A few tips for river fishing?

[Bass'n'cast]

i am going to fish the st.joe river and i was hoping for some advice on where to fish and what to use. The water is a murky green i can maybe see a foot down or so and then its fairly green. current isnt very fast but its no slow movin. Water temp 58-68. Where should i look as far as any river goes? Also what lures are good for shore fishing? im think a crankbait or a spinnerbait, yay, nay?

[crankybait]

well, from what I've learned, tubes are great. Cast upstream. Look for eddies. Rocks are good too. I'm sure somebody can help more

[fishin' fool]

Well i've fished the mighty Miss quite a few times in the past 5 years now and have been doing fairly well. I always break a river down just like a lake in tearms as time of year and what the bass should be doing. My fav time of year to fish any river is summer because the bass can be positioned all over the water collum. For your water temp I would start lookin for bass in back water and non-current areas. Water color seems to be good, green usually means fertile water with plankton, which most rivers are very fertile. Baits I would fish what you know, but I like to fish crawfish and shad baits, because these are probably the two major prey in the river system.
If the river has large and small mouth bass, you'll have to shift your tactics and locations to catch one or the other. Cranks and spinnersbaits are great choices since they are usally a baitfish presentation. If the water is fairly clear use a grey color with natural counter shading, if its clear with cloud cover I use white.
River navigation and reading a river can be overwhelming at first, but once you get the hang of it its no problem. Depending on the size of the river, there is probably channel marker bouyies to help you navigate. But if the river doens't, out side bends in a river is where there is deeper water since the current cuts the bank out. If its a big broad portion of the river with slower current I would just stick right down the midddle. A broad portion is probably shallower since the current is slower and it doesn't carry that much sediment out. If its a big river or a river used for barges, watch out for wing dams! Some times they are shallow enough your can see the riffles from them, but sometime they are a foot or two below the surface and can give you major problems. My best advice is get a good map from the army corp of engineers, and they should have win dams and channel marked for ya. Over all rivers are awsome to fish because they are so different than a lake. And when using a crank you never know what your going to catch! Good fishin

[brushhog]

BnC - take a look at River fishing with the search feature at the top of the page... I'm pretty sure there has been some solid threads before... Good Luck, river fishing can be tough but very rewarding!

[MIbasser]

BnC, I would try the spinnerbait. A little darker in color. Also, as said a tube or a double tail grub or just a jig n pig. I'm assuming that you are going to going for smallies?? Another thing to try is using a drop shot with the tube, leach or goby. Just a thought.

[Bass'n'cast]

at this point im going for anything hehe. but a carp