Before taking into consideration anything else, keep in mind that bass do not do very well at all in very rapid waters and need to have a way to hide in a break from the full blunt of the current. Very fast rivers are usually not great spots, but anywhere has potential. Just keep an eye out with the following advice in mind:



A river offers many possibilities for food for the bass, as well as many possibilities for danger. Shallower water can spell disaster in extreme temperatures for the bass, and there are many predators that feed on bass who also camp out prime river spots.

The bass metabolism is a key factor in finding great fishing on the river, because that determines how hard the bass is willing to work to stay fed and to stay out of trouble.

Usually, the best bet is to do some good, old-fashioned reconnaissance work of the area beforehand while the water is clear and low. This will help the savvy fisher spot attractive locations that are normally hidden or the object's image obscured.

What we are looking for are deeper spots that are out of the way, particularly rocky areas that cut the flow of the river, weeds, stumps, tree trunks, and generally anything that looks like smaller fish and prey will seek the area out or be forced into it during higher waters.

Now, the next thing to look for is the type of prey that the bass will be going after. In the case of the largemouth, that is going to be virtually anything smaller than it is! The largemouth will go after smaller fish, crawdads, rodents, lizards, insects, and just about anything that it can reach. The largemouth can easily be fished topwater in slower areas of a river, particularly portions that are sealed off from the current well and have a lot of weeded cover, or anywhere along the bank where the edge overextends above the water.

The best places are going to be muddy covered areas where smaller prey can easily get in to but really have to struggle to get back out of. In these areas where the current fights itself, the best largemouth technique is to allow a nice colorful topwater lure to ride along the top towards the area, then to jerk and pull fast but in very small and short spurts as if the lure is trying to fight the current to get away from the slower area. The largemouth cannot resist such a sight.

Nor can the smallmouth, but the smallmouth likes to be much nearer to stronger current and solid objects, so the best bet for them is to look for any large object that really cuts the flow and gets the oxygen back into the water. This tendency also has a little to do with the smallmouth's preference of deeper and colder water, because cool water generally absorbs more oxygen than warmer water and the smallmouth has a high metabolism, which means it needs to have a higher level of oxygen in the water. Another important tendency to keep in mind of the smallmouth is that it ideally feeds on very small bottom prey, like small crawdads and small mollusks.