Wary Bass

The low water levels we have in our rivers now cause the large bass to become very wary.  Since I fish almost everyday until November, here are some tactics I use which help me catch these wary bass.

I wade and fish upstream in most sections of the rivers.  This in itself helps me keep from scaring many bass because in most cases they are facing upstream into the current.  However, I still wade very slowly to prevent sending out those little telltail waves because these will definitely scare the bass.

I’m convinced that making long casts with this upstream approach helps me catch more bass.  Since I use surface bugs such as Sliders, Chuggars, Poppers and Deer Hair Bugs strike detection is easy to discern.  However, setting the hook with real long casts is another matter.  In order to telegraph my strike quickly to the bass I use a long, fast line hand strike along with a firm, full rod hand lifting strike.

I recently  had a student in my “Smallmouth On The Stream School” who caught several dozen large bass using this method.  The pool upstream of us was about a half mile long, 200 feet wide with water from waist deep to chest deep.  Practically the whole pool was covered with aquatic grass reaching up to within 6 to 8 inches of the surface of the river.  The student was a good caster so I had him fish the Shenandoah Blue Popper upstream over these grassbeds and in the open bays and he had a fantastic day because the grass hid his approach.

River crossing ledges and ledges running parallel to the current are very helpful to hid our approach.  A very productive tactic is to wade or float quietly into the rear side of these ledges and fish the deep runs and riffles on the far sides.

Catching these large bass is very rewarding because you realize that you had to master very challenging conditions to fool them.