Finding & Catching Bass Under Adverse Conditions

Is Rising or Receding Water Better? Holt: “In my experience, rising water offers better fishing. New food is exposed and smallmouths roam shallow to explore. Falling water pulls them off their comfort areas and, on the Columbia, forces them to suspend, which makes them harder to catch.” Mengel: “During most of the year, I prefer water that’s just starting to rise. Depending how high it gets, the two or three days after a crest when the water begins to clear offer a great opportunity for big smallmouth, especially in spring. But during summer, receding water offers fast fishing as key spots become more obvious.” Dezurik: “I like rising water because it pulls bass tight to the bank, where they take advantage of food sources being flushed into the river. You can fish fast and cover a lot of water.” Penrod: “For me, it depends on how quickly the water is rising or falling. Changes of two feet per day in either direction ruin your trip. Fast-rising water requires time for fish and food sources to react, so fishing is unpredictable. I enjoy slowly rising or falling water conditions because I know how to adjust.”

On the Upper Mississippi, DeZurik has noted another pattern. “With water temperature high, bass metabolism is cranked up and they feed in current areas. But the best areas have big rocks nearby, where fish sometimes pull out of current. The lower the river gets, the more bass move to midriver holes or pools. If a hole gets uncomfortably shallow, they move to deeper ones.”

“Here on the Delaware,” Mengel notes, “smallies favor tail-out areas of pools or runs, where current speed increases and water depth shallows up just before a riffle or rapid during summertime low water. They feed on flats in low-light conditions.

“When low, clear water occurs during winter, though,” Mengel says, “bass hold in the deepest parts of wintering holes. They feed either along drop-offs or on transition areas between their holding areas and the bank, usually in 5 to 8 feet of water.“

Holt adds that in clear water, smallmouths can be spooky but still aggressive. “Early morning and evening are top times to fish the clearer water in summer.”

On the free-flowing Allegheny, I’ve found that during extremely low water, some bass pull into holes with current, instead of slack muck-bottom holes. But the most active smallies are found in small current breaks created by rocks or logs in fast-moving water such as chutes, deep riffles, churning rapids, and elevation drops. You find the most aggressive fish in spots with strong current.

Low Water Presentation Picks

“Extremely low water demands experimentation,” Penrod says. “My top choices include a weightless 6-inch Case Magic Stick on a 3/0 widegap hook; a 4-inch Mizmo Tube on a 1/8-ounce weedless head; a white buzzbait; a Big Mouth Spinnerbait; or a Luhr Jensen Speed Trap crankbait. If they fail, tie on a bait hook and float a live hellgrammite or stone cat through a hole.”

During summer’s lowest flows, I rely on three presentations: The slow burn of a 3/8-ounce buzzbait worked around mini-breaks in areas with fast current; the erratic splash-and-dart action of a Houdini Shad soft jerkbait for active fish on flats with current; and the deadstick drift of a weightless 4-inch Ozark smoke YUM Dinger through current holes. Dezurik, on the other hand, finds swim jigs effective for smallies in low water during summer, backing that up with a 3/8-ounce buzzbait or a Pop-R.

River fishing is exciting, the environment ever-changing, with new water arriving every second. While extreme changes can throw off a game plan, you can make great catches under conditions that send other anglers retreating to slackwater lakes—or, worse yet, back to the house. See you on the river.

*Darl Black, Cochranton, Pennsylvania, is an avid smallmouth angler and veteran outdoor writer who often contributes to In-Fisherman publications.