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Laminar Flow: The Preferred Current of Top End River Smallmouth Bass
As a habit, after catching and releasing a pigbeast smallmouth, I paddle over to the location of the hit. I want to know what type of location attracts the top end fish. You would expect to find deep trenches with huge submerged trees snagged up on a sharp overhanging ledge. But sometimes you find nothing interesting at all.
On a recent trip to a Virginia river, the best pattern that I found was to target a gravel or bedrock flat in the middle of the river. I came to recognize these areas after catching a 19.5 incher in about 10 inches of water. The bottom consisted of uniformly sized round gravel. There was no single boulder that the fish was using as a current block. There was no nearby ledge trench that this big fish would have used to run for cover. The location was mid river. The shoreline in this section had no big sycamore root balls that the fish might use to shade itself. Why was that big fish hold in such a featureless spot? The answer is laminar flow.
My definition of laminar flow is current that passes over a relatively flat bottom with no change in current speed, and no obstructions to cause water turbulence or micro eddies. The optimum current speed is best described as almost stopped (about 8 inches per second). This is not dead current, and is not so fast that the fish has to work hard to maintain position. Some current is needed for the fish to respirate, or allow water to pass through its gill arches without swimming forward.
Fish holding in these areas will spook easily. The ability to detect laminar flow from a distance is an important skill. I like to pick an object such as a foam bubble or leaf. If the foam bubble or leaf is very slowly traveling downstream in a straight line, it may be laminar flow. Once you cast to the area, you can get a better idea of the current and river bottom by paying attention to the speed your lure is drifting or tumbling, as well as feeling the vibration of a bottom bouncing lure. Use an object on shore to gauge the current speed in relation to the speed your boat is drifting.
In the case of my recent trip to the Virginia river, the examples of laminar flow were in 2 feet or less. This is common but not necessary for laminar flow. Low clear conditions are when they settle into this type of current. In high water, or when they are aggressively feeding, they are often pushed into predictable places like eddy's or drop off's. If you present an easy meal to a passive fish, she will gently engulf the bait, so watch your line for the lure to abruptly stop tumbling.
If you are having trouble finding the fish in the middle of the day when the river is low and stable, try fishing boring looking laminar flow. That kind of current stability might be just where a lazy pigbeast of a smallmouth may have moved to so that she can conserve energy until the next good hunting time comes along.
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