River Bass Fishing

[Templeton]

Hello Everyone, 

How would I go about fishing a river?  What all lures could I throw out there and get bit and not hung?  The river is fairly wide, fast flowing for the moment because of the heavy rains, but is usually just a casual flow.  I tried a texas rigged U-Tail worm in motoroil/chartreuse color and watermelon seed colors.  Still nothing.  Thanks for the input and if I left anything important out, just ask.  

Thank, 

Templeton

[paul25]

the rivers i fish a white spinnerbait and rapala x-raps in the black and silver color do really well. You mentioned not getting hung up but the rebel lures rebel crawdad crankbaits flat out catch the smallmouth, but with any crankbait you may get hung some. hope this helps

[Sam]

Tidal or nontidal river?

 

Where are you located?

 

How about introducing yourself in the Introductions section so we will have more information.

 

Templeton, for starters check out the fishing articles at the top of this page and also go to www.woodaves.com and read what Woo has to say about rivers. He specializes in tidal rivers.

 

We need a little more data before we start throwing suggestions your way.

 

Welcome to the forum. Wonderful having you with us and we would love to answer your queries and help you make the Bassmasters Classic next year!!!!

[Templeton]

Non-tidal. I am in Alabama.  I will post the introduction as soon as possible.  Paul, I have tried a spinnerbait in every color and blade combination possible.  These fish out here don't bite at anything other than a nightcrawler it seems like, and I don't want to waste more money on fishing tackle than I already have, with that being said, I have lost multiple crankbaits to the rivers.  I think I also have a problem with feeling the bite.  I watch all these videos of people ripping the bass out of the water as soon as they see them, but I don't know exactly what I am suppose to be feeling for.  Fish or tree or rock, I can't tell a difference.  

[Brackish Angler 228]

What river are you on?  That's an important thing to know.  If you're fishing a river with mostly redeye and you're throwing 8" worms on 5/0 hooks that's a problem.  Give us some real details.  I fish rivers in my yak and pull big spots, but it depends on what river you're fishing.

 

You might also want to check out a forum called "Alabama River Fishing" they'll know more than these guys on such specific rivers.

[Templeton]

The Coosa river.  

[Kevin22]

Don't know anything about the coosa river, but I do know midwest rivers. I would start with a lipless crank and see if you can find some active fish. I say lipless because you can fish it in 6" of water and down in to deep holes and back-eddies. If they are not that aggressive then I would suggest some sort of craw or creature imitation fished slower on the bottom. Look for swirls and back flows, or any type of structure (log jam, downed tree, old bridge piling, etc) those are fish magnets in current. 

[bigbill]

Up north here we been throwing the rebel crawfish crank in every pool and behind every rock too. The bass go crazy for these lures but we're using the tiny ones. Right now mister twister has a clearances on there crawfish cranks. The bass in rivers to me fight harder.

[aquaholic]

boat or shore? From a boat i say run cranks down weed lines, from the shore throw texas rigs

[Templeton]

I shore fish, until I can find the time and weather perfect to paint the boat.  

[bigbear74]

I'm not sure how to word this because I sometime have trouble explaining things. I'm not there with you or even know the water your fishing but it seems like you are doing this right. What I would do is learn the river a lot more. Learn everything you can about the river. Learn to read the water. If you do that you will have so much more of an idea where the bass are holding. There is so much water in a river but most of the river will have no bass or few bass.

[Curved]

Step one is to get your legs wet if you haven't already and its safe to do so. Step two is to identify the holes near where you are parking. Finding them is usually easy. They'll be off the outside bank of each turn, before and after obstructions (boulders, tree roots, bridge columns), and before and after rifles or islands. The fish will be in the deepest ones. I prefer a 3" lure like a small stickbait or twitchtail minnow. Unweighted if there's little current or light dropshot if there is. 6 or 8 lb line. If there are fish you'll feel small bites (from small fish) on the first or second cast. It might take a few more casts for a fish that can take the bait to bite, so just keep working different parts of the hole till you find her if there are any bites.

[Templeton]

2/0 Hooks, U-Tail Worms in Watermelon seed and Motoroil Chartreuse.  There is way to much brush in the river to fish any type of crankbait.  I have lost many of them and this how I know. 

[Curved]

That's fine, cranks are only mandatory for boat fishing. Soft plastics will catch fish. As I was saying, recon on the area will go a long way toward catching fish. They tend not to go out from their holding spots too often. I feel walking around in the water is the best way to see the topography so highly recommend it. Btw, polarized sun glasses are important for that.

[Gotta-go-Fishin]

Coosa River = white.  White 1/4 oz spinnerbait, white 1/4-3/8oz swim jig, or for more bites a 6-8" white zoom trick worm rigged Texas style with no weight.  Fish shadows, and anywhere you can find more than one type of cover near the bank.  Eg. grass and wood, or wood and rocks.  Hold tight, the coosa spots will rip your arm off.  Good luck.

[Templeton]

Thanks man. I didn't try any of those lures yet.  How would you work the trick worm?  Raise the rod tip and reel in the slack in? Or just slow roll it on the bottom. 

[bigbill]

I find the fish in rivers much stronger than fish in ponds & lakes probably because there swimming all the

Time fighting the currents.

 

When we use the crawfish crankbaits we hold the rod tip up to let it float to keep it out of the rocks. We also use the panther Martin spinfly too. I cast all my lures so they go behind the rocks down stream where the pools are. This is we're the fish hide in the still water waiting for something to eat to get pulled into the pool. I even bring the lures up and over the rocks so they can Fall into the pools too. I think both the crawfish crank and the smaller inline spinners & spinfly are two of my best lures so far in rivers. I never tried a spinner bait yet but that sounds great to avoid hang ups too. I fish the shallow part of the river that has deep and shallow pools. My biggest bass so far fishing this type of condition is 3lbs. I have no clue how this fish survived so long in the shallows.

[paul25]

if there is lots of brush in that river i would go with some sort of soft plastic to if they are not hitting the spinnerbaits, a zoom fluke or strike king rage craw in the standard or baby rage. one thing i realized by fishing rivers alot is that you can let the current work your bait for you alot of times . im not familar with the river you fish but if it has alot of shoals that's where i catch all my smallmouth they will set up right behind brush or rocks and smack the bait when it goes by.