GO WITH THE FLOW
THE PERKS OF BEING A RIVER RAT
Poche thinks back to his first river experience and can ’ t help but laugh .
Back in the early 2000s , around the age of 22 , he hopped in the boat with a buddy on the Alabama River for a day of spring fishing . It would be a day he ’ d never forget .
“ I didn ’ t know much of anything about fishing back then ,” Poche admits . “ He takes us into this little backwater with all these stumps up near the bank , and we ’ re throwing Heddon Tiny Torpedoes . I still can ’ t believe that ’ s what we were throwing , but we caught the heck out of them and had a blast .”
Is it always that easy fishing rivers ? Of course not , but it often can be , and Poche ’ s story illustrates why .
“ River fishing is more simple , especially in the spring ,” says DeFoe , who grew up fishing the Holston and French Broad Rivers , which combine to form the start of the Tennessee River .
There are a few very important reasons it can be so simple .
CURRENT – More specifically , the lack of current . While both pros mention that spotted bass and smallmouth will spawn in or near places with current , largemouth want no part of it . Thus , finding places largemouth will be in the spring simply comes down to finding backwaters or anywhere out of the current .
“ You can basically eliminate the main river channel and more than 50 percent of the water in a river right there ,” DeFoe says . “ On reservoirs , the current is so much less that bass can spawn anywhere . I ’ ve even seen them do it in the middle of the lake on shallow ledges . They can ’ t do that in a river .”
OPPORTUNITIES – Think about your local reservoir . How many shallow creek arms and pockets does it have in which a bass can spawn ? Hundreds ? Thousands ? And all of them can hold bass at one time or another in the spring . That ’ s probably not the case on a river .
“ A river may only have five backwaters in a stretch ,” DeFoe continues . “ So , instead of randomly checking so many different arms and pockets , you can just run from one to the next and quickly determine a pattern .”
SIZE – Imagine trying to hit a pair of moving targets in a carnival booth . The first target goes back and forth across the entire width of the booth , rarely doing it smoothly . The second target barely moves at all . Which is easier to hit ? If you hadn ’ t guessed , the first target is a bass in a lake . The second is a bass in a river .
“ A bass may start near the mouth of a backwater and then go a short distance to where it will spawn before moving back toward the mouth ,” Poche explains . “ That ’ s it . That ’ s as far as she ’ ll go . It ’ s far easier to follow them , versus a reservoir where a bass can roam anywhere and everywhere .”
“ RIVER FISHING IS MORE SIMPLE , ESPECIALLY IN THE SPRING .”
For Keith Poche , flipping and pitching to targets goes a long way when river fishing in the spirng .
PHOTO BY PHOENIX MOORE
56 MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM | APRIL-MAY 2021