River Fishing

The last couple of years, I have been fishing river systems and even though there are days that you can’t seem to figure anything out, there are other days that the fish are on fire. One thing that I have been noticing, is that the speed of the river flowing does make a difference.

The section that I fish is above a dam and when driving over that dam to the landing, taking notice of the water flowing over it is a gauge as to how the fishing will be. There aren’t many waters that have pike in them here and to my surprise a couple of years ago, finding out that they are here makes for some exciting times.

The shorelines have a steep drop off to the main channel and there also is a fair amount of wood along these shorelines as well. Concentrating on as much of the shoreline as possible with your casts, gives you the most opportunities at getting bit.

Using Salmo Squarebill crankbaits, these baits allow you to cover the shallower edges as well as the drop off to the main river channel. The Squarebill allows you to bounce it off some of the wood and that erratic action is what triggers some strong hits.

When river fishing and there is a strike, you never know what is going to be on the end of your line. You do get a good idea after the first few feet of the fight, as the smallmouth will come to the surface quickly and the pike will dive deep and stay down.

Finding some green weeds in the spring is a plus as well as the prey can congregate to these safety zones while the predator fish know there is an easy meal there for them. Using the Squarebill around structure, cover and at times open water, gives you an advantage of covering a wide variety of waters without having hang up issues.