(Editor's note: The following is the latest installment in a series of fishing tips presented by The Bass University. Check back each Friday for a new tip.)
Bass University instructor Wesley Strader has competed in 16 Forrest Wood Cups and two Bassmaster Classics, and he attributes a large part of that success to the fact that he didn’t own his first bass boat until he was 18 years old. Up until then, he fished out of a jonboat with no electronics and no motor.
“I had a paddle,” he recalled. That was it. On windy days, he and his brother had to fight over who would fish and who would power the boat.
Rather than seeing those limitations as a disadvantage, he used them to learn every rock, log and ledge on the rivers close to his Tennessee home. As a result, not only did he become a river fishing expert, but he became what he calls “woods-wise” – in other words, he learned to anticipate the rhythms of the natural world.
One reason that he likes tackling rivers so much is that he can “do a lot of gut fishing.” He’ll make a run, see a good-looking piece of cover, and stop and fish it successfully. That’s been a recurring theme throughout his successful career. While the whims help out the cause, he’s also learned to pattern river fish seasonally.
No matter where he goes – whether it’s a natural river, one with current controlled by manmade factors, or a tidal fishery – he’s always looking for seams to position the fish. In the winter, he wants to find “a lack of current.” There may be flow nearby, but the fish will sit outside of it and wait for meals to pass by. During those conditions he most often fishes a jig or a spinnerbait.
He keeps his jig fishing simple, usually no lighter than 3/8-ounce, either green-pumpkin or black and blue. The latter color is a favorite, he said, noting that “it’s like candy” for winter bass. Depending on the profile he’s trying to create and the rate of fall he desires, he’ll use one of three trailers, either in flippin’ blue or green-pumpkin, to match his jig. It’s either a Zoom Super Chunk, a Super Chunk Jr., or a Big Salty Chunk. When it comes to crankbaits, he wants something with a tight wobble, and that usually means a balsa bait like a PH Custom Lures W2 or W3. The shad are lethargic, he explained, “almost like they’re zombies.” While a shad-imitating pattern often pays off, he’ll also mix in a spring craw pattern on occasion.
When spring rolls around he’ll look for drains, which usually hold eddies that are invisible from above the water. Once again, he’ll dote on the crankbait, but he also likes a jerkbait, typically a Megabass Vision 110. He’s not sponsored by the company, but said “I don’t think you can beat it.”
Once the spawn is over, river fish will pull out to the ledges and rest up for about two weeks before returning to the shallows. By this time there’s often some shoreline grass in the mix, and that’s when he pulls out his flipping stick with a 3/4- or 1-ounce Reins Tungsten weight and a Trokar TK130 hook and gets to work. He relies heavily on two baits, a Zoom Z Hog and a Zoom Z Craw. “I don’t like little line,” he explained, and river systems give him the opportunity to exercise his power-fishing muscle.
If you want to learn some of Strader’s other strategies for fishing rivers year-round, including why he thinks California 420 is the best all-around color for flipping baits on river systems, check out his full video, available only by subscribing to The Bass University TV.
