suggestions for shallow river smallmouth bass fishing?

[HighDesertWolf]

This weekend im gonna set out after some smallmouth bass in the verde river here in northern AZ. out here they call it a river but anyone from back east would call it a large creek. it however has some good smallmouth bass fishing and Ive never fished for them in a creek setting before only on lakes. any suggestions for lures and presentations is what Im lookin for. thanks guys

[Phil from Maine]

Most any lure you would normally use on small mouths would work, I like the red and white daredevil with a copper back on it. I like fishing in the dead waters for bass however the deep eddies in the fast water will work to sometimes. I have caught them fishing for brook trout as well, where the current runs into a deep pool is a great place to try as well. In the dead waters look for rocks that they can hide around while waiting for food to come to them. Good Luck with it.

[Pygmy]

As for lures, think small....Fairly small minnow imitating floater/diver plugs such as rapalas or Yo -Zuri minnows work well...Also, plastic twister grubs ( 3" or 4") on 1/16 or 1/8 oz. jigheads are a nearly universal lure for smallies in smaller streams...Go for dark or neutral colors such as motor oil, pumpkinseed or smoke...

If you fly fish, smallish streamers will work, as will wooly buggers, zonkers, muddlers and others....Try a dark wooly bugger dead driftedin fast water as a hellgramite imitation...

[Michigander65]

We kill'em here using a floating Rapala in the perch color, mostly in the deeper pools.

[Allseasonhunter7]

try a craw fish imitation too

[indianahunter83]

Pearl colored fluke is an amazing creek bait in the slower pools. Later in the day I like throwing a zara puppy.

[HighDesertWolf]

ORIGINAL: Allseasonhunter7

try a craw fish imitation too

good call, we deffinately have lots of crawfish around here they probably make up for 90% of a fishes diet out here.

[lilbassman]

i like a small jighead with a 4 inch brown or chartuese mister twister or crawfish imitation. another good lure is some sort of floating minnowbait.

[HighDesertWolf]

Well I went and umm.. well it was really shallow water. the deepest pool I found was maybe 3 feet deep. Luckily I took my ultra light and trout gear along. the bass were so small Id watch them chase and hit my floating rapala that was the same size as most of them. I ended up throwing crappie size tube jigs with a 1/16 oz jig heads on my ultralite just so they might get a lure actually in there mouth. My biggest one of the day was 6 oz on the rapala scale everything else didnt even register on it. Im gonna do some scouting further down the river from what I was told there are better pools and bigger fish.

[ConstructionWorker]

Try a shiny jig.