Bass fishing in rivers

[Guest Andrea]

Funny how all the fishing shows on tv show the guys fishing in lakes. I've NEVER seen them fish in rivers for bass.

Yesterday we caught 6 bass and 8 bream in about an hour and a half. I switched from a snagless sally to a crankbait. They tore the crankbait UP!!!! Even caught all the bream on beetle spins and I caught a HUGE redbelly on my crankbait.

Does anyone else here bass fish in a river??? If so..........what are you sucessful with and what's the biggest fish you've caught??

[DU_man_84]

Re: Bass fishing in rivers

here in illinois are river is no way known as a bass fishing river, the illinois river, but i like to fish it from time to time, we fish the rocky shorelines and backwaters and im with you huntin girl, my favorite bass bait on a river is the crankbait thats what we tear em up with, bays though i will bump spinnerbaits off structure and fish jigs and texas rigged tubes and worms around fallen trees, and my biggest river bass is 5.4 lbs, so yeah dont count out the rivers they can be fun, plus on crankbaits here you can catch so much more than bass, its a mystery what you got on sometimes when your reelin

[SuperMn106]

Re: Bass fishing in rivers

I have a river about a mile from my house and it has a bunch of smallmouth in it. If i use worms and a hook i catch carp, catfish and smallmouth and some walleye. I will usually use a floating Rapala. last year using a rapala i fished the the river for about 6 hrs. Floated the river for about 5 miles and caught 65 smallmouth and one pike.

[AvonLKHunter]

Re: Bass fishing in rivers

I catch all my bass in the rivers around me, largemouth and Smallmouth. Really good in the summer when the water goes down and stops flowing.

[IllinoisArcher]

Re: Bass fishing in rivers

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here in illinois are river is no way known as a bass fishing river, the illinois river, but i like to fish it from time to time, we fish the rocky shorelines and backwaters and im with you huntin girl, my favorite bass bait on a river is the crankbait thats what we tear em up with, bays though i will bump spinnerbaits off structure and fish jigs and texas rigged tubes and worms around fallen trees, and my biggest river bass is 5.4 lbs, so yeah dont count out the rivers they can be fun, plus on crankbaits here you can catch so much more than bass, its a mystery what you got on sometimes when your reelin

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Oh boy we tear the Illinois for bass tho its not that good except in this one spot we found...but if u want to go catfishing my cousin has a house on the Illinois River in Ottawa and we just catch cats left and right

[DU_man_84]

Re: Bass fishing in rivers

i live in ottawa and i live on the fox, and i catch cats left and right to go out alot at night also catch alot of carps my biggest one in the back yard is 17.5lbs and biggest on the illinois is 21lbs, but thanks for the offer on fishing at your cousins house, and if ya dont mind me asking who is your cousin

[Texan_Til_I_Die]

Re: Bass fishing in rivers

I've fished the St. Lawrence in NY and the St Johns in Florida. Both were heavily influenced by tidal conditions. I looked for calm eddie type areas when the current was strongest. I also looked for islands and sandbars out in the middle of the channel and usually fished the upstream side. I've caught bass on almost all of the standard bass baits. In heavy current I tend to use more crankbaits and spinnerbaits and in light current I'll use more soft plastics.

The biggest fish I've caught from a river was on the St Johns near Palatka. It weighed 8 lbs 11 oz. I caught it by flipping a 6 inch red bloodline ringworm under an old boat dock.

[muggs]

Re: Bass fishing in rivers

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I catch all my bass in the rivers around me, largemouth and Smallmouth. Really good in the summer when the water goes down and stops flowing.

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I fish a lot of the Erie tribs for smallmouth. Personally I think May is a tough month to beat. The big lake run smallies are in now and they're pretty think. Poppers at dusk are hard to beat.

[Tominator]

Re: Bass fishing in rivers

I used to walk the Vermillion river for hours when I was in college.

Biggest smally I ever caught in the river was probably a little over a pound.

Tail waters and cut banks were the best spots, head waters were OK too.

Tons of fun.

[muggs]

Re: Bass fishing in rivers

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I used to walk the Vermillion river for hours when I was in college.

Biggest smally I ever caught in the river was probably a little over a pound.

Tail waters and cut banks were the best spots, head waters were OK too.

Tons of fun.

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yeah the smallies that stay in the streams year round are small, but late April to late May you can find some in the 4 and 5 pound range. The only time I can catch them is at dusk though. I'm sure that has something to do with the spawn...but probably more with my ability.

I've been trying to fish the Vermillion for a while, but every time I plan a trip, it storms two nights before and blows the river. Where's the good areas Chris?

[Tominator]

Re: Bass fishing in rivers

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Where's the good areas Chris?

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I don't remember the name of the road to get into the valley, then there's a public parking spot there, and I walked at least a mile north to get to deeper water, but just aboooot all the riffles within that mile hold rockies and smallies. You'll even catch the odd chub and crappie.