First River Trip

[Robert Riley]

I just came back from my first river trip for smallies. And I didn't catch anything, my friend got 2 small ones. 

 

So we just walked upstream (in the water) for about a mile and a half, just casting ahead into cover. Some log jams, little pools and a lot of grass( the kind that sticks out of the water for the most part, i don't know the name, sorry). He caught his two on beetle spins, and I caught nothing on a scrounger with a big bite baits cane-thumper. 

 

What can I do to catch fish? Haha in all seriousness, I hardly know what I am doing, I even had baitcasting gear. 

 

Next time I think i'm going to toss some 1/4 tubes on my ML spinning rod.

 

Thanks guys, 

-Newbie Smallmouther

[WDinarte]

I try the tubes and I pull my first smallies nothing big but was a catch, good luck on that.

Now... I have a friend who fish a lot the river and he say that he always have a good luck with the rooster tail, try that lure and see if that put you first big-smallie. Not sure how that lure will work the area with lot of grass but on the rapids let the water do the work.

[EvanT123]

Get that ml spinning rod out and try those tubes. You could also try flukes and maybe some topwaters. Oh yea and a rooster tail.

[Robert Riley]

So my friend, who usually fishes there, throws rooster tails, but he says they tend to get hung up a lot. I'll def try it though. As far as line goes, is 4lb mono fine (Suffix Elite), or should I switch to 8lb Fluoro (Invisix)?

[EvanT123]

Give the beetle spins a try they definetly catch fish as your friend demonstrated. Neither of those lines would be my first choice. 8-10 mono would be. If I had to pick id go with the mono and watch my drag. Also nick that 4lb test its going to have the strength of 1 or 2 pound test.

[Steveo-1969]

I started seriously river wading for smallmouths 4 years ago and started with a 5' UL spinning rod with 4# mono, but I found I couldn't set the hook hard enough and lost lots of fish.  So I bought a 7' UL and switched to 10# braid and it was better, but still not great.  For the last two years I've been using a ML spinning rod with 10# braid (and 8# fluoro leader) and couldn't be happier.  I get a solid hookset but still enjoy a great fight, even with small 8-10" fish.  I love fishing with my baitcasters, but if I'm wading for smallmouth I want my ML spinning rod in my hand.  As for baits, I've caught fish on LOTS of different things.  But to keep it simple and just plain get bites I would throw a 4" Berkley Powerbait power worm texas-rigged on a 1/0 worm hook.  Either weightless or with a small bullet sinker (1/16 or 1/8 ounce).  It will go through grass and won't easily get hung up on a rocky bottom.

[flyfisher]

Smallies are very opportunistic predators so it is more about getting your bait to them than it is the type of bait in my experience.  Try dead sticking a 3-4" stick bait that is nose hooked through likely spots.  This has been my skunk killer for years and on many different types of water, it has never failed me.  When there is grass it can be tough to get through it depending on the current but i can almost guarantee that there are bass underneath it somewhere.  Flukes are alway a good choice as well as are shallow running cranks and if the water is up or muddy go with big bladed spinnerbaits.  Hard jerk baits have done well for me year round as well.

 

I use a M powered rod in either XF or F with 20lb braid most times out.  it helps with good solid hook sets.  If all else fails, get a fly rod and throw poppers and sliders as that is my preference these days  

[z7master167]

I use green pumkin, watermelon and brown curly tail grubs while wade fishing smallies. If the current is strong throw them out as far as you can and let the current work it down river just pop it every now and then, or swim them thru the water column.

Thats about all i take with me when i go wade fishing that and a ron of jighead bc u lose a lot of them lol i take 1/4 &1/8 oz heads

[riverbasser13]

Skipping a weightless green pumpkin yum dinger or senko under overhanging trees and shrubs is pretty much the only way I've figured out to consistently catch small mouth this season. I'm still new to fishin for these guys and it's fun as heck. I like using a 2 or 3/0 hook and 6 pound line. I've caught them in the current with this setup also but reading the current is a little trickier

[Turkey sandwich]

Check out the other river smallmouth read. There's some really good advice on there. As far as money baits go, 2.5-4" grubs and similar sized tubes weighted as light as possible to get them down are pretty much guaranteed to get you hits once you find fish. A good popper and either crank baits just diving deep enough to rake the bottom or spinnerbaits make for good locators.

As far as tackle, I'll go as light as 6# mono or as heavy as braid with a flouro leader depending upon what I'm throwing and how active/aggressive the fish are.