Beginners Help Please

[bassman22]

Hi there I live in west virginia and we have rivers here, Where is the best spot to locate bass in the rivers, I have not hooked a fish yet what is the problem? Where should I look to hook some fish i have no boat so I got to stay on the banks i Use power bate-Plastic Worms and spinner bates. hOW DO I FIND   breaks in the currents? Im really new at this i have no clue what that means.  

      Any comments would be great thanks

[Raul]

A "break" in the current is caused by any object that obstructs and redirects the water flow, rocks, boulders, downed trees, bridge bases are good examples, they block the normal flow and redirect the current. Fish in rivers and streams hang around behind the obstruction ( they have to spend less energy ) waiting for whatever food the current brings with it, if the river isn 't deep you can actually see the obstruction of the effects the obstruction is causing, you can see areas where swirls form, those swirls are formed to the sides of the obstruction because when the current hits it the water is redirected to the sides increasing it 's speed so you get a contrary effect behind the obstruction. The idea of fishing in the current is to cast your offerings upstream and retrieve them following the flow ( downstream ).

[bassman22]

Ok thanks for the info it helps alot. I've got a few more things to ask.

1. What kind of bate should I use?

2. If I Cast the spinner bate or what ever im useing up stream and real it the way the current is going down stream Right or Wrong?

3. Where I fish I have a Creek Channel that runs in to the river where would i look for bass at? At the mouth of the Creek Channel our what any help would be great.

[Raul]

All baits ( cranks, worms, grubs, spinnerbaits, etc. ) work, really the limitations depend greatly on how deep the river, creek or stream is, select your baits according to that. Use the current in your favor, many times overhanging brush along the banks is the only cover that offers shade and shade is always a place where fish hang out, cast above and ahead the shaded area and let the current drift your baits below the shade. Mimic the base forage, fish in small rivers and streams feed heavily on terrestrian insects washed from the land so cricket and grashopper like crankbaits are a good choice, frog crankbaits are a good option too, minnow type baits in medium size are also good options. Cast upstream and retrieve downstream that will give your baits a natural presentation, what you should always have in mind is the current, the faster it is the less time your bait will be on the water, it 's not as bad as you think, fast current means that fish don 't have much time to inspect the bait and are more eager to strike it. Where a river and a tributary meet it 's always a good place.

RW is very much more qualified than me to comment on fishing in current because he does it all the time, maybe he can step in and give us his opinions on the subject.

[mullman]

This reminds me of a question I've had for a couple weeks now.  The La Crosse River runs into the Mississippi River just a couple of yards from my office building and I've been wondering how I should fish it during my lunch break.  Would I be better right where the two meet or somewhere else?  Will bass sit around the mouth of the Mississippi waiting for forage to come off the La Crosse River?  That's been my assumption so far but any expert advice would sure be appreciated.

[Rattlinrogue]

Does the river have any wood cover relatively close to shore?If so, I would start my efforts there.I have a lot of luck throwing an H&H spinnerbait in white or chartreuse.Downsized crankbaits banged through the cover is also a good strategy.The key( at least where I live and fish ) is to throw smaller versions of popular bass baits to the relatively smaller river bass.