I have discovered a relatively local river that has never or rarely  been fished for bass. I live in Salmon country and that's all everyone concentrates on around here. I have fished this river many times but never for bass. I've fished it for salmon, for trout and blueback but never bass. I didn't know there were bass in there until one of the local guides mentioned it. He said the darn bass always tear up his salmon baits. The way he talks about bass, you would think they are a trash fish.

A while later I ended up talking to another guide and he said about the same thing. The darn bass are screwing up his salmon fishing. I asked how big the bass were and he figured 5 pounders or better.

I'm not the brightest bulb on the tree but that got my attention. Recently I talked to someone that lives on the river and their grandkids catch big bass all the time off their dock is what they told me.

Sounds like I'm going to fish this river and see what's there.......

So my question is......... with new water that is rarely fished for bass, what would you suggest to catch these creatures?????

This is a coastal river, water temps currently around 54 degrees, tides around 6 feet, the area I'm going to fish is just below where the fresh water meets the bay water but it's about 14 miles from the ocean. The water is murky, clarity about 3 feet. The river is no more than 20 feet deep at any spot.

Any suggestions as far as bait, techniques???? Fish deep in the channel or the docks and brush????

I'm hoping this might be a sleeper hole that nobody knows about. Wouldn't that be cool???

Sent you a PM

Act like your going salmon fishing. ;D

Largemouth or smallmouth?

You can always throw Nightcrawlers to find out and then go to your artificial baits depending on the species.

Good luck and let us know how you do.

Everyone tells me they are LMB. It's a small river so it shoudn't be tough to find out.

I'm very hopeful this will be a special place for me. It's close, cheap, there is a store, cafe and a BAR right there next to the dock.

My kinda place. lol.

Consistently finding bass is a process of elimination and duplication. Eliminate patterns and waters that are non-productive and duplicate places and patterns that are productive.

Tidal fishing timing is extremely critical, tidal fish move a lot but can be very predictable. When you catch them pay attention to time and tidal level and get you a tidal chart. Some spots are good on high tide, some on low tide, and some spots are good in between. Your job to determine when a spot is best and then to duplicate the timing in the future.

Thanks Catt, I will usually be fishing this around high tide. At low tide, the ramp is completely inaccessable. There is a mud flat at low tide that blocks the ramp so unless I find someone that lets me use their dock, I'll be going in the water as the tide is coming up and I'll be getting out of the water when the tide is receding.

There are lots of docks and overhanging trees, some logs in the water as well as pilings all over the place. The main highway bridge is there as well.

 I'm hoping that when the water warms just a bit that I'll be pleasantly suprised to find bass in there.