Finding Smallies on a river

[Ellesar]

I know the Tennessee River has them, but I'm not sure how to find them. I never catch smallies, just largemouth. What type of environment and cover do they usually populate in a river? What should I look for as ideal cover?

Thanks!

[iceintheveins]

Due to the dams very little of the tenessee river is actual river, but mostly all reservoir. The reservoirs are narrow and have a little current, so finding bass there is a little different than in some reservoirs.

In actual free flowing rivers, smallies will be anywhere the current is obstructed and the water is deeper, ESPECIALLY if there is some cover, such as rocks and logs. The main difference between locating smallmouth and trout in streams are that smallmouth are more cover oriented than trout.

[Ellesar]

Due to the dams very little of the tenessee river is actual river, but mostly all reservoir. The reservoirs are narrow and have a little current, so finding bass there is a little different than in some reservoirs.

In actual free flowing rivers, smallies will be anywhere the current is obstructed and the water is deeper, ESPECIALLY if there is some cover, such as rocks and logs. The main difference between locating smallmouth and trout in streams are that smallmouth are more cover oriented than trout.

How deep? Should I be looking out more in the main "channel" where its anywhere from 15-45' deep? There are lots of humps and ridges out there. Or should I be closer to the shore line where the water is usually about 1-3' deep for the first 10-15 feet, then drops off to 15-20' rapidly?

I've been focusing on the shore line and fishing obvious cover, but like I said I usually only catch largemouth. I had wondered if I might find more in the middle of the river fishing ridges/humps/holes/etc.

Thanks!

[iceintheveins]

They are probably post spawn now, so I would look for rocky riprap just outside of shallow locations. Once they settle in for summer, they will follow the shad around more, being shallow early and deep in the day.

[Crestliner2008]

I'm not sure what phase your body of water is in right now. What's the water temperature like? A good general approach is to find quick moving current and fish the breaks in that current. Smallies act very similar to trout when it comes to current and current breaks. They like to stage up on the edge of the eddys. Best approach is to "slip" the river. This technique involves holding the bow of your boat upstream with just enough forward momentum to keep it that way. And allowing your boat to "slip" backwards with the current, but slightly less speed than the current itself. This way you can present your offering to those current breaks in a very effective manner.