Hammering River Smallies!

Secrets to fishing the Iowa River, or any river will be told in today's article. It's September now, and the Largemouth Bass gear and boat is put away in storage till 2013. Sad isn't it? Ehh, no! Actually, this is where the fun really begins! No more tubes, jigs or finesse worms, but now we use spinnerbaits, twister tails and small crankbaits. Shoes, shorts and T-shirts in the summer, to coveralls and waterproof boots for clothing. Kruz and I have bought our high legged boots and walked the Iowa River ever since the first day of college football, which was September 1st. We have been in search of Smallmouth Bass and Walleye. We've fished Le Grand's 3 Bridges Park, Center Street Dam and a couple other spots near Kruz' house, but the hot spot this year has been Lowhead Dam which is located just downstream of Riverview Park in Marshalltown. Last year, spinnerbaits at Center Street where hammering HUGE Smallmouth Bass, this year it's Lowhead Dam with Johnson Swimming Grubs, Rapala shad rap crankbaits and Mepp's spinners (not spinnerbaits, original spinners). It's been unbelievable to say the least! Kruz and I have found over 50 Smallmouth Bass and I found us supper one evening when I used a shad rap crankbait and found a 17 inch slab of Walleye! A lot of Smallmouth have been an average of 12 inches, but I’ve also found 3 over 15 inches! What Kruz and I do is wade the river and vertically throw these lures against the rocks and in the rapids and fast current. Yes, we've lost a few lures due to snags but it’s worth it. My Berkley AMP is the only rod I’ve been using with the grubs, and my Browning Silaflex rod has been working great with the crankbaits! Beautiful dark brown hard fighting Smallmouth Bass while watching the leaves blow off the trees is a sign of fall. If you ask me, the REAL fishing has just begun!