How To Fish In A River With A Strong Current

Here’s everything you need to know about How To Fish In A River With A Strong Current. Find all the information it in this article.

Big fish are cruising in close to the shore right now but if you… You can cast it a country mile and with a fast retrieve you can see them… Everything you need to start catching fish more consistently . The big problem is presenting your bait or lure in a way that reaches the strike zone and entices fish to strike.

We all have that fishing buddy who absolutely loses their mind whenever they get hung. Fishing tackle gets expensive, so I can certainly understand the frustration. Check out this video of Jonathan Newton catching a big smallmouth in a tailrace area.

What Is The Best Rig For Trout Fishing In Rivers?

To catch fish in a river, you need to cast in the right places and use the right bait. Live bait that mimics the food sources that local fish eat is the best to use. Many freshwater fish eat small minnows and nightcrawlers, so baiting your hook with these will increase your chances of catching a fish.

The best way to reach the deep waters is to use a small boat or kayak to get there. This gives the user an advantage since a heavy rod might offset the structure’s balance and result in the user losing control. Braiding fishing lines is basically what its name implies.

Unlocking A Rivers Secrets

In saying that, fish adapt and therefore behave differently in different waterways so it’s best to use this as a guideline only. My advice is do some detective work and begin to unravel the characteristics of your local fish – patterns will soon emerge. The best area for casting a fishing line will be out in relatively deep waters.

A bit of chop on the water reduces the visibility underwater, so fish can’t readily see the flaws in your bait. Only issue there is that the bite goes quiet on the change. I have heard charter guys in the area use sayings like “no run no fun” an in this case I would have to agree. If you can get your bait or lure down there you can catch some really nice fish. Fish don’t want to swim far for a meal when the current is strong because it costs a lot of energy, so you need to get it right to them. Behind these structures are also calm areas where fish will hold.

The Best Area To Set Up Fishing Line

As discussed, pools have slower flow and can be large expanses of water, such as long sweeping bends of the river, and my tactic is one of search and destroy. I want to drift through making casts to the shore and working my lure down the embankment into the deeper sections. Once again I use my Minn Kota to dictate the rate of drift but essentially what I want to do is place a cast every 5-10m along the shore. I tend not to have as much success in the middle of a pool but more so the edges and drop-offs. From a drifting boat, a lure moving at the same speed with the current as the boat will get down deep pretty easily so this is the preferred method.

And finally, add one or more split shots to the rig to weigh down your baited hook in the water. In this video, I’m going to show you how to catch fish even in really strong current. Sign-up to receive our monthly newsletter with interesting blogs about fishing and boating. Get fishing tips and tricks and read personal stories from anglers who live and breathe fishing and boating. Learn new fishing skills, boating resources, fishing etiquette, conservation and more.

Picking The Right Rod Size

When approaching these current eddies, it’s tempting to troll right up to the rock or laydown and start pitching. You may not realize, however, that there’s often more than meets the eye and there may be more cover you can’t easily see. If you start farther from the eddy and fish the area just down-current from what you can see, you may be surprised by how many fish you can catch in a small area.

While moving water can certainly position bass in predictable locations, effectively presenting your bait involves a lot of trial and error and continuous experimentation. Understanding the basic water movement that goes beyond checking the tides is a prerequisite. Water movement plays an important role in creating the topography of the system. It also unearths reefs, separates islands, forms sand bars and opens/closes river mouths. Many rivers also come with their fair share of obstacles that break the flow of water. What you need to look for is a disturbance in the speed and direction of the current.

Waterfalls

As a result, bass were super-aggressive despite every reason why they shouldn’t have been.Current trumps all. If you can, try night fishing the river as well, if it is legal in your area. Walleye are active night feeders, and you’ll have some great spots all to yourself.

Where Do Fish Hang Out In Rivers?

You already know about the freshwater gear to use and where to find the fish, now you just need to know which techniques and baits will work best when river fishing. There are a few simple techniques you can use to start with. Once you get more experience with fishing in rivers and streams, you can always learn new techniques. Too many anglers focus on slack water behind objects, assuming that they will produce the most bites. Sure, there may be some fish cruising around slack water areas, but they are likely inactive, resting, and hard to fool. Active feeding fish in river systems will always be on the edge or right in the current because that’s where the bait is.

How To Most Effectively Fish In The River

The 1.5-2 foot line to my weights keeps the bluegill just out of the rocks. I don’t really like heavy current either but I do use 6 or 8oz sometimes in the river to keep things in place. I however do most of my flathead fishing in a lake or slow moving creeks.

Types Of Fish In Strong Current Water Bodies

You can use baits with heavy lead while the tide runs then on the dot of the tide change you can use plastics for up to an hour or so. Hard running tide will make getting your plastic to the bottom near impossible and if your’e not on the bottom you wont be in with a shot. Do you want to quickly identify depth highways to catch nearshore fish?

How To Fish Rivers Even With Strong Current

For an angler, especially beginners, a river brings a lot more to the mind, mostly due to its current. In virtually all cases, a river’s current dictates a fish’s behavior, more so than any lake or pond. The following guide will provide you with helpful information, so that when you are out fishing in the river, you are able to catch more fish.

Fishing Fast Moving Rivers For Catfish

You can often visually see seams on the surface of the water. Eddies form off to the side of seams and are often swirling pockets of slower, usually deepish water. The last section of stream is the flat shallow water usually by the bank. These are often only a few inches deep with water flowing fast over sand or rocks. Seams are a critical location to fish.A seam occurs when a current of flowing water meets calmer water just outside the main current. This transition zone will be vital to your success as a river fishermen for just about any gamefish species you target.

In the fall, baitfish move in shallow so bigger fish like catfish and bass follow them. During the winter, big fish again return to deeper water along the channels and river bends where warmer water can be found. These are merely general rules and fish can and will break these occasionally. To learn how more about fishing rivers and streams without a boat, I wrote a comprehensive article on bank fishing you should check out.

The results in very shallow water on the inside and much deeper water on the outside of the bend. For a complete breakdown of mono vs. braid vs. fluorocarbon fishing lines, check out the article I wrote on this topic. I spent 4 hours piecing together the research for this on top of drawing from personal experience. If you allow the current to drag your bait along, it can only lead to snags. Snags are going to happen before and after a hook-up so you’ll just have to accept and do your best to pull fish in quickly before they wrap themselves up in something.