River Help

[FirstnameLastname]

Anyone who fishes huge rivers could probably answer this. How do you fish a gigantic river from shore. I live very close to the Connecticut river and its literally a half mile across. The current is also strong enough to drag around saltwater gear like it was nothing.what do I do to catch fish with dinky freshwater stuff. I can only cast so far with so much wieght. Am I doomed? Should I break out my ten foot surf rod?

[BuffaloBass716]

I fish the Upper Niagara River, it's about a half mile to over a mile wide in some places but i'm still figuring it out as well.  If you have smallmouth in that river, then I would consider casting out father but if there is just largemouth in the river, id stick to slower moving water and weedy areas near entering creek mouths. Remember, largemouth don't like current, Smallmouth do like it to some degree, but will be around current breaks and rocky areas to allow food to come to them.  The Niagara has some current, enough to carry over a half ounce sinker on the bottom effortlessly.  I found that a 5/8oz dropshot rig, casting up current about 75 yards out is the most effective way to catch river smallies from shore around here (at least in the summer). When ever I feel a bite using that technique I'm 99% sure its going to be a smallmouth and the 1% off chance that its a sheephead or pike/musky. The weight will drift on the bottom, hitting rocks and structure. Use the current to your advantage, don't fight it.  It makes the bait look more nature if you allow it to drift somewhat.  I found that heavy Carolina rigs and shakey heads get hung up a lot more that the pencil drop shot weights (Which I still lose quite often). The use of hard baits and exposed hooks is almost always out of the question especially in the summer time because it gets so weedy near the shore line that you'd pick up pounds of salad on every cast.

 

Overall, a heavy dropshot rig with a small offset worm hook for Texas rigging a 4.5" robo/finesse worm has been key in order to catch any bass further than 50ft.  

 

For largemouth near shore and slowly moving eddys and creek areas, a weightless trickworm or very light t-rig/dropshot has yeilded some decent NYS river largemouth and some smallmouth that are still feeding shallow in the early morning hours (before boat actively increase and before the sun is high)

 

Let me know if you try this or if you find a more effective way. Good luck, tight lines