The fast cool water swirled around our bodies as we stood waist deep in Spring River. A soft summer breeze floated gently upstream, cooling our wet skin, making a very hot late summer day more bearable. In the summertime, this is my favorite place to be. I was also with my next-to-best fishing partner, Casey. He is second only to his Mom, Wanda. We were in the midst of River Fishing 101, it seemed. For an 11 year old Casey is a fast learner and today we were learning more about reading the water. "See the edge of the weed bed where the water makes a swirl? There is a big boulder just above the swirl. The water is deeper on the upstream side of the rock and is more shallow where the riffle starts. This time of year there is always a good smallmouth lying near that rock. The fish will at least blow up my buzzbait but I may not get a hookup. If I miss the fish, throw your jig just above where the fish swirls." "Okay, Dad." Casey replied. I was testing a new bait called a Shadbuzz by Bass Pro Shop and had aleady caught several fish with it. I expected to catch one on the next cast.
The buzzbait hit the water against the weeds just above the big rock. I started the retrieve as soon as it landed. The swift water immediately swept the sputtering lure downstream and across the top of the rock. The water under the bait exploded, sending a spray in every direction. I set the hook but the fish was not there. "Throw your bait above the rock!" I instructed Casey. His cast fell short. He tried again. But being the impatient Dad that I am I took his rod and cast the soft plastic jig just above the rock. Immediately the fish hit and I set the hook before handing the rod to Casey. The chunky smallmouth did not give up easily, especially in the strong current. Casey landed the fish like a pro and in a minute or two we were admiring the golden brown fish with black tiger stripes and red eyes. It was a good one. "Dad, can I keep this one?" Casey asked as he shifted his gaze from the fish to my face. Almost without fail we release smallmouths. Looking into the child's excited eyes, I smiled and said, "Of course. Let's go show Mom."
Before the evening was over we had caught more than 30 smallmouths. Casey and Wanda caught most of them. My enjoyment today was teaching them how to read the water and what to expect the fish to do at different times of day in relation to the structure. My brother-in-law Jerry Howard of Agnos is one of the best river fishermen I know. He has caught smallmouths in our area of North Arkansas which weighs more than 5 pounds. He says, "I have never caught a smallmouth of any size that didn't come out from under a rock, log or other structure." Late summertime is THE time to use a buzzbait around the structure when river fishing. But with a buzzbait you will miss a lot more fish than you catch but almost without fail, if a fish blows up a buzzbait they will hit the next thing that hits the water, especially if it is a soft plastic bait like a jig or worm. When fishing by myself, I start with a buzzbait but keep a spinning rod rigged with a jig or flipping tube very close by, most of the time stuck in my back pocket. It works so I put up with the inconvenience. There are so many streams in our area of the country which are full of fish just waiting to do battle that most of us are just a short drive away from some hot, late summertime fishing action and one of the best ways to stir up that action is to fish a buzzbait around the structure.
