River bassin

Well, the lake I live on is now frozen so I have to resume my bass educating for the winter.

Just wondering what the thoughts out there are on bass in or near current. Do you think they school by size and if yes, what do you do in a tourney situation when you are catching lots of 12-13.99 inch bass but cant swing any bigger? This is a question specifically for current type situations- when you find an eddy, current break or logjam that holds fish but seemingly not bigger ones. I am the king of numbers, just trying to improve the average size. Thanks for your opinions.

I would say to experiment with lure size, weight and color…If you having a hard time keeping contact with the bottom, maybe bump your weight up a size and keep it on the bottom where those big fish are. Also, look for structures within structures such as humps, ledges, drop offs, ect. Maybe even switch to a big profiled jig in pig and crawl it on the bottom. That could be just what you need to antagonize a big bass into biting your lure. Also, i figure you know this judging by what you said about eddies and log jams, but i saw on a segment on espn, a pro was fishing main channels of rivers and he talked about fishing the current. He mentioned finding anything at all that may be obstructing the current flow. Something as simple as an old tire may hold 1-3 bass..Something like an old car or sunken boat could potentially hold 20 fish. I don’t have much experience with channel bassin’, but this is all stuff i have read from either bassmaster, or seen on tv from a widely known professional; and if you think about it, it all really does make sense. So think about it, try to visualize what you will be doing and using (this works well for me) and get out there and experiment until you find something stellar!
Good luck…See ya out there..next year that is

Last year while pre-fishing for a BFL in PDC I pulled up to a main river point and proceeded to slay largemouth. BC was with me and he will agree that we must have caught 25-30 fish one after the other. The only problem was they were ALL short until the very end when BC caught a 14.000001″er. This all happened in a time span of about 30-40 minutes. Needless to say I did NOT go to that spot on tournament day because I was afraid of wasting too much time on short fish.

– d-nort

That sucker was 14.00001″.

D-nort- that is my problem much of the time- so did you fish a similar pattern in a different (but similar) area, or do something totally different? (ie bigger, slower, deeper, etc). I seem to have little difficulty finding fish, its finding the right ones which sometimes I cant do. I have tried bigger lures, slower lures, different colors in the same areas but my experience is like that above- it seems that the big ones are not nearby. The problem I encounter is (especially down here where there is less rock and more mud) there does not seem to be many other options so I find myself weeding through the smaller ones to scratch out as many keepers as i can, even if they are “BC sized” (lol- no offense meant)

I am just going on what i have read, but maybe try a little deeper, or try a more significant looking structure. Big bass will hold on the best structure in the river where they can get the best ambush postition.
Do listen even if i am a kid because i have really read up on my stuff and i do know what i am talking about. I hope this helps, and good luck.

Cade- I have no doubt you are well read as I can tell from your informative posts and the success you have- the problems I have is that the spots i am fishing already are or appear to be the best/biggest/only current breaks in the area, often times on or hanging over the drop and the deeper water is main channel or slough strength current Ive read all the stuff about highways and dropping to the next deepest, etc but often as you know in a river like the old man there are often not really (obvious or otherwise) migration routes to follow out/in of the main piece of structure. Especially down here where everything is silted so ledges are silted in.
Im just trying to figure out if i scrap that area completely (after trying big/small, fast/slow, crank/sb, jig/worm, etc) or if maybe its a timing issue with the bigger fish or where exactly do they drop off to since there is not an obvious route or significant depth change once into the channel.

Please dont think I am not listening, because we can all help each other in some ways. Im just trying to stimulate some conversation because the winter is long!!! cmon boat shows so i can buy some lures!

yeah i know you are listening…But i guess it seems wierd for me to try to answer other peoples questions when they are a lot more expirienced than me. I know that you guys know way better than i do….Yeah i don’t know what to tell you, sounds like you’ve tried everything…
Good luck

Don’t Help him!!!!

He wins too darn much now..

Bassbarron,

I have found on occasion that these spots will not produce because everyone else can locate “the ideal” spots as well. Some of the best fish I caught off of the Mississipi River, were on spots most people wouldn’t even look at. Either due to the difficult in locating the subtle changes, or the lack of visable features. I found a number of spots while I was fishing back to the launch after motor trouble. . Just something to consider. I personally don’t like to fish around a lot of boats, so I look for out of the way areas on the Wisconsin River.

Bassman

Current – Live or Die by it!!!
I will add my 2 cents and like ususal, someone will find a way to state that I am incorrect. So, take this info and put it to use and develop your own finding.
First, are we talking about river or lake current?
Large or Smallmouth???
It makes a difference.
I will assume we are talking about smallmouth on a river system:
First off, 14 – 15 inch fish do not give you weight to win. So, focus on larger fish. If you find a school of 13-15 inchers, don’t waste all day hoping to catch large ones from this spot. Can it happen, Yes, but you need to play the odds to be successfull! If you need these fish later, then return.
Here is my theory:
Large Smallmouth love strong current!!!!!!! They will move shallow if there is strong current that they can hide in. Don’t focus so much on baits, if they are there, they will feed. Remember, they are in strong current or the eddies to feed and when they take a large bait, they look for a resting spot to digest the food. Yes, smallmouth eat large bait fish. I have fished spots where a school of smallmouth will target large shad. A smallmouth, will hit a large shad 5-10X’s before eating it. They are trying to cripple it and bite off fins to prevent the shad from swimming away and making it a easier target.
In our area, current is only strong for about 2 1/2 months – bass fishing months (May – Mid July)! Then the flow shuts down if we do not have a lot of rain. When the current or flow is strong, it is good fishing. The fish are predictable and are often together. When the current, FLOW, shuts down they scatter, thus making the current bite difficult. What you as an angler needs to learn is this – spend time on the water! Watch the flow! Learn what spots hold fish at certain flow levels. Fish are prediciable when they feed.
Good Luck!

bassbaron- I hardly ever stay and wear out short fish unless I’m just fun fishing or the bite is extremely tough and I just need to get bit. I will pick up and keep moving. I wish I had the patience and knowledge to pluck the “big one” that is hiding somewhere in the area of the wolf-pack of shorts…but I don’t. Sometimes these schools of short fish will drive me to abondoning the entire pattern and completely change my strategy. Current is great and often holds tons of fish, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve left current for BIG fish in the slack backwaters…