I mainly fish the Upper Niagara River from shore and the past month has been excellent fishing, in particular smallmouth.  But anyway, i'm still not quite sure how to approach bottom baits when dealing with the persistence current.  So far, I've stuck with lighter weights (3/16 1/8 1/4) when using bullet weights and shakey heads to make the bait drift with the current and get hung up less but most of my hits come pretty close to shore since that's where my lure ends up within a minute.  

 

On the opposite side, Do you guys think a heavier weight that gets carried less/slower would be a better option? I think I would look less natural and will probably get hung up a lot more.  Right now there isn't really any weeds but later on in the summer, a lot of weeds grow in because of the clear water, should I change up weights to deal with that too?

 

Any help would be great, especially guys that fish in rivers like the Niagara with moderate current or just dealing with the current in general.

thanks

Idk how fast the current is there (been to Buffalo a million times, never fished while there) but growin up fishing the James river for Smallies, I used 5/16 and 3/8 oz weights around rapids and let the current carry it a bit but it got down there pretty good.

Depends on how fast the current is moving. If it's not too bad, a 3/8 oz jig or weight should keep you pretty steady.

The current is faster than it looks, but I fish in an area where its pretty wide so it can be dead calm like glass on the surface, but anything will still drift downstream at a good pace.  I might post this in the local fishing forum section here to see if I get anyone local to get their opinion.

The current is faster than it looks, but I fish in an area where its pretty wide so it can be dead calm like glass on the surface, but anything will still drift downstream at a good pace. I might post this in the local fishing forum section here to see if I get anyone local to get their opinion.

Probably a much better idea!