With the environment rapidly changing during fall, it can be a tough time to catch fish, particularly from lakes and reservoirs. Rivers and streams often provide more consistent early fall fishing when the focus is on smallmouth bass.

During the early phase of the fall, baits that suspend in the water column — more specifically soft stickbaits and soft swimbaits — are a top option. Buzzbaits and hard-bodied surface baits also have their moments.

Soft stickbaits include both sinking worms and soft jerkbaits, exemplified by the Yum Dinger and Zoom Super Fluke, respectively. The four-inch version of the Berkley Hollow Body swimbait and Lake Fork Tackle’s Live Magic Shad are among the better soft swimbaits for river smallies. For buzzbaits, I really like Warrior Tackle’s buzzer, which rides high at a slow retrieve rate; when cool-water smallies are in the mood for a popper-style topwater, XCalibur’s Zell Pop is tough to beat.

Some days the fish prefer a steadily moving, easy-to-track bait. Sinking worms, swimbaits and buzzers tend to be most productive then. But on others, a more erratic movement trips their trigger, in which case they respond better to soft jerkbaits and surface poppers. This mood often changes from day to day, making it difficult to predict. One generalization often holds true though: erratic, stop-n-go style baits often excel during clear water, when the fish can see them better. Conversely, cloudy water often sees steadily retrieved baits excel. But as with most things smallmouth-related, this is merely a tendency, one which you shouldn’t lock yourself in to. It’s wise to give both styles of baits a try each day.

From a boat control standpoint, it’s wise to ease your way into these areas from above, allowing the boat to quietly slip into the zone. I like to drift stern-first down the river, using the bow-mount electric motor to stall the drift by imparting the appropriate (depending on current level) forward thrust). If you don’t slow down the drift, often you’ll drift through the area too quickly, able to make only limited casts. Anchoring is an option, but much of the cast is wasted as the current sweeps the lure downriver. The slip-drift allows lures to be worked in concert with the boat’s movements, and still get in the maximum number of casts.

As the boat slides through the tailout, make cross-river casts aimed slightly upstream. As you work the bait back to the boat it will swing slightly downriver. This approach keeps the bait moving perpendicular to the flow much of the time, in a more natural position for bass to intercept it.

Take a five-inch soft jerkbait, and Tex-pose rig it with a quality 3/0 light wire extra-wide gap hook. As its name implies, you want to impart a jerking motion to this bait.

In the cool water of early fall, I like to give the part a sharp snap, and then allow it to free-flow in the current for a few seconds before the next snap. Most strikes will occur when the bait is drifting. A second hooking option is to nose hook the bait with a size 2 or 4 octopus hook. This method allows the bait a bit more movement, and provides a more exposed hook, which can result in a high percentage of solid hookups.

Work the surface popper via the same basic method as the soft jerkbait. If visible objects are present — sunken logs, submerged rocks, tuffs of weeds (water celery commonly grows in the shallows of the river I fish) — be sure to target these areas. The popping action of the bait will often draw the bass up out of the cover; you’ll see them circle below the lure, draw a bead on it, and then flare gills and engulf it. What a thrill!

The sinking worm is fished in a similar manner as the soft-jerkbait, only without the rod snaps. The idea is to allow the bait to wash through the area, tumbling in the water column. Simply make cross- river casts, quartering them upriver. Then allow the worm to drift with the current. Keep the line semi-tight by keeping the rod tip held high. Reel in a bit of line when an excessive bow develops. Strikes will be detected by a weight or tick being felt, or by seeing a twitch in the line. I like to use a high visibility line like Gamma’s copolymer in high vis gold, in eight-pound test. If the water is ultra-clear, I tie on a three-foot leader of eight-pound test fluorocarbon. I fish a five-inch sinking worm on a 2/0 light wire wide gap hook, rigging it Tex-posed.

Soft swimbaits provide early fall smallies with a different look, one of a bite-sized minnow swimming along in a vulnerable manner. Ladder-style swimbaits like the 3.5-inch Lake Fork Live Magic Shad work best with a belly-weighted hook like the Mustad Power Lock Plus in 1/0. This hook is available with either eighth- or sixteen-ounce weights. Both work great. The heavier version allows you to fish the bait a bit faster. Belly-weighted hooks are necessary to keep the bait upright. The Mustad hook features a pick that is inserted in the nose of the bait. The hook is then run up through the body of the bait, placing the business end in a slot on the top. It’s vital to rig swimbaits right in the center for them to work correctly.

Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.