River Fishing for Smallmouth

If all you care about is winning tournaments or catching giant bass it may be time to look at your priorities. Monster bass are a blast to catch but sometimes you need to take a break and remember what made fishing so fun in the first place. Fishing is about getting out on th water, relaxing, enjoying nature, and then catching fish.
Added to the list of fun ways to catch fish when you want to mix it up a bit: River fishing for smallmouth. Northern California (and most other places in the country) have an abundance of rivers that are completely full of undersized bass. These fisheries are rarely, if ever overfished and can provide a great fishing experience for children or a relaxing day on the water. The other perk to river fishing is you never know what you’re going to catch. On this outing we caught smallmouth, largemouth and sacramento pike. Its hard to beat that! (except maybe if you’re looking for a keeper-size fish, let alone a trophy.) While there are trophy class fish in rivers around the country most simply have healthy populations of modest-size fish.

Give it a try in a stream or river near you!

Smallmouth Fishing

As some of you may already know I have a secret love for Brown Bass. In the early spring when the water first starts to warm I begin to forget about largemouth and focus my attention solely on smallmouth. There is something about the way they fight. It could be the huge jumps, or the powerful runs at the last second, but whatever it is, I’m hooked!

I hope you enjoy this video from earlier this year. I had the pleasure of spending a day on the water with my dad. It turned out to be a day to remember as he ended a fun-filled day with a smallmouth that tipped the scales past the 5 pound barrier

Are you a smallmouth junkie? I’d love to hear about it! Some of you are blessed to live in parts of the country where brown bass are the primary game fish and I’m sure you have stories to tell.