Ahhh, smallies! Smallies on the lower part of the river, from powerhouse (above the 23 bridge) all the way down to the 2 Lake Superior entrance hold numbers of smallmouth. So you’re missing a lot of smallmouth action below the 23 bridge, but the terrain changes a lot below the 23 bridge. Basically you’re looking for the same things, hard firm bottoms with some type of structure, but mainly rocky areas, with weeds near and around the rocky areas. A little bit of woods doesn't hurt either. And minnows are the primary prey for smallies in the lower sections of St. Louis River and St. Louis Bay.Baitfishes are again the pikes main food source on the river. I've seen some decent pike spitting chunks of baitfish out, not to often, but enough to tell me most are eating some kind of baitfish, especially the bigger ones. But pike are opportunistic feeders, if it looks easy to eat; they are going to eat it. The area upstream up the 23 bridge will hold some pike, but I've never caught anything big on the fly. I know there are probably some big ones up there, because I've seen some big musky up that way, but bigger muskies can tolerate warmer water. Large pike 28"+ will want cool water, or very quick access to cool water if they are up feeding in the shallows. It’s those shallow water pike that I target on my fly rod and like the ones I caught the other day. This is what I look for...Deep water (for cooler water).A good food shelf. This is where the fish will be feeding on baitfish. So the baitfish need a reason to be there as well. They are feeding most likely on other small minnows. Bigger pike need ambush spots while they are up there, so you need some type of cover. Most of the time its weeds on the St. Louis. It's hard to say how far the food shelf should extend out then drop into deep water, but it should not be too long for them to get to deep water. There are some weeds/reeds on the river that drop from 3feet straight down to 25 to channel in a matter of a few feet. I've caught fish in stuff like that, but not a lot with my fly rod. They need that food shelf.Maybe I've talked too much and got carried away, but hopefully you can take something away from what I've said. I'm no expert on fly fishing for pike, I just do the same over and over again and catch fish and it's from my own observations while chasing pike with my fly rod. I will tell you that there are big pike from the 23 bridge all the way downstream to the lift bridges. It's finding those areas in between that hold pike year round and can be easily be caught with a fly rod. You'll be amazed on some areas your not catching nothing, then 50 feet further down river your catching lots of 30"+ in one small area.Remember this is my observations while fly fishing for pike, there are thousands of different ways to catch pike with spinning gear. Actually this how I find areas with pike, because it's faster to locate an area that are holding pike. Then I make a note or start fishing it with my fly rod. The areas around Spirit Lake is good, and some of the weedy points on the main river channel above Boy Scout are good bets as well.Tight lines everyone and be careful out there.
Oh, I almost forget about sharing photos. CLICK HERE on how.
