Nith River

1 of 10 smallies from this morning's adventure on the Nith river in Ayr. Nothing too big in this section, water was low, but the pools were holding fish.

Was out walking the Nith this morning, ended up landing this one, had some other bites but not luck landing them.

Biggest one of the year so far, put up one heck of a fight!

Smallmouth bass are on 🔥 here lately! Video up on YouTube if you want to see how I caught these bad boys ! #Catch23

Four days prior to this I had set my sights on gaining confidence with throwing crankbaits in the river. When I got out to the Nith it was perfect for top water, so I smashed them on a popper for about an hour. When the top water bite turned off I went back to chucking the crank. I found the perfect deep water, with giant boulders barely visible some five or 6 feet below the surface. First cast missed the rock I was after. The next cast smashed that rock, scurried over top, and was smashed the instant it cleared the back side. 18.25" smallie. I moved up the river to the next pool, exact same deal, a 19.25" beast cracked it! Crankbait confidence gained. "Crankbaits in rivers can be difficult since you need to keep reeling them in fast in order to keep up with the current. There is also a lot that a crankbait (and all its treble hooks) can get hung up on. However, once you find the perfect run for a crankbait–bouncing it off rocks and digging into gravel–you’ll be rewarded by hooking up with only the meanest, most aggressive smallies." — Mighty Smallmouth: Catching Big Bass on Small Water

Once again exploring new water, sticking to all the basics; riffle-run-pool-glide, find them in the spots that make the most sense given the conditions. Today was super hot, but the water was a little cooler due to recent rains. The river was high and fast too, so where would I target? Runs and plunge pools, somewhere fast and heavily oxygenated. That's where I found this girl, sitting just below the riffle and the leading edge of the run, keeping cool and oxygenated, probably binging on craws. That's what she took from me, one of my custom compact 3/8 oz rock knocker jigs, tipped with a Perfect Chunk from @theperfectjig #riversmallies #smallmouthbassfishing #smallmouthbass #canoe #paddling #canoefishing

1 of 2 Smallmouth caught this morning near the connecting point of the Nith and Grand River