Temperatures have retreated back to their late winter norms here recently and correspondingly so has the water temperature on the Little Pigeon. A little over a week ago the water temperature was an unseasonably warm sixty-one degrees. Today, it was fifty degrees. Above average rainfall continues and so does the generation at Douglas Dam. They were running two or more generators at an average of 17K cfs, so again I decided to fish the Little Pigeon. The water clarity had improved since my last trip, but I decided to slow down my presentation due to the lower water temperature. I spent most of the trip fishing with an eighth ounce stand up jig and a three to four inch long soft plastic crayfish. Color did not seem to matter as much as making sure that the lure was retrieved as slowly as possible. A couple of hops and a pause with the lure for a couple of seconds did the trick. With this type of retrieve I managed to land several nice smallies and a bonus largemouth pictured above. The best is yet to come as we are closing in on that time of year when the pre-spawn movement of smallies into the Little Pigeon will begin in earnest. Of course, the timing and size of the spawning run is subject to the wims of the weather and water conditions, but if things line up it can provide some of the most exciting and productive river smallie fishing you can find anywhere.