During the summer, when water temperatures are in the 70s and levels are low, a large portion of river dwelling smallmouth bass can be found out in mid-river areas, using boulders, channel edges and rock ledge for cover.

When the water cools and levels rise — such as we’ve had during the past couple of weeks — the fish must leave such areas.

Rivers are comprised of a sequence of riffles, runs and pools. During the early part of the fall, when water temps are still warm, expect some bass to still be relating to riffle areas that held them in the summer. Bank-side rocks and ledges will collect smallies driven from the riffle proper.

As water temperatures drop into the low 60s, anticipate finding more bass off the slow pools and moderate-current runs.

Obvious structures that create slow next-to-the-bank current levels include large points and gravel bars that defect river’s main current. Depending on the specific spot, as well as the river level, such places usually feature eddies, where a back wash occurs where the current runs up along bank.

In the fall, smallies tend to avoid the actual eddy part of this area, though walleyes, pike and muskie often stack in there. The best bass spot is right up on the bank, where the current again begins flowing downstream.

Less apparent bank spots are found in conjunction with river runs. Small turns in the shoreline, often featuring rock/boulder areas, create good holding water when the level rises.

An assortment of presentation options work for bank-holding smallies. Two productive options are Senko-style soft stickbaits, and tube jigs.

When bass are feeding down, most likely on crayfish, a tube jig is about the best thing going. Keep the jighead on the light side — eighth or 3/16th ounce — to minimize hang-ups.

Two-tone tubes, with a light-colored underbelly, provide a contrast that seems to make the bait more visible some days. Scented tubes — and pretty much everything being made these days is scented — likely helps. It also pays to experiment with spray-on dyes for additional color contrast and scent.

When bass are feeding up, often they’ll ignore a bottom-bouncing jig. A Senko-style stickbait passing along above them will often trigger such fish. While I fish these sinking worms weightless during the summer, in the cooler water it pays to add a 16th- or eighth-ounce bullet sinker to hasten its descent.

If there’s not too much floating grass in the water, another great option is a diving crankbait. I find crankbaits especially effective along lengthy bank sections adjacent to tail-out sections of major river holes. Cast the crankbait next to the shore, anticipating the strike to occur within the first few feet of the bank. Patterns like Firetiger, yellow perch and crayfish are good picks for diving crankbaits.

Perhaps the best early fall/dirty water lure is a spinnerbait. I’ve had my best success with a single Colorado blade spinnerbait weighing 3/8 to 7/16 ounce. Dark skirt colors like black and dark blue do well, perhaps providing an easy-to-see silhouette in the cloudy water.

In most instances, it’s best to simply chuck the spinnerbait as close to the bank as possible — right in flooded grass if it’s present — and give the bait a steady retrieve. As with the crankbait, most hits will occur within a few feet of the bank, sometimes as soon as you re-engage the reel.

Along shorelines that drop quickly into two or more feet of water, it often pays to allow the spinnerbait to occasionally helicopter vertically on a semi-tight line, during the retrieve. Most of the bass that take one of these beefy spinnerbaits are quality-sized ones.

Jeff Knapp is the outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.