Weather affects early bass
The early season, when river water temperatures quickly rise through the 40s into the 50s, represents one of the best times of the year for catching both big numbers of river smallmouths, and big individual fish.
As good as early spring river bassin' can be, it is at the mercy of the weather. Good action calls for fairly stable river conditions. Higher water can be OK, as long as the water color is just stained, not muddy. A normal flow with fairly clear water is ideal and opens more presentation options.
During the winter, river smallmouth hold in deep, slow pools that provide the stability they need to survive the harsh seasonal circumstances. As winter winds die down, and ice flows thaw and are flushed from the watershed, water temperatures quickly will climb into the high 30s and low 40s. Bass then will move from their deeper wintertime lies to nearby shallows to feed.
Deeper wintering pools typically feature an eddy effect. The force of the river's current hits a rockbar or point of rocks, directing its thrust toward the middle. This forms an area of quiet water below the structure.
Along with this comes an eddy, a swirling effect in which a portion of the current is pushed along the bank. Slackwater eddies vary greatly in size and tend to be proportional to both the size of the river in which they are found and the magnitude of the structure that formed the downstream pocket.
While inactive, wintering smallmouths can sit dormant in the depths of such a pool, they move out of the depths and toward the river bank when temperatures increase and days get longer.
Over the past few years, I have learned that the sweet spot is located along the "transition" portion of the bank, just downriver from where the eddy effect diminishes and above where the current begins flowing freely downriver.
On a good-sized eddy, there can be 25 to 50 yards of virtually currentless water in this in-between zone. Throw in a couple of submerged boulders and a laydown or two, and you can pretty much call your shot that a few will be there, if the bass are active.
As the water warms and the fish begin spreading out, expect to find some of them away from obvious wintering areas. But productive spots still will be close to the bank, and will provide pockets of still water where bass can retreat from the heavy current.
It doesn't take a boatload of lures to catch early-season smallies. The primary tools include an assortment of jig-type presentations, along with a few suspending jerkbaits. Jigs excel when the bass are focusing on bottom forage; a jerkbait shines when bass are looking up for the easy pickings provided by a stray minnow.
Boat control is a chief ingredient in the success of an early season venture. I do most of my river bass fishing from a 16-foot johnboat. Preferring not to anchor when I'm working along a productive-looking bank, I'll slow the boat's downriver drift, either with an occasional high thrust of the bow-mount electric motor or, more commonly, a constant, reduced thrust. In either case, the boat is pointed upriver, so it slips slowly downriver with the flow.
With the boat 40 to 50 feet from the bank, pitch a jig right next to the water's edge. Many times a bass will hit it on the fall. If not, begin slowly hopping, swimming it down the edge. Active bass might be a bit off the bank, but rarely in water deeper than four or five feet.
If the water is clear, bass often will take a suspending jerkbait. When the water is icy cold, the key is to work the bait slowly. Cast to the bank, then use light twitches combined with lengthy pauses.
The bait should suspend perfectly (not sink, not rise). The idea is to make the lure look like a helpless minnow, just ready to be plucked from the water column.
