Fishing river systems for smallmouth bass

[Vabass22]

Well, yesterday was a bunch of firsts. First time EVER fishing a river, first time boating in a river, first time smallmouth fishing, and first smallmouth, we've ever caught! We went out around 2, and fished near some rockfaces, with ratltraps, and c/t rigs, and worms. We moved on after 30 minutes, and found some brush near a couple of floating docks. Missed two on a c-rigged 10 inch worm. I got in the back, and took my dad to some heavy cover, where he caught about an 11 inch smallie on his second cast. We learned alot of things, butwe need to know what smallmouth like, because that was our first samllmouth ever.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[texasbasser]

ive heard tubes work good.

[JB]

look for current and also small eddys that are near current. also down size your baits. many times your fish will be on the slack side of a laydown, where the current is still, but a good ambush point.

[Vabass22]

I have read up on them, and it looks like crawfish crankbaits, and plastics, tubes, and buzzbaits, when the sun comes up. The one we caught, was opn the offcurrent side of a laydown.

[Mac1]

try researching the website at www.riversmallies.com for a wealth of information on river smallies.

[Vabass22]

Thanks, didnt see that site, when I googled river smallies.

[PowerBass]

great site. Love the bronzebacks!

[Mac1]

you could also gain a lot by checking out www.bronzeback.com There are some genuine folks that have a lot to offer on this site......very intelligent and helpful

[FishySkater]

Crawfish will work great

[tenmilefisher]

try fishing a crawdad colored tube 3-4".its a great time for them. 3" seams to do best.

[mack]

the lure i use most is 1/8 oz roostertails. they work awesome for me. i havent gotten skunked all year with it. just a solid yellow roostertail. or i use a 4 inch green pumpkin tube with yellow/gold flakes. in the mornings i use yellow buzzbaits, white mini torpedos, and black jitterbugs. we kill them in the summer.

[Vabass22]

I love using a 1/6 ounce roostertails in solid yellow for panfish, so I have a bunch, will try them next time out.

[mack]

thats pefect size...try it..if your river is like mine, they will love it. on a few days, i lost count of the smallies when i caught 20.

[thebus71h]

Whenever we go to the river to fish, I only bring a few things with me cause that's all I'll need. When we get to the real shallow part of the river, I use white crappie jiggs (I can't think of what size they are, I think 3/16's), those pull out little bass like no other, throw them in the current, let them flow to the eddy, and they just hammer it. Other than that, I take firetiger tubes, and two very bright crankbaits. It's all I've ever needed. Basically, small stuff, as the smallies usually have a tough time getting everything in their mouths.

[flbassman]

Throw a smallish buzzbait across the ripples. MOstly a summer thing, but it works all year.

[scrap]

vabass, try torpedoes- throw em out, let em sit, twitch and wait, twitch, patience, you'll learn the technique. also throw as close to the shore as you can and bring your bait back out to you. i have been having luck with 4 inch zoom lizards, pumpkin, green, and hula-poppers and torpedoes. you just have to get out there and toss the stuff to em. (baby or medium torpedoes by heddon work good). go get em.

[ToPwAt'R GuY]

I like using grubs,tubes,poppers, and spinnerbaits for smallies.