How to Catch River Smallmouth Bass

Get a fishing license and check the regulations. You can get a fishing license at most outdoor retail stores or online. You can also pick up your state's fishing regulations where you buy the fishing license. Be sure to check the specific regulations for the river you will be fishing. Some rivers, such as the Jacks Fork River in Missouri, have trophy smallmouth bass areas, with special regulations.

Locate a smallmouth bass river. You should be able to get some good tips at your local tackle store. If you want to do some exploring on your own, keep in mind that a healthy smallmouth bass river will likely have clear flowing water with a rocky bottom and other structures such as boulders or logs where smallmouth can wait in ambush for food.

Unless you're wading, which is a great way to catch fish in itself, you'll need to contact an outfitter to rent a canoe or other boat. Canoeing is a great way to cover more water than wading, but be sure to get out and wade in good spots. Outfitters are also great local sources for information.

Get the tackle. The best option is an ultralight set up with a 6-pound test line. This will require setting the drag to allow the fish to run a little in order to prevent breaking the line. You can use stronger line to catch smallmouth, but it doesn't have the same challenge. For lures, anything that resembles a crawdad (also known as crawfish, crayfish, or crawdaddy) will be a good choice. In a healthy river, crawdads are by far the smallmouth bass' food of choice. Crawdad lures can range from tube jigs, crankbaits, or single spinners.

Find a good smallmouth spot on the chosen river. Look for a combination of deep water with structure, rocks and logs, and shallower flowing water. Smallmouth bass often wait at the end of a riffle where food will float down to them, but they may also retreat to deeper water in case of danger. Smallmouth bass will also sometimes be in deeper pools hiding around large boulders.

Make your cast. Use your lures in a manner than imitates a crawdad. This consists of letting the lure sink to the bottom, then giving it a quick jerk to imitate a retreating crawdad, and letting the lure sink again. Be sure to keep the line tight in order to detect any strikes, and set the hook when you feel a hard hit or the line being pulled away. Also, try using the spinners by casting upstream into the shallow riffles and retrieving the lure down through the end of the riffle. Expect a strike as the water changes depth.

Experiment and practice. If the smallmouth aren't biting, change lures. Sometimes smallmouth can be very specific in what they'll bite. If all else fails, use a live crawdad. You can purchase a trap for this purpose, or you can catch them by hand. To catch a crawdad, distract it with one hand and use your other hand to grab him behind in pinchers so he'll be unable to pinch you. To rig the crawdad, use a hook with a jig head so that it sinks, and hook the crawdad toward the end of its tail with the hook facing up and away from the crawdad.