Some basic smallmouth locations

Here at point A we have a typical riffle in a stream. Right in the riffle, the water is too fast for bass to stay in for extended periods of time unless there is something to break the current. Instead bass will move in and out of the riffle feeding on the large amount of food there. Think of the riffle as the main dining area in a river. Just upstream of the riffle we have the tail of the pool immediately upstream.
As the river shallows and the water quickens to go over the riffle the force of the water keeps any silt from settling on the bottom. And the two things smallmouth like best are a bit of current and a hard bottom. If this tail is a smooth glide into the riffle as many are it's a great place to throw a topwater. Spinners and crankbaits also are effective here. I sometimes think that tails of pools are what roostertails were designed for. C and D are side eddies where water swirls back and travels upstream losing much of it's force. While these can contain feeding fish at times the seam where the eddy and the fast water coming downstream is the money spot. If as in F this seam extends downstream for quite a ways and there is a distinct line between the fast and slow water you can expect this to be a spot a better fish might feed at. Spot E is a fish staging behind a rock on the bottom of the run between the riffle and the pool. Most of the time these underwater rocks will betray their presence by a boil or slick on the surface, A sudden dip or depression in the bottom will also cause a slick on the surface and just like the rock create a spot for a fish to lay out of the current and ambush prey. Spots F and E scream grub or swimbait to me. One thing to remember about rocks is that smallmouth will sometimes have a tendency to hold extremely tight to them. Try bouncing a crankbait or a jig right off the rock on the retrieve, this can sometimes trigger a strike.

 

 

 

                                                                                            

 

 

Smallmouth location

The next drawing depicts one of my favorite kind of river sections. It has an island followed by a bend with a point bar. Point A the head of the island often fishes much like a regular riffle with the added bonus of having deep water very close by in the main river channel. Spot B the bottom of the island also has good feeding locations but not quite as much on average as the upstream end of the channel. This is often an ideal place for bass to spawn as there is enough current to keep a firm bottom but it's still sheltered from the main river current. The shallow channel behind the island will hold rock bass or longeared sunfish if there is enough cover and a few deep spots. Spot C is a small eddy formed tight against the island by a big rock, maybe a log or just the shape of the island these are usually just one fish spots but it can be a very good fish. Spots marked with a D are underwater rocks that create holding stations for fish in the deep swift channel running past the island. Just like rocks underwater below a riffle they usually create a boil or a slick on the surface to let you know where they are. Spots E and F are prime shovelhead locations. If the deep steep bank in a bend like F is undercut and has a hole you can be sure a shovelhead uses it. Spot G is the point bar across from the deep bend. As water speeds up go around the outside of the bend it travels faster than the water traveling around the inside of the bend, So a bar is built up on the inside of the bend while a hole is dug out on the outside. Remember that the material on the deepest end of the bar is smaller on average than the material at the base. All kinds of things like different species of darters prefer rocks of a certain size. So depending on what the bass are feeding on that day they may find one band or depth of the bar much more to their liking that day. It pays to try fishing each depth rather than just walking to the end of the bar and casting towards the hole.