Fishing the River

[brushhog]

Hey Rich....

I will be fishing the Mississippi River in a few tournaments this year and most of my time has been spent bass fishing on lakes. What strategies can you share for approaching river fishing. Lures? Location? etc...

Congrats on branching out to a new board...this just means I'll have to deal with more entourage members...should I just start packing a sharpie in my tackle bag?

[Rich Lindgren]

BrushHog,

The thing you need to keep at the front of your thought process on a river, is current, current and current! The main thing for bass is cover and forage. Current positions food in the river system, so it can actually be easier to find fish and pattern them once you get the hang of it.

Most river bass relate to current, smallies like faster current then largemouths, but even largemouths will find current breaks or slack water that is in close proximity to current. The key is finding cover that provides current breaks or eddys. Fish these areas with baits that imitate the forage. I have found Swing Jigs are hard to beat for bass on the river. Also topwater can be exposive!

You probably should pack one, cause I often forget mine

Tight Lines,
Rich