Super excited because I'm going to start fishing tournaments (found a longtime tourney angler/ boater looking for a co angler). First tournament we're going to fish is a local bass club Tuesday evening tournament, just down the road from both of us. 

 

The river where it is flows into the Mississippi just downstream of the launch point (less than a mile). The Mississippi is off limits for this tournament. The river is slow, stained, not a lot of current. Weird because 100 miles upstream it is a great stream, clear water and a good number of smallmouths. Down here where we are it is really more of a backwater of the Mississippi. It's the kind of place where you would typically find more catfish, drum, gar etc. but looking at the tournament results from prior events they catch some, not a great number and not giants. Mainly largemouths, a few spots here and there; there are some white bass in the river from in the Mississippi, but those don't help for the tournaments of course. My partner is going to try to do some recon in the next week or so (it's not prohibited under the club rules).

 

Anyone have any advice for fishing somewhere like this? This is new territory to me, totally different than anywhere I've fished before. Trying to get a handle on what kind of structure and cover to look for. I'm sure the current, although there's not a ton, still plays a role; I'm assuming eddies behind cover, laydowns, mouths of feeder creeks are good places to look. Also add in that it's hotter than heck here right now. 

 

Let me know if there's other info that would help with my question. Also I'll take any pertinent YouTube links, prior posts (searched but couldn't find any), etc.

I'm a hundred miles north and have fished the backwaters of the Mississippi quite a bit . If you can find any culverts , those are almost always good for a fish or six . Rock , riprap is a big factor here too .

Hopefully the temps are not so high that the fish are turned off. Use some search type baits to trigger some reaction strikes. Don’t under estimate the effectiveness of a Rat-L-Trap. I take it this is new water to you guys?

2 hours ago, Spankey said:

Hopefully the temps are not so high that the fish are turned off. Use some search type baits to trigger some reaction strikes. Don’t under estimate the effectiveness of a Rat-L-Trap. I take it this is new water to you guys?

Yeah, as far as fishing it. I've driven over it for years but never heard that there were any catchable fish other than cats and rough fish and the occasional white bass run. From the tourney results I guess there are a few, not giants and not a lot, but some.

  Hit that riprap HARD. Use a spinnerbait, and drag it and snag it. Any branches, trees, big limbs? Cover every inch of them. I mean that literally. @scaleface was right about the culverts, too.

   The key here is something that you know and have already said: this is not natural bass environment. They're not the top dog here. So you're going to find them in places where they're safe, and you'll need to coax them to bite.  Not easy, but not impossible either.

   Good luck! And I mean that!        jj

 

p.s. - If it were me, I'd add a slow spoon, like about 3/4 to 1 oz. I'd twitch it, dancing it about a half inch away from getting hung up. If you know how to do that, give it a try. If you don't, now isn't the time to try and learn, 'cause it takes a little while, and Tuesday isn't far away.

  

I like to fish spinnerbaits and crankbaits on rip rap . A chartreuse Bomber Flat A is first choice for cranks . If there are any wing dams  , those are good spots to throw a Flat A .

1 hour ago, jimmyjoe said:

  Hit that riprap HARD. Use a spinnerbait, and drag it and snag it. Any branches, trees, big limbs? Cover every inch of them. I mean that literally. @scaleface was right about the culverts, too.

   The key here is something that you know and have already said: this is not natural bass environment. They're not the top dog here. So you're going to find them in places where they're safe, and you'll need to coax them to bite.  Not easy, but not impossible either.

   Good luck! And I mean that!        jj

 

p.s. - If it were me, I'd add a slow spoon, like about 3/4 to 1 oz. I'd twitch it, dancing it about a half inch away from getting hung up. If you know how to do that, give it a try. If you don't, now isn't the time to try and learn, 'cause it takes a little while, and Tuesday isn't far away.

  

 

7 minutes ago, scaleface said:

I like to fish spinnerbaits and crankbaits on rip rap . A chartreuse Bomber Flat A is first choice for cranks . If there are any wing dams  , those are good spots to throw a Flat A .

Thanks guys. This is exactly the kind of detailed info that makes BR and its members so valuable!

2 hours ago, plawren53202 said:

Yeah, as far as fishing it. I've driven over it for years but never heard that there were any catchable fish other than cats and rough fish and the occasional white bass run. From the tourney results I guess there are a few, not giants and not a lot, but some.

Go have a good time. You know they are there. Proof is in the pudding because of the pics you seen. With any luck there will be enough visible structure and that a good starting point. 

Low water in streams/rivers really tends to scatter the fish.  They treat it like a big long pond once it gets really low.  If that is the case, I'd cast to every possible piece of structure or cover.  Even a little drop-off lip on the downstream side of a sandbar could be key.

 

Ned rigs have been killing them for me in streams, but I am getting smallmouths.  There aren't any largemouths in any flowing water around here.  My advice could be totally moot, I don't know if the same applies here since you're considering the green bass.