Best fishing... in the pools or riffles?

[Phil Lilley]

In my limited fishing experiences on streams, I've found fish in both pools and riffles but bave been surprised just how many fish hold in riffles. I know the pools just below the riffles are great places to drift a jig or a crawfish pattern into but what are some of the better techniques for fishing rivers like the Buffalo?

What do you look for?

I'd like to put together a journal of sorts with diagrams for fishing streams. I think anyone who has had some experience with river fishing- either fly or spin can contribute with his or her experiences.

[Flysmallie]

It is amazing how many fish hold in the riffles. I always key on any obstruction or change in the riffles. Root wads, rocks, depressions will all congregate some fish in the riffles. Pretty much anything that breaks up the flow. Caught several nice smallmouth on Flat Creek last year that were holding very close to an odd obstruction. First time I ever caught any fish that were holding that tight to a washing machine! Still not sure how I'm going to get that thing out of the creek, won't fit in the canoe, or even if I should. Seems to be a fish magnet, looks horrible though.

My favorite place on a stream is where the riffle dumps into a pool and the stream makes an immediate turn. There are always some fish holding there waiting on a crawfish or helgrammite pattern to drift by. Stripping a white wooly works great too. My favorite is to either use a 4" carolina rigged worm on a spinning rod or a gulley worm on a fly rod. The fish go nuts over these.

Don't forget to fish that outside edge with a popper or a gurgler. That's where the big ones go to rest.

Ok Phil, you got me all worked up, now you have to take me

[Danoinark]

I have had luck using conventional tackle in both the heads and tailouts of riffles. Typically a gitzit fished in those areas have produced. Interestingly enough is that plastic worms are effective in the deep pools along the bluff sides of the Buffalo River. Popping Bugs along the shallow banks early in the morning and late in the day have worked for me while fly fishing for smallies. Also wooley buggers stripped through the pools also seems effective....Dano

[WebFreeman]

I think this is why I like river fishing more than anything. It seems all places can hold fish at all times. I agree w/ Flysmallie about riffles that empty into a bend. I recall a favorite spot on the Finley where we've caught several big smallies. There is a fallen tree that lays right on the drop-off. We've caught good fish from the pool, tail of the riffle and the tree.

Re: riffles. In my experience if seems the more subtle the obstruction, the better. A rock the size of a TV never seems to hold fish for me.

If you're thinking of writing for the newbie, Phil, I'd differentiate between riffle and rapid. I've caught fish in the middle of a riffle, but never a rapid. Seams between fast and slow water also hold a lot of fish for me. It seems like they'll move into the fast water to the slow in order to hit something.

I'm getting the itch, too. This forum is torturous sometimes!

[Al Agnew]

Fish location varies somewhat with the time of year and water level. With water temps colder than about 50 degrees, most smallies will be in very gentle current (not dead water, but slow current) most of the time, usually in water deep enough that you can't easily see the bottom. They will, however, move into somewhat faster and shallower water to feed at times. With water between 50 and 60, some will start moving into faster water, but will still hold behind obstructions where the current is much slower, just NEAR fast water. Above 60, they will almost always be in water with noticeable current.

The thing about warmer water and weather, they can be in both riffles and in pools, as long as the pools have noticeable current. You'll seldom find many smallies in dead slow water in the middle of long pools in warm weather. BIG smallies are a little different, in that they will seldom be IN the riffles unless there is a major obstruction where they can get out of the fastest current and out of sight from overhead. The smaller fish can be in the shallow margins of fast water, the bigger fish will more likely be in the deeper margins of fast water.

On a river like the Buffalo, which gets very low (even on the lower end) and has a lot of nearly dead water in mid to late summer, the fish locations are a little more confined than they are in a river like the Current or Meramec, with enough water volume to keep current throughout many of the pools. The riffles on the Buffalo in very low water are too shallow to hold many fish, and the fish are forced to live in the upper parts of pools and in deeper pockets of short runs between riffles. There will also be a lot of fish at the lower ends of pools, often in the flats right close to the lip of the next riffle.

Of course, there are always exceptions, which is why I tend to fish every possible place that could possibly hold a bass!

[Kicknbass]

In the Dead of the summer I look for swift water that has structure (wood or rocks)and depth (3' plus). If you find a spot that has all 3, it will have bass. The bass will hold in the seam waiting for bait to drift into the swirl. These spots can be tough to fish, but they hold fish.

[riverrat]

Can't add too much to what has already been said except maybe that in the bright sunshine you can use shade almost like you would structure. I also want to stress that there are always exceptions to the rules. Some of my best fish come from water that is not productive, so keep your lure in the water.

[Wayne SW/MO]

In the Dead of the summer I look for swift water that has structure (wood or rocks)and depth (3' plus). If you find a spot that has all 3, it will have bass.

That statement seems to always be true, no matter where you're stream fishing.

If the water is moving well and you can't see the bottom, there will be Bass there.

[Kicknbass]

That statement seems to always be true, no matter where you're stream fishing.

If the water is moving well and you can't see the bottom, there will be Bass there.

Yea, this is a good pattern most of the year, but it seems to be a pattern in the summer that will produce more fish per spot than would be taken at other times of the year when the fish are scattered. It seems the fish consentrate in these spots in the summer and are hard to find in other areas such as the slow holes.