also talks about different techniques and baits that can be used to fish for the smallmouth, such as drop shot, ned rig, casting and reeling baits. He concludes by suggesting signing up for a free Omnia fishing account for tackle recommendations that fit your fishing style.
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Video Transcription
What's up everybody, This is Omnia fishing species. Deep dive. Hey, everyone bob Downey here. Bassmaster Elite series Pro gonna talk a little bit about the St. Lawrence River, we've been there for the last three years now. Going to talk about what I've learned from my experience there and how I like to attack that place. The smallmouth on the St. Lawrence River are really unlike any other across country. They've got a huge goby population there. So those things are fat on gobies, there is wide of a smallmouth as you're gonna see, despite them living in current a lot of their lives. So these things are built, you know, there's a ton of fish in that 3.5 to 5 pound class range. Then there's even fish, you know, up to seven, maybe 8 pound out there.
You can catch your personal best once in a lifetime fish. For sure those smallmouth are gigantic and they're very plentiful. Makes for a really, you know, fun place to fish and to catch a lot of bass in one day, smallmouth on the St. Lawrence River really inhabit the entire water column. Um, you know, there's generally always shallow fish and by shallow, I mean that like 0 to 10 ft range and there's generally always deep fish so that 10, 35 maybe even 40 ft range. Um, good places to start if you're looking shallow, find areas with good bottom composition that has boulders, sand and weeds. If you can find that combination up shallow, you'll probably start seeing some small mouth and have a chance to catch them. if you're offshore, you kind of want the same type of bottom composition just in deeper water, you might have not have as many weeds present, but you're gonna find a lot of bowlers and rock and some sand in those deeper areas.
You, you kind of want a good mix of bottom composition. You don't just want a full area full of rock or an area full of weeds or an area full of sand. You want a mix of all three of those and that's the right ingredients to start to catch some smallmouth on the St. Lawrence, So small mouth on the St. Lawrence, uh, you know, depending on the depth that they're in, their feeding on different types of forage. Those offshore, deeper fish are generally more goby oriented. So I'm using baits that are closer to the bottom, you know, drop shot ned rig to those sorts of things. The fish that are up on the shallower flats and that 0 to 10 ft range. They could be feeding on gobies, crayfish, a lot of bait, fish type forage like perch. So I'm using a lot more reaction and reeling type baits. So casting it out, reeling it back in the middle of the water column, those fish are feeding up a little bit more versus the fish that are deep tend to fish down on goby oriented stuff that's kind of on the bottom.
On the St. Lawrence, there's a few techniques that can work year round spring, summer, fall number one for me would be a drop shot. You can drag it out deep, you can fish it up shallow for cruising fish. It's a really versatile bait. You can put, you know, whatever you want on that hook, whether it's a bright char truce worm or a natural green pumpkin goby imitator. If you're out deep, number two would be a ned rig. You can fish that both shallow and deep as well on the bottom, generally out deep, you're dragging it up shallow, you may be pitching it around the cruising fish if you're wanting to cover a little bit more water, you're more reaction casting and reeling baits are really good. Hair, jig, small swim bait chatter bait, spinner bait jerk bait. All those baits are generally middle of the water column and those fish are feeding up. It's a really fun bite in that kind of 0 to 10 12 ft range up shallow.
You've got a mix of both bottom oriented baits for dragon and pitch into shallow fish and then some winding baits so you can really cover water. And once you see those fish up shallow as you're covering water, slow down. Use those body bottom oriented baits and you're probably gonna be getting some more bites if you're looking for better tackle recommendations that fit your fishing style. Sign up today for a free Omnia fishing account and fill out your profile where you can favorite species, Lakes brands and more to experience the most personalized tackle shopping online.
