First off-ditto what chuck said on worms. Day in day out, the Red shad color outproduces almost any other color. Other great colors-Tequila Sunrise, Junebug, Pumpkin/pepper(YUM color).IMHO, color is huge. in any stained water, im throwing dark colors. Purples, deep reds, blues and blacks. In clear water, i go more to watermelon, pumpkinseed, more natural looking colors, sometimes white's or pearls.

I am a river fisherman also. I fish the Upper Mississippi River system with occasional trips to flowages. when the water starts to drop, i have a tough time. The fish gets hard. when the water is dropping, fish slower. I really have to force myself to slow, as I'm such a fast fisherman. i hate putting my spinnerbait and just finesse fish. I'm pretty good at finesse, but i'd rather be power fishing. In clearer rivers(which we certainly don't have), i'd be using a drop shot and carolina rig more. The Miss is usually pretty dark, unless i can get in shallow weeds or bays, which can be gin clear at times. To find smallmouth on your rivers, find rocks. Make sure you have some depth(at least 5-7 feet of water) close by, and i really like to stress on the degree of slope. Smallies in rivers really would rather have a rock embankment(like railroad tracks, for example) with a sharp drop than a rocked embankment that slowly tapers off. Why? I'm not completely sure. I do know one thing for sure and thatsyou need to find some decent depth and rocks. I fish crankbaits(Bomber 5-7A's, bomber Fat free fingerlings, crayfish or baitfish pattern colors in normal water, brighter colors in murky water), Smithwick rogue jerk baits(chartruese, silver), tubes(3 and 4"junebug, and crayfish looking colors), grubs(3 and 4"white), jigs(1/4-3/8 oz,brown, black and blue, with smaller trailers than you'd use for largemouths), and topwater when the bite is on(heddon zara spooks, zara puppies in black/chrome. best color for spooks. In ultra clear water shallow, maybe go to translucent, white, or frog color. In clear and deep, stay with black to keep the lure silhoutted) Rat-L-traps in chrome/blue color produce for me every now and then. 1/4-3/8 oz spinnerbaits in white and chartruese with willow leaf blades in clear, willow/colorado combo all the time, and colorado for murky. My Lord, how did i forget this one? i had to bold and italicize it for importance: CURRENT! You always have to find the current for smallmouths. Current+rocks+depth=great smallmouth fishing. If there's not much current, find places where the water is moving. Move closer to the main channel,and anything that deflects the lightest current, like bridge pilings. Anything that deflects current with probably have smallies on it too.

And now, on to largemouths. You will find largemouths in most spots you'll find smallmouths. They like rocks too. However, they prefer a little warmer water,and don't like the current as much. Look for backwaters with thick weeds and shallow water(under 5 feet). Also, slower tapering dropoffs with rocks and good structure should hold some fish. Look in any scummy or weedy areas. Try and find water coming into the main river, as this will have slightly cooler temps on hot days, which attracts smallies and LM's. when i head out for LM's, i can chuck about anything. Scum Frogs in thick grass are a top choice(white, green), buzzbaits(black, white), spinnerbaits(1/4-1/2 oz, white, chartruese, black,same blade choices as bronzebacks), crankbaits(bigger than ones used for smallies, Bomber 7A's, Bomber Fat Free shad, Strike King pro series in different depth sizes, Mann's 1-Minus, all of these in forage colors, sometimes char.) worms and salamanders texas rigged(6 to 7 1/2" long,colors for worms above mentioned, lizards-black/blue, anything with a char. tail and darker body. YUM Zellamanders are the best salamanders out there) tubes(4" usually, YUM Garret Mega Tube, and ISG Dream Tubes are the best,junebug, black/blue flk, black/red flk) flukes(5"white, silver/black)jigs(1/4-1/2 oz, Booyah Boo Jig, Mann's Stone Jig, ISG Skorpion, Black/blue, brown, white, swim your white jigs witha whtie grub trailer, team supreme and Booyah make great swim jigs). When fishing the bank, just look for any irregularities that deflectcurrent. look for logs extending into the water, treetops, rocks, etc.

Hope this helped you to understand river bass a little more, even though I'm talking about a much more extensive and more backwater filled river than you probably fish.

slayer


ps-try Wacky Rigging. For smallies, use 4" senko style lures in just about any color with a #1 Gamakatsu octopus hook. Look in the walleye section for the hooks, or live bait section. If you get alot of small ones, go to a 5". yammamoto senko is the standard, but YUM Dingers and Wave Worm Tiki Stiks, and ISG Willo Sticks work great too. For bass, go to a 1/0 or 2/0 hook and 5" worms. Sometimes go to a 6" worm. should work. Also, try Gambler Sweebo's, zoom Trick Worms, and YUM(i can't remember the name, havinga mental block) for a skinnier and different presentation.


pss- i let out drop shotting and carolina rigging because we don't have clear enough water to do those here. you could try them in your clearer water, and i'd bet they'd work. Try 3 and 4" YUM dingers for your lures, or small Zoom Flukes. ISG Goby's work phenomanel on drop shot I'm told. Give them all a try.


heres some sites that may help you find products
www.yum3X.com

www.isgfishing.com

www.cabelas.com

www.basspro.com