River fishing for Bass

[Alan Reed]

I have only ever fished the river once but I have a couple more times coming up in July. I did decent for my first time throwing a Ned Rig TRD in PB&J. Want to be more than a one trick pony. 

What is your go to bait for Bass river fishing? 

[riverbasser]

give us some more info, fast or slow moving water? largemouth or smallmouth or both?

[scaleface]

I have a lot of go to baits . For fishing rip rap and dykes on the Mississippi I like the Bomber Flat A and Strike King Rocket shads and a host of others. Small streams Rocket Shads , plastic craws tubes , buzzbaits.. . The same stuff I use in lakes . 

[Alan Reed]

35 minutes ago, riverbasser said:

give us some more info, fast or slow moving water? largemouth or smallmouth or both?

 

Going for either LM or SM, my previous trip I only caught small mouth.

 

I just checked Rivercast and one of the rivers by Friday will be down to 7000 CFS at 6ft deep and the other river is currently about 125 CFS at 3 ft deep.

 

[Scott F]

My go to bait changes depending on the river conditions I face. You will see a hundred different baits that will catch river smallmouth. What works for me in fast, shallow water is not the same bait I'd use for fishing downed wood. Tell me exactly what you are fishing, and I'll tell you what I would use. Knowing nothing about what you are facing, I'd suggest a 4 inch weightless, T rigged plastic stickbait in whatever color strikes your fancy. Cast it upstream on a current seam with a floating, braided line and reel up the slack as it drifts downstream. When you see the line "twitch", set the hook.

[MDbassin]

The last several tournaments I've fished have been on rivers. And it seems to not matter so much as the bait/lure your using if it's suited for river fish but more of when your fishing. The tides is what controls the fish

 

ive caught fish on everything but topwater so far on the river. Chatterbait and drop shot have been my most productive tho

[38 Super Fan]

Finesse jig with rage craw trailer. Then a buzzbait or walking bait when I want something a little faster.

[Scott F]

43 minutes ago, MDbassin said:

The last several tournaments I've fished have been on rivers. And it seems to not matter so much as the bait/lure your using if it's suited for river fish but more of when your fishing. The tides is what controls the fish

There are no tides on inland rivers.

[MDbassin]

I was unaware he was fishing inland. I live in MD all I'm use to is tidal rivers going into the bay

[BuzzHudson19c]

If I'm targeting river smallies I almost always start with a buzzbait. If there is a lot of current I like soft plastics with a light weight cast into the current and drifted into breaks. Medium current, same thing but weightless. Wide slow rivers, I go with spooks, cranks and jerkbaits. Don't count out frogs if there are weedy coves.

[Dtrombly]

Poppers and senkos are huge producers for me. I'll occasionally throw Texas rigged craws and tubes as well, and small spinnerbaits. 

[smalljaw67]

I fish a shallow rocky river a lot and the tactic will change based on conditions. Water clarity plays a major roll, I don't know how your river is normally this time of year but the water I fish is normally super clear but we have had a lot of rain so it is stained. That said, in shallow water with smallmouth you will want to use reaction style baits when the water is stained and finesse style baits when the water is clear or lightly stained. You did good with a NED rig, so expand into tubes and at 3' you will want a tube jig that is 1/16oz to 1/8oz with a 2.75" to 3.5" tube, a 4" tube is good if you have stained water but go to the smaller side if the water is clear. For the stained water I like shallow running cranks and wake style cranks as well as spinnerbaits, double willow models and if you have lightly stained water say, just stained enough that you can see the bottom but not too well, then a 1/4oz spinnerbait in pearl or some type of shad pattern will work. The darker the water the larger the bait, 18" to 24" of visibility you'll still want a double willow model but in a 3/8oz version in the same natural patterns, but when you get 1' or less visibility you'll want a 1/2oz bait with a willow blade and small Colorado kicker. It is important to realize that in shallow water even when the water is stained, there is still a lot of light penetration and I'll still use a willow blade, the only time that changes in a river is if I'm fishing deeper water or if the water is muddy like chocolate milk, then I'll go with big Colorado blades or a chatterbait.  I also like using soft plastic jerkbaits, a 5" super fluke is a good option and will get crushed in stained to clear water, if the fish are swiping at it and not getting the hook I'll switch out to a floating style hard jerkbait, with treble hooks you'll get those swiping fish, the key is to working the bait fast, three quick jerks followed by a 1 second pause and repeat, it will result in some of the most violent strikes you can imagine.

[Djohn]

I fish rivers almost every trip. This time of year I prefer 4 or 5 inch stick bait wacky rigged or a green pumpkin Fat IKA. The later is an great bait in clear water or rocky structure.  Good luck!

 

[Turkey sandwich]

Conditions and seasonal patterns dictate almost everything.  If the water is clear, grubs and tubes fished on 1/16-1/4oz jigs can be incredible numbers baits.  Craws fished on football jigs can also be fantastic.  I also catch a lot of river smallies on crankbaits, walking baits, poppers, flukes, spinnerbaits, drop shots, swimjigs/swimbaits, and lipless cranks.  Realistically, under the right conditions, you can probably throw 90% of your tackle box and catch fish. Knowing the conditions you're fishing would make it easier to help you better.  

 

All of that is secondary, though.  The biggest key to success in a fishing a river comes from understanding current - how fish orient in it, how it effects the way fish hunt, how it effects metabolism, how to present bait naturally in it, what it does for oxygen content, and what it means when you're finding fish in different parts of the river.  

[Catt]

Don't know nuttin bout river fishing

 

@Glenn IDK but my phone may have went crazy! Every time I post this picture it's triplicate!

 

 

[MichaelCopeland]

On 6/28/2017 at 1:04 PM, Scott F said:

My go to bait changes depending on the river conditions I face. You will see a hundred different baits that will catch river smallmouth. What works for me in fast, shallow water is not the same bait I'd use for fishing downed wood. Tell me exactly what you are fishing, and I'll tell you what I would use. Knowing nothing about what you are facing, I'd suggest a 4 inch weightless, T rigged plastic stickbait in whatever color strikes your fancy. Cast it upstream on a current seam with a floating, braided line and reel up the slack as it drifts downstream. When you see the line "twitch", set the hook.

What is considered at stickbait?

[Scott F]

Just now, MichaelCopeland said:

What is considered at stickbait?

A stickbait is a bait like a Senko. Senko has become the generic term for the straight, plastic, sinking worm. It's original design model was a Bic pen. It looks like a stick. There are dozens of companies that have since copied the original Senko.

[MichaelCopeland]

38 minutes ago, Scott F said:

A stickbait is a bait like a Senko. Senko has become the generic term for the straight, plastic, sinking worm. It's original design model was a Bic pen. It looks like a stick. There are dozens of companies that have since copied the original Senko.

Thanks. That's what I was thinking but wasn't sure. Yum dingers would be the same thing, right? 

[Scott F]

1 minute ago, MichaelCopeland said:

Thanks. That's what I was thinking but wasn't sure. Yum dingers would be the same thing, right? 

Yes they are.

[da_linx]

I think it depends the river you are going to fish...

Here, in Spain, I use to fish slow little rivers absolutely plenty of wood with a float tube...

In these places a jig with a craw trailer is my go to bait. In the summer, with a lot of algae in the surface I usually fish with frogs or with a punching set up.