River Lure Fishing

[AddictedToScopex]

Hi all,

 

Tha vast majority of my lure work is done on the canal and this coming weekend I intend to get onto the river with the plugs and spinners in the hope of a good perch, chub or pike. Does anyone have any advice or tips that they have picked up through experience.

 

One question I have is would you say it is better to cast upstream and retrieve or cast downstream and retrieve. I ask as it seems both would have their issues. If casting upstream you would have to reel quickly as the flow would surely cause your reeling to have less effect as you would be taking up slack for a lot of the wind. Also with casting downstream you would find that your lure would come back towards the near bank with the tension in the line similar to the way a stick float will if you hold back too long.

 

So basically any advice from lure size through to techniques is more than welcome.

Edited February 1, 2012 by AddictedToScopex

[Dick Dastardly]

Most of the rivers I lure fish are quite slow flowing but when I do fish in current I just use the salmon anglers tactic of "down and across".I cast across the river slightly down stream (this stops to much of a bow in the line developing before you start to retrieve). When you retrieve/work the lure back remember it will have a certain speed already imparted to it by the current (which will be moving it "down and across") and to adjust your retrieve speed accordingly.

 

A lot of the time though I am casting into relatively slack water out/on the edge of the current (as this is often where the pike are) so I can use "normal" retrieve techniques.

[AddictedToScopex]

Most of the rivers I lure fish are quite slow flowing but when I do fish in current I just use the salmon anglers tactic of "down and across".I cast across the river slightly down stream (this stops to much of a bow in the line developing before you start to retrieve). When you retrieve/work the lure back remember it will have a certain speed already imparted to it by the current (which will be moving it "down and across") and to adjust your retrieve speed accordingly.

 

A lot of the time though I am casting into relatively slack water out/on the edge of the current (as this is often where the pike are) so I can use "normal" retrieve techniques.

Thanks Budgie. Do you have a minimum size or weight of lure or particular favourite or do you give everything a try and see what works on the day? Im am not sure how many pike are in the area I intend to target but I know there are some very big ones if you do get among them.

[Brian Carragher]

The rivers I fish have pace so its pointless casting upstream as your geaars on top of you in no time and you get a big bow in the line that you struggle to keep up with and generally snags up

 

As Budgie I cast across and down or at slightly upstream at about 80 degrees to the current that way my gears fishing straight in front of me when its down in the water, the pace in the water is generally enough to make the lures work but only with lures lighter than about 1.5 oz. If you just rely on the current to work your lure then it just goes deep and snags you have to work the lure as soon as it splashs down

 

Fanning your casts out and across helps with chub location but most pike are taken along the margins anyway where a simple downstream lob works best, you can cast out to wards the middle and let a floating diver come right round to your bank before you retrieve and it'll work its way right up your bank under all the overhanging trees and bush's where you can't quite cast to

 

Before you start chucking big heavy bottom crawling lures around I prefer to use floating diving lures to get a feel for any snags or rocks that I think might be there and if confident enough use a bottom lure then, too many sunken trees in our rivers up here to risk a £20 lure first cast

 

If you're fishing for chub then don't avoid the upper part of the water as they often hit lures on or just under the surface, if sub surface lure fishing for the chub you often feel a "hit" or "pluck" before the fish takes,thats when I reckon chub are trying to stun your lure before returning to eat it, if you feel those and sometimes it feels like a punch or a bit of weed on the hook, I slow down or stop before I start retreiving again and thats when chub come back for another go

[ayjay]

I don't do a great deal of lure fishing but have had the most success with pike with floating/shallow diving plugs when casting down and across and allowing them to drift in to the near bank before working them, I use an 11' 0" rod to allow me to overcome the nearside reed-beds.

 

There may well be better methods but it catches me enough to keep me amused.

Edited February 1, 2012 by ayjay

[Dick Dastardly]

Thanks Budgie. Do you have a minimum size or weight of lure or particular favourite or do you give everything a try and see what works on the day? Im am not sure how many pike are in the area I intend to target but I know there are some very big ones if you do get among them.

 

The size of the lure I use is allways around 5-8" but the weight and type are (like any other venue) selected more by the depth I wish to fish and (even more important on flowing water due to current strength as Brian mentions) the speed I want the lure to work at.

[AddictedToScopex]

Cheers guys. Some really valuable info there. I am already getting really excited about going down there. What kind of length are the lures that you use? Most of mine are fairly small due to fishing canals and the average size of pike being average at best. I think the majority of my lures are in the 2"-4" category. Would you say these are about right? I would have thought so because I want to keep my options open a little with regard to enticing a chub or cheeky perch. I have seen some of the lures some people use for large pike though and they are 6"+.

 

EDIT: Just seen your post budgie.

Edited February 1, 2012 by AddictedToScopex

[Brian Carragher]

For your chub and perch I would say a Big S type size or even that lure would be my first choice followed by a jointed lure of 4/5inch trying different colours to see what bthey preferred

 

A decent pike will still take a smallish lure and the hooks will generally be in its mouth whereas real big lures will present a bit of a problem trying to hook up with chub

[Matthew Simmons]

Hi,

 

Interesting issues here - First fish will generally face into a current - upstream.

 

Secondly in terms of how a lure behaves - and therefore choice - a lot depends on the speed of the river and this should also determine your choice of lure.

 

When there is little or slow flow there is not a lot of difference to how your lure behaves - water pressure will be pretty similar at all points of the "fishing-clockface" but still expect the fish to be looking into the current. Also you can choose any type of lure slower water and treat it like fishing a lake or canal.

 

In faster water, upstream spinning with a mepps is deadly for salmon and seatrout. Often they will react very decisively I think because they can see it quite a long time approaching and then hit it before it 'escapes' behind them. A mepps is just about the only lure I have found that still 'works' when fished back 'with' the current - often I would choose a mepps for fishing upstream because I can fish it deeper than fishing down and across when the increased water pressure will bring the lure to the surface. For fishing down and across I would use a plug and fish it slower and it will fish deeper as well but the path will be more across the fishes vision.

 

The same principles apply with pike and perch - can't speak for zander as I have never fished for them.

 

Hope this helps

 

Matt

[AddictedToScopex]

For your chub and perch I would say a Big S type size or even that lure would be my first choice followed by a jointed lure of 4/5inch trying different colours to see what bthey preferred

 

A decent pike will still take a smallish lure and the hooks will generally be in its mouth whereas real big lures will present a bit of a problem trying to hook up with chub

Ok thanks Brian. I have a few big S plugs in a few different colours so will try those first and choose the pattern based on the water colour. I have one or two small jointed plugs but nothing over 3" for that type. I think I have my excuse to go and buy more lures. Excellent

 

 

Would you favour a steady retrieve or a jerky one and would you let the lure drift a little and then jerk it or just a combination of all of the above? Just trying to get as much info as possible of you guys who have much more river lure fishing experience than I do as I would expect that prey fish swim differently to what they do in a canal where a nice steady retrieve pausing occasionally has produced the best results for me so far.

Edited February 1, 2012 by AddictedToScopex