It's Hard To Beat River Smallmouth

It’s Hard To Beat River Smallmouth
By Freddie McKnight

I love to wadefish during the summer months. Just give me a pair of shorts, my fishing vest, a medium action spinning rod, and an old pair of sneakers and I’m happy. I usually fish larger streams and rivers so my catch can be a mixture of species, but my favorite fish to target is the smallmouth bass.
I find it hard to beat river smallmouth. This already powerful fish seems to grow stronger in the heavy flows of the rivers I fish. I have caught plenty of the species in the Great Lakes and other impoundments, but give me a 15-inch fish in the current and I will show you a fighter. These fish are pure muscle and will put your fishing skills to the test.
One of the great aspects about this species, especially in the rivers, is that they are not as finicky in their eating habits as their brethren in the lakes. Tie on something that resembles a minnow or a crayfish and chances are you will be catching them in short order. If the rivers in your area are like the ones in my area, you will go through numerous smaller fish to catch one good one, but on light line the fight is one that you will not soon forget. Even a 10-inch fish pulling in the current makes you work.

One of my favorite tactics for summertime smallmouth is to fish a three-inch crayfish imitation grub on a jighead that is just heavy enough to bounce off the bottom every now and again. Float that offering through those likely looking pockets in any given section of stream much like you would work a dry fly for a trout. Anytime you feel the least amount of resistance, raise the rod up as if you were setting the hook. It does not have to be a hard set, just enough force to drive the hook home. By doing this, most of the time the hook will be in the top or the corner of the mouth. Both locations offer solid hooksets and are areas where it will be easy to unhook the fish and let them go, unharmed.

Another key tactic in the summer months, and even into early fall, is to be aggressive with these fish. I like to use the same crayfish-looking bait and swim the lure in an erratic fashion through likely looking places. Though I don’t seem to catch as many fish by doing this, those that I usually take run a bit bigger than average.
A good day on my favorite area river can average 50 or more fish. Sure, most of them will be less than a foot in length, but you usually get a half-dozen or so in the 15-inch-plus range, as well. On light line and in the current, this is a battle that can make the whole trip worthwhile. Occasionally, a fish over 20-inches will inhale the bait, and that can make you talk for a month or more about the catch.
Many times during the summer evenings I have seen the bass go on a feeding spree. Schooling up, they will often run horde minnows into a tight area, then charge into them. Both bass and minnows can be seen above the surface of the water as the frenzy grows. It does not last too long, but the action can be fast and furious.
A smaller sluggo-type lure is my favorite for getting in on this action. The bait can be cast easily enough on the lighter spinning gear, and numerous fish can be taken before you have to change baits. Another option I have used with great success has been an in-line spinner such as the Mepps Aglia series. Stick-type minnow baits can work well, but sometimes their splash in the shallow waters where this type of action typically takes place is enough to put the fish down. They are a great search-type lure to find a school of feeding fish, though.
Even when the toughest of conditions present themselves, anglers can still catch smallmouths. Warm and low water often make other fish lethargic, but it seems that the bass always find those spots with enough water flow and oxygen. Fishing the riffles below a long pool is a great way to find active fish during the dog days of summer.

Smallmouth can be a great target for fly fishermen, as well. On the local river known for its white fly hatches, fly fishermen come from all over the country to get in on this feeding frenzy. Sometimes so many of the insects are in the air that it is hard for anglers to breathe without sucking in a few of the bugs. The bass simply go on a feeding frenzy with reckless abandon when this happens. Those anglers landing anything on the water’s surface closely imitating the white fly can expect these fish to take their offerings and then the fight is on. I know of anglers who claim to have caught a hundred or more fish in a couple of hours of fishing time under such conditions.
Before the hatches start to come off, many of these same anglers will use wet flies of some sort to probe out a few fish and get their gear in order prior to the start of the hatch. If you have never seen a large smallmouth caught using a fly rod, it is a sight to behold. The angler must use everything to his or her advantage as the fish will use the current and any obstruction it can reach to make its getaway. Also, the way the fish will leap repeatedly out of the water, with the fly angler bowing to try and keep those small hooks from pulling out, is an art form in motion.

The smallmouth was definitely made for catching. Its aerobatics are matched by few, it can be caught in great numbers, and it is easily accessible to millions of anglers. For my money, there is not a freshwater fish to match it in a pound-to-pound matchup, and I have caught most all of the freshwater species swimming in East Coast waters. As with all anglers, I have my favorite fish and this is the time of year to be after them. Look for me to be about knee-deep in the river on any given afternoon in my pursuit of the bronzebacks.