Now we'll talk about baits for fishing rivers. I'm not going to tell you to use any particular bait, at a certain time of the year. The best thing I can do is to try to teach you how to use your own instincts. This starts at the tackle store. I may see something hanging on a rack and know before I buy it that it will catch fish. You may look at this same bait and not be impressed. That's why it is so important for you to use your own judgement. When you've purchased the lure, you then already have confidence in it before you ever tie it on.

When fishing rivers there are a few guidelines that I live by. First and foremost, downsize a little. The main forage in rivers are minnows, crawfish, freshwater shrimp, grasshoppers, and worms. Use any minnow-type imitations. In-line spinners work well and crawfish imitations, like small hair jigs or spider jigs, are always good. I've also had success with wacky worms when drifting down the current. When using this technique you'll need to pinch on a couple of split shot weights about 18 to 24 inches above the bait.

The main thing is to be creative and open-minded. Try different baits until you find something that works.

Normally I start on some type of shallow sandbar or maybe at the front of a drop-off hole. As the day goes on, especially if it's sunny, I move toward deeper holes. I'll continue to use smaller baits because I know, on average, I'm not going to catch a lot of really large fish. Bass in rivers generally range from about two to four pounds. This is because of their environment. River bass are constantly swimming against current, they have to chase their prey more, and their prey in the river is smaller. I also believe that bass, which live in rivers, are younger bass. I think as they get older they swim down the river to slower water and on into lakes. I don't mean they all do this, I just feel it contributes to their smaller size.

There are exceptions to this rule. Deeper sloughs, off the main river, where there is little or no current can hold larger fish. Older bass in rivers can grow quite large and during the spring, large females will migrate up from lakes downstream. So there are some bigger bass in rivers. One consistent place to find larger bass in a river system is in oxbow lakes. To picture an oxbow lake best, draw a picture of a pear without picking up your pencil. Your start point is top left. As you get almost to where the stem would connect, turn out to the right and draw another pear lying at opposite ends of the one you just drew. Now, where the lines are closest together, draw a line between them. This whole pear-shaped lake is cut off from the main river to form what is called an oxbow.

Sometimes it takes years for the river to eat into the bank until it eats its way to the other side and creates the oxbow. When it is formed, a lot of things start happening. First, current is cut off. This allows nutrients to fall to the bottom instead of being washed away. Rains wash in some topsoil, leaves fall and start to rot on the bottom, and in three or four years you can have a pretty fertile piece of water. Algea blooms and plankton growth increases, which causes an increase in the numbers and size of baitfish. Aquatic vegetation such as lily pads and cattails can also start to grow here. These are all factors that will equal larger bass.

River lakes are probably the most difficult places to pattern bass. This is due partly to the fact that residential traits have slowly been phased out. Twenty-five years ago, I could go to an old stump next to a creek channel and catch a five-pound bass. Then I could do it again the next week. There's a sow bass that roams the river channel and only moves up to that same stump to lay her eggs. What do you think her babies will be? That's right, they'll be roamers. They're going to inherit the behavior traits of their mother. Through genetics and fishing pressure we now have roaming, schooling-type bass that are hard to figure out.

Bass that roam are following the bait. As shad swim along and feed on plankton, the bass follow. As the shad scatter when attacked, this adds to the dispersal of fish. It's a continual movement effect. Which is exactly why, if you locate fish on Saturday, Sunday can roll around and by 1:00 p.m. you decide that some body has poisoned your spot in the night. You decide they just aren't hitting today. But if that's the case why did the team three quarters of a mile up the bank weigh in 23 pounds? I'll tell you why. They caught fish out of the same school you found Saturday.

Most people don't realize how far a bass can travel in 24 hours. The simplest way to think of it is to compare it to your own survival instincts. Forget you know about McDonald's and think about how far you would go to find food. Four or five miles wouldn't be anything; you could probably walk that in a couple of hours. I know this may sound silly, but it's the truth. We have very similar instincts to animals, but we have lost touch with some of ours because of modem society. They haven't. Sometimes you just have to think like they do in order to find and catch them.

Rivers are great places to fish and, enjoy. Understanding rivers can help your fishing be more productive on lakes as well.

A river is like a good woman. You never stop discovering her. Every time you're around her, you catch little glimpses of beauty that you never realized were there. Always remember to treat her like a lady.

Now, I think I'll go kiss my good woman and go to the river. As always, keep a bait in the water.

Reprinted with exclusive permission from Honey Hole Magazine, Inc.