So after fishing a river the other day, I sat down on a log in the shade and watched. Its interesting what you see when you sit still and watch. A few things I observed about smallmouths:
1) They tend to hunt in groups of 2 or more. I saw very few alone and the ones that were alone were the larger "alpha" fish.
2) They hunt very near shore in mere inches of water. Some were so shallow their backs nearly broke the water.
3) They seem to be looking up for food. Saw numerous futile attempts by the bass to grab dragonflies and/or damselflies. 'A' for effort but none that I saw connected. If any emerging mayflies struggled to get airborne, bass were on them. Inchworms/caterpillars also appeared to be on the menu as I saw one fall and it was quickly devoured.
4) Bass that were not looking up for food were chasing killifish in the shallows. I could see them - again in groups of 2 or 3 - charge in sending the killifish airborne trying to escape.
So next time you fish, take some time out to just look and see what's happening. Might help you catch more fish...or not
