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Best way to target spring smallmouths in a larger river with strong current?

Fishing for spring smallmouth bass in a large river with a strong current can be incredibly rewarding with the right techniques. Here are some effective methods to target these energetic fish:

  1. Use Current Breaks: As highlighted in the video from BassResource, smallmouth bass often position themselves behind current breaks such as bridge pilings, rock piles, or even natural formations like islands. These breaks in the current create eddies or slack water areas where bass can rest while waiting to ambush prey carried by the current. Casting your lure upstream and allowing it to drift into these breaks can be very effective.

  2. Appropriate Bait Selection: Crankbaits and swimbaits are excellent choices in strong currents. They mimic the natural prey of smallmouth bass and can be very enticing. As mentioned in the "4 Tips to Find and Catch River Bass on Crankbaits" video by Wired2Fish, using a crankbait that can deflect off rocks and other structures can trigger bites from bass. The vibration and movement of these baits can attract bass from a distance.

  3. Rod and Line Setup: A medium-action rod with good sensitivity and backbone is ideal for handling the strong current and fighting vigorous smallmouth. Pair this rod with a braided line, as discussed in the Wired2Fish video, to maintain better control and feel, since braid has no stretch and allows for immediate hook sets.

  4. Fishing Technique: Cast upstream and work your bait back with the current. This natural presentation is crucial, as smallmouth bass are always facing upstream to catch incoming food. Fast-retrieval reels can be beneficial to keep up with the swift current and maintain tension on the line, as suggested in the Bass University tips.

  5. Explore Heavy Current Areas: Don't shy away from fishing in heavy currents. As noted, these areas might seem intimidating but often hold large smallmouth bass. The fish use these spots to conserve energy while staying ready to strike at passing food.

By focusing on these strategies—utilizing current breaks, selecting the right baits, optimizing your gear setup, and maintaining a natural bait presentation—you increase your chances of successfully catching spring smallmouth bass in rivers with strong currents. Remember, each day on the river can be different, so adaptability and observation of the water conditions and bass behavior are key to a fruitful outing.

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Bank Fishing River Smallmouth Bass With Swimbaits by Wired2Fish → spot as long as possible and you can cheat that by casting and the current letting the current take it down and then popping it up again so you can hold it in like a two foot swath like behind a boulder behind a log or something like that until something comes out and actually grabs it I want to talk a little bit about my setup really been enjoying this combo this is a 13 feet it's a 7 1 medium and I think that a medium is a really really great option for when you're fishing the river I think it's good because you're not dealing with like a noodley tip when you're working with like a heavier bait like this and the current you can keep it tight you have control your bait a little bit better and obviously for fighting the fish when the smallmouth is digging down in that deep current with a broad body like that it's nice to have some leverage on them this is also a 13 Crede really smooth excellent casting reel that works really well on this medium rod and we've got some 10 pound braid on here I'm really a big fan of lines that don't have stretch and the nice thing about braid is that it's a little bit thinner and the current allows the bait to float in the current a little bit better without the line being constantly swept away so you can cut the current
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How to Catch Smallmouth River Monsters - Fishing Tips by The Bass University → and typically when I'm fishing them I always fishing upstream bringing my bait back down with the current that's key all every fish in a river system he's facing upstream he cannot face downstream it's impossible they can't sit like that so at all times their eyes are upstream waiting for a current to bring it to food to them and fast reels baitcasting reels even when I'm cranking I'm throwing like eight two one seven three two one spread slow it's real I'll ever use on river systems for the same reason the way the fish eat the bait and come at you so quick it creates a ton of slack in your line that and the current a lot of times puts a big bow in your line that's really a long rod really helps to pick up a lot of slack and get a good hook set on these fish and probably the most important part when if you are fishing out of a boat on the river is good trolling motor batteries most of the time I'm fishing Smiley's I like fishing heavy heavy current places a lot of guys would think you know the currents too strong for fish to be but the fish in the river systems are always going to be on some sort of a theme it might look like the most raging us water in the world there will be a little Boulder there or something that fish can hide
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07:18
09:56
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4 Tips to Find and Catch River Bass on Crankbaits (Spring) by Wired2Fish → initially eat the bait it allows them to get the bait a little bit better and it also helps you when you're fighting those fish so when they're gonna make a surge at the boat which today you're fishing smallmouth and they do so much right at the boat is just make endless amounts of runs it's going to allow you to better chance of keeping those fish pegged which is super key when you're fishing crankbaits especially in current and especially with smallmouth it's going to up your odds of landing those fish and i'm using this is 12-pound test it's fluorocarbon so it's got a little bit of give i do like fluorocarbon when i'm cranking though it allows it me to feel a little bit more of what's going on down there whether i'm bumping into rock or a lot of times you're going to pick up leaves on a cast it allows me to to tell if i've got a leaf on there i can just give it a quick little snap and get rid of it so that fluorocarbon allows it to be a little bit more sensitive even though you're using a rod that that's got some give to it we're in like four five six feet of water and i'm just kind of straight reeling this and you can kind of see it'll deflect off a rock every so often and that's kind of what i'm doing to try and trigger these bites
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05:37
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Chatterbait Fishing Rules You Need To Follow For Big Spring Bass by Bass Fishing Declassified → Jigs and as you know if you're fishing a river you probably got a lot of wood laying around so one thing that's critical anytime you're fishing a river is to recognize the fact that your retrieve is crucial in my opinion the best retrieve you can do is give your Rod a 6 inch to 12 inch continuous pull or pulse which will allow your bait to go like this in the water and therefore every time you stop that bait at the end of that 12 inch pulse what happens is your your skirt dirt flares open and then you start to retrieve again and it gives a very very good realistic approach as you're fishing current now the other tip with this is you want to make as tight of the cast as possible to the cover that you're fishing because anytime you're fishing in current what happens is you get an Eddy behind the object whether it's a rock a stump a lay down you get slack water you actually will have a back flushing of current so the closer you fish to the object the easier it is for that back current to actually pull your bait into that object meaning it pulls it into the Eddy that slack water area where the fish are generally going to be holding and waiting for food to be brought to them so another tip anytime you're fishing rivers with a vibrating Jig Is to go
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02:07
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Summer River Bass Fishing | How To | Bass Fishing by Bass Fishing Tips & Techniques by BassResource → The stronger the current is, the more food and nutrients are being washed down the river, plus, it positions the fish behind those current breaks. Those can be bridge pilings, rock piles, can be wing dams, stumps, even islands in the middle of the river if it's a big enough river. And what happens is you get these little eddies behind these current breaks. And that's where the fish sit in that slack water. And as the food source and stuff washes by them, they dart out in that current and grab it and go back in behind that current break. So, current breaks are the key. Really, they are the key. And you need to figure out what they're hiding behind. And then it's a matter of just going from current break to current break and catching fish. It can be actually a really fun way of doing it. A couple of things you need to think about though is, if you're working on a river system that has a lot of dams, you're at the mercy of the dam operators as to how much current flow is coming through. And maybe some days are not pulling a lot of water, that can shut down the fishing. Sometimes they just go out in the middle of river and suspend and won't bite, or they just aren't in active feeding mode because there's not as much baitfish moving around and being swept downcurrent. What tends to happen then is the fish will move up alongside the current break. Say for example it's an island.
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09:29
11:28
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How to Fish for SMALLMOUTH BASS in Rivers! - River Fishing Tips to CATCH MORE Bass! by Nathan Quince Fishing → just a matter of how many so i'll roll my crankbait through here a couple more times and we'll see if this is a really loaded up current break like that other one or if it just has one or two fish in it maybe they like a different bait on this one not every current break is going to be the same if you fish even on day-to-day basis if you fish that current break that's up there 100 yards away from this one and they're eating that red crankbait you could come down to this one you'll get one to eat it fires the school up but they only want the ned rig on this spot or whatever so you just have to play around with your bait selection in these current breaks and make sure you're just fishing your bait in a natural presentation that's all that matters with these river fish as long as you have a natural presentation pretty much any bait will catch fish out here they just want it to look like food that's all that matters to them they can tell when something's not right because of how the current works in these places so if you're fishing your crank bait down this current break and you're fishing it upstream bait doesn't swim upstream really really hard against strong current so if you're ripping a crankbait up there upstream at two miles an hour against this current
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