Educate me on River Fishing

[JackstrawIII]

Hey everyone,

 

I’ve been fishing for several years now and and just bought my first boat this spring. I’m really starting to get the hang of finding bass in ponds, lakes, and bays (Lake Ontario). 
 

With that said, I am relatively clueless about bass fishing in rivers & streams. I’ve done some trolling for walleye and caught plenty of catfish and such casting worms on a dropshot off of dams on the canal… but never a largemouth or smallmouth out of a river or stream. 
 

I live in western central NY up between the Finger Lakes and the Great Lakes. The lake fishing is great, but we also have the Erie Canal, Seneca River, and a bunch of small streams and such. I really want to learn how to catch bass on the rivers and streams around here. 
 

How similar to lake fishing is river fishing? Are you still looking for lay-downs and weed edges? Do they prefer main channel or offshoots? Deep current or shallow breaks? 
 

I feel like it’s a totally different animal, and any education would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. 

[Susky River Rat]

21 minutes ago, JackstrawIII said:

How similar to lake fishing is river fishing? Are you still looking for lay-downs and weed edges? Do they prefer main channel or offshoots? Deep current or shallow breaks

 All of it. Fish the Susquehanna. Certain times of year the fish will prefer certain areas more. The biggest factor to river fishing is flow. Learning where the fish move to as the water level goes up and down is key. Smallmouth seem to prefer rock/gravel bottom. Fish at rest with sit facing into current. A lot of times fish will be near current but, behind something to break it so they do not have to expend energy. I bottom bounce a lot in rivers. 

I also with throw into most Eddies I see.

[Scott F]

The biggest difference is current. Your lures don’t move the same, especially cranks. If your crank bait is moving with the current, you have to crank it really fast to get it to wobble. Against the current, you don’t have to turn the handle at all, you can just hold still and the current will cause it to wobble. Too much current or retrieving it against the fast water and it will just roll over. 
Another big difference is that fish can hold in ambush positions and wait for the current to bring the food to them. They don’t have time to inspect the bait. If they hesitate, it goes by and the opportunity is lost. It’s much more important to get the bait in the right place, than having the right bait.

If you are using a boat, control is significantly more difficult. Being able to anchor in good spots is crucial. There is also the added danger of shallow water and lower units. 

[MediumMouthBass]

River fishing is much better vs a lake if using baits on the bottom, like the others above stated, the current can do all the work for you. When fishing texas rigs you dont have to hop or drag them, just cast upstream and the bait will work its way down on the bottom and the current will drag it past many willing to eat fish. This results in much more fish catches for me vs hopping it on a lake bottom.

[BassinCNY]

To fish the Seneca River this time of year I'd recommend watching the last day of the recent BASS tournament on the Sabine river. The baits and techniques they used are exactly what I'd recommend for the Seneca.

[Scott F]

Depending on how big the river is, you’ll be fishing relatively shallow water all summer long. The rivers I fish have little to no water deeper than 10 feet, most is less than 4. In summer, a lot of fish head to deep water in lakes which make them harder to find. 

[TOXIC]

Really broad question and the answers will vary according to the river and your target species.  I fish Virginia tidal rivers 95% of the time and they are nothing like the St Clair river we fished for walleye.  Was just out yesterday and did well on the tidal Rappahonock river here for bass. Pics of bass on the Rapp and on the St Clair river.

[WRB]

All I can add is study river currents and learn how to read moving water. The river water doesn’t move like lake water it has faster columns of water moving against slower moving water creating seams the fish use to position themselves.

The easiest to see are eddies where the water is swirling counter clockwise caused by hitting underwater structure like boulders and abrupt changes in bottom contours and above the surface objects like wing dams or lay downs etc. 

Smallmouths bass like current seams and Largemouth avoid faster moving water preferring slow moving water in protected current areas.

Lots to learn about current.

Same lures tend to work for River bass and lake bass, location and positioning is very different. All fish want to face into moving water regardless how fast or slow the current is.

Tom

[Alex from GA]

I only fish small rivers/creeks in a kayak.  I usually fish with bottom baits and feeling the bite is the hardest thing for me.  Every laydown, rock, change of current is fished. 

[bartnc37]

Angles and boat control  are everything when casting into laid down trees/rock piles.   Never underestimate how much garbage a good squarebill will come through and come out the other side clean. If you aren't loosing some lures here and there you aren't fishing the right spots

  

[MassBass]

Every river is different and has its own fishy spots. If I am fishing a river for the first time, I like to cover a lot of water. Go as far as possible and see all the river has to offer. If you see what looks like a good spot, or better yet catch some fish off a spot, make a mental note and move on. Try to understand why there were fish on that spot, how they were related to current, or maybe they were totally out of current. If the river is tidal that adds an important element to make note of when you catch fish. Of course you can only fish when you can fish, but you should at least be aware of what tide you are fishing.

[TnRiver46]

I kind of fish rivers and lakes all the same, granted the lakes are all made out of rivers in TN…..

[JackstrawIII]

On 7/11/2023 at 6:14 AM, TnRiver46 said:

I kind of fish rivers and lakes all the same, granted the lakes are all made out of rivers in TN

Yeah, I hear a lot of YouTube guys talking about TVA lakes and had no idea what they were talking about. After reading up on it, seems like the way you guys fish vs. the fishing up north is pretty different. My lakes are shaped very differently and very different contours compared to yours. 

 

 

On 7/10/2023 at 9:04 PM, MassBass said:

If the river is tidal that adds an important element to make note of when you catch fish.

Fortunately, for the sake of simplicity, my rivers are not tidal. Not even this part of the St. Lawerence (the biggest river around) is tidal. 

 

 

Thanks everyone for all the other comments. It seems like the main lessons are:
1. Fish the bottom. 

2. Look for breaks in current and shoreline. 

3. Structure. 

 

A couple follow up questions:
1. Do fish generally always relate to the bottom of the river, or will they occasionally suspend?
2. When do you target shoreline vs deeper water structure? What indicators are you looking for that influence your approach? 

Thanks! 

[gim]

The river I fish sounds a lot like @Scott F rivers.  Very shallow in the summer time.  Unfortunately the one I prefer to fish this time of year looks to be too shallow because we are in a drought.

 

A standard size boat would never make it in there.  Its ankle to knee deep most of the time.  A canoe, kayak, or shallow drafting jon boat is the only option and right now those aren't an option either.

 

One thing I've noticed about river fishing is that when the fishing becomes difficult on lakes in midsummer, the river fishing is fantastic.  Its almost like a complete opposite of each other.  Then when it starts to cool down again, the lake fishing improves and the river bite dissipates.

 

As others have already stated, current is the most important factor.  Stagnant or mostly stagnant areas do not hold fish.  They relate to current and current breaks.

[WRB]

Where in the current breaks are the bass located?

It depends on how deep and fast the current is and what the primary prey source is.

Prey being floating or moving near the surface like terrestrial insects the bass are looking up.

Prey that bottom oriented like crawdads and big insect larvae like hellgrammites the bass are hunting near the bottom.

Again LMB are located differently than Smallmouth and must factor that into you presentations.

In- Fisherman did a excellent study report on fishing Rivers! 

Tom

[Will Ketchum]

All I can add is that if you are going to bounce a jig off the bottom, cast perpendicular to the current or you'll probably get hooked up.

[Darth-Baiter]

Might be my imagination but I think river fish are more muscular and fight awesome. 

[Kirtley Howe]

19 minutes ago, Darth-Baiter said:

Might be my imagination but I think river fish are more muscular and fight awesome. 

I think of it like this....Fish that live in current (a river) are always "working out", so they are stronger pound for pound than fish that live in a calmer environment like a pond or a lake with less current than a river. Plus, when you catch a fish in a river that has current, the current can make the fish feel much stronger.

[PaulVE64]

5 hours ago, JackstrawIII said:

Yeah, I hear a lot of YouTube guys talking about TVA lakes and had no idea what they were talking about. After reading up on it, seems like the way you guys fish vs. the fishing up north is pretty different. My lakes are shaped very differently and very different contours compared to yours. 

 

 

Fortunately, for the sake of simplicity, my rivers are not tidal. Not even this part of the St. Lawerence (the biggest river around) is tidal. 

 

 

Thanks everyone for all the other comments. It seems like the main lessons are:
1. Fish the bottom. 

2. Look for breaks in current and shoreline. 

3. Structure. 

 

A couple follow up questions:
1. Do fish generally always relate to the bottom of the river, or will they occasionally suspend?
2. When do you target shoreline vs deeper water structure? What indicators are you looking for that influence your approach? 

Thanks! 

I would say that they dont suspend in rivers like they do in lakes, maybe because rivers are typically shallow. In the sense that suspending lake fish are inactive fish in the river an inactive fish is probably tucked up behind or under cover to escape current.

In a river system I feel that smallies relate to shore during rising water and deeper pools during drought.

In rivers I am looking for the biggest stretch between rapids. I fish the heads and tails of these stretches and find the best fish nearer the banks.

 

[Munkin]

On 7/9/2023 at 2:32 PM, WRB said:

All I can add is study river currents and learn how to read moving water. The river water doesn’t move like lake water it has faster columns of water moving against slower moving water creating seams the fish use to position themselves.

The easiest to see are eddies where the water is swirling counter clockwise caused by hitting underwater structure like boulders and abrupt changes in bottom contours and above the surface objects like wing dams or lay downs etc. 

Smallmouths bass like current seams and Largemouth avoid faster moving water preferring slow moving water in protected current areas.

Lots to learn about current.

Same lures tend to work for River bass and lake bass, location and positioning is very different. All fish want to face into moving water regardless how fast or slow the current is.

Tom

Read this several times so it sinks in. I have been fishing the Upper Potomac river for 40 years and everything Tom said echoed my own experience. The past 3 weeks the best lures have been a  popper, lightly weighted fluke, and a Zcraw on a football wobble head jig. First two are old standbys but the wobble head is suprising for 2 FOW. 

 

Allen 

[Susky River Rat]

On 7/13/2023 at 4:36 PM, Darth-Baiter said:

Might be my imagination but I think river fish are more muscular and fight awesome. 

I’ve had river smallies pull drag on me while they swim up stream in current.

[bowhunter63]

Current breaks, Eddie’s any structure like a lake. Find the bait You found the Smallies. Here in Missouri our rivers are almost all Rock bottoms. Craw style plastics work good Use the lightest weight you can get by with 

[TnRiver46]

Fun fact: fish don’t have to fight current. Even a silly trout fresh off a truck can hold still in rapids 

 

ever seen a vulture flying around in circles without flapping its wings? Same principle 

[Glenn]

 

[roadwarrior]

Add two more "must have" soft plastics:  Rage Menace and Structure Bug.