Hello I am fishing in a small river hard running water and lots of downed trees. I am new at fishing in the river. Topwater I've found what they seem to like. But with all the downed trees I am totally lost when it comes to under water fishing techniques. I had one gentleman tell they really liked scuppernog zoom mag 2 worms. Any advice on how to fish this type of structure would greatly be appreciated. Thanks in advance Bigboy 28438.

Squarebill crankbaits! They can be deadly around hard cover like laydowns and stumps.

Squarebill crankbaits! They can be deadly around hard cover like laydowns and stumps.

 

I fish lay downs on rivers quite a bit. I'd need to see someone work crankbaits around them to see how it's done. Tossing a squarebill up against the bank in the branches of a downed tree, in current, in six inches to a foot of water from a moving boat is beyond my ability. What I do, is throw a senko or a jig with a hula grub on the down stream side of the wood as close as possible to the cover.  Let it sit there and give it a twitch or 2 until the current sweeps the bait away.

Pitch baby boo jigs with zoom speed craw trailers at cover, and work them across the bottom through eddies and current seams

1). Square bill crankbait

 

2). Spinnerbait

 

3). Swimbait

 

4). weighted dark senko

The current is your friend/enemy and I agree with Scott about using cranks in current.  Those deadfalls create current breaks and the fish will use the slack water they create as ambush points. There are two areas that are prime under those conditions.  The first is what is refered to as a seam. It's where the faster current and the cover create slower moving water just out from and to the down current or back side of the obstruction.  The other is the eddy at the tail end of that seam. The slack area between the eddy and the obstruction will often hold inactive fish.

You can't beat a jig of some type in either situation. The weight and style will be determined by the current's strength and the depth of the water.  You want enough weight to get the bait down, but not so much that it takes more than a twitch of your rod to get it up off the bottom. Go with as light a line as you dare as the heavier the line, the more the current will want to drag your offering along.

Zoom speed craw on 1/8-1/4 jig head, Texas rigged unweighted senko

Thanks to everyone who posted. Lots of info on this topic. Greatly appreciated.

weighted zoom trick worm 

Buzz baits, ball head jig and single or double tail grub, Scroungers with a Sluggo for trailer.

Tom