Finding & Catching Bass Under Adverse Conditions

“We look for major current breaks like wing dams, underwater points, islands, brushy flats, or any sharp shoreline feature. Anything that gives fish a place to settle and wait for food is a possible holding site.”

Here on the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania, heavy summer rains quickly raise water levels and turn the river muddy. The key is to find tributaries that bring clearer water, typically those with rocky substrates. As muddy water in the main river gradually lightens to a dingy tan, look for fish by shoreline boulders, deadfalls, and partially submerged willow bushes, all of which break current.

From late fall through winter in northeastern rivers, smallmouths avoid current. They may move into deep midriver pools, though I prefer to target them in shoreline current seams and pocket eddies. Bass there seem more in a feeding mood, more aggressive when water temperatures fall into the 40°F range.

High Water Presentation Picks

While the experts pointed out different holding locations for high-water bass in various regions, avoidance of current struck a constant chord. Similarly, two of four anglers mentioned tube baits for working current breaks and holes, a choice that jives with what I’ve seen in eastern rivers and elsewhere.

The tube seems to have universal smallie appeal, and, matched with jigheads or slipsinkers of different weights, can be fished effectively in nearly any flow conditions or depths.

Mengel and Holt also picked spinnerbaits and crankbaits as prime high-water lures to attract bass in that murky environment where vision is limited, due to the vibration and flash they create. “Cast them into or upstream of the current break and work them through,” Holt recommends. “Especially in spring, smallmouths feed up and hit lures worked over their heads in current. In murky water, try a chartreuse-bladed spinnerbait. Once you locate a group of fish, switch to softbaits and slow down. I’ve found a 4-inch lizard on a split-shot rig deadly. Just drag it along in quiet pockets.”

Steve Dezurik has an alternative pick for high, dingy water in spring: a black hair jig. “A 3/8-ounce Jimmy D River Bug is deadly under those conditions. It has a feather trailer for action and can be worked at any speed.”

Dealing with Low Water

“During extremely low water on the Susquehanna and Potomac, locating bass is as easy as finding the holes,” says Penrod. “While the deepest holes attract more suckers and carp, I like ones where the bottom is just a bit too deep to see when wearing polarized sunglasses. The edge of the hole is the key area for bass. During low water, smallmouths hunt on the shallow flats adjacent to a hole, but they like to have deeper water to retreat to.

“Low water conditions are most prevalent in summer when dissolved oxygen levels can be a concern. The best holes often are just downstream of a riffle or drop where turbulent water brings added oxygen.”