Fishing Current
Stephen Brigman
As Elite pro Dave Wolak fished down the bank of the Chattahoochee River with Bass Edge Host Aaron Martin, local Pinkard, Ala., angler Tommy Barbaree followed in his boat, camera crew in tow. He conversed often with the anglers, often speaking about the current in the river.
Barbaree had done his homework, and visited with Corps of Engineers buddies who work upstream at the Lake Eufaula Dam, and had some idea of when they would be generating, or “pulling” water.
“The one thing you need to look for around here is the pulling schedule. Most of our lakes have dams that generate electricity. These fish are conditioned to live in the current. When the current starts moving, the fish adapt to it. They’re used to it. They get in certain places.”
Those places usually involve some type of structure that blocks the current, or a pocket of the bank out of the current. The equation of energy spent catching food versus calorie intake comes into play with bass in a current. Bass tend to seek out places of least resistance with current moving close by in order to ambush food sources being washed down with the flow of the river. These include rock piles, logs, tree tops and long, sandy points. Babaree’s favorite spots on the Chattahoochee include bluff walls.
“The current, over time, wears away that structure. It cuts grooves and holes in it. It cuts areas down that creates small landslides. If you go along and there is crack in the bluff wall and you can see where it slid down into the river, it formed a little debris pile and behind that is a current break.”
Barbaree finds that outside bends are often the best place to seek out such spots.
“That’s where the main current hits and bounces off. That’s where the most water pressure is and where the most trash will be deposited. That’s why there is going to be the most fish there. I’m not saying they are all going to be there, but there’s a better chance to find them concentrated on that outside bend because there are more opportunities for them to hide. Bass are ambush predators.”
Bridge pilings are another great place to find fish waiting in ambush
“There is usually an area of current break in front of it, and at the back where the main current is swept around. If you have a rectangular bridge piling with a flat base to it, right behind those two (upstream) corners there is an eddy.”
An often overlooked spot on a bridge piling is behind debris often stacked on the front of a piling.
“Anytime you have current moving, there is debris moving with it. If that debris gets caught on something it creates a pocket.”
Most anglers are cognizant of the fact that current is a big factor in locating fish on a river, but Barbaree stresses the importance of current in fishing on a lake.
“Even in the lake there is current. It could be wind-blown current, or water-moving current. Either way the fish still relate to it. It took me a while to realize that current on a lake has the same effect on fish that it does in a river.”
Barbaree claims as his home waters both the Chattahoochee below Lake Eufaula and the lake itself.
“If Eufaula gets down to about five- or six-feet low, that drains all the big flats, plus you have the high water temperature. The fish move out to that deeper water on the river ledge. They use those same current patterns or the same current river breaks, whether it is rocks or timber.”
Jigs are usually Barbaree’s bait of choice when fishing in moving water.
“The favorite food of bass is crawfish, so you have to have a bait that resembles them, especially around rock walls or other rock structures, because that is the crawfish’s natural habitat.”
The strength of the current and water clarity determine how large a jig is appropriate. Slower water and clearer water call for smaller jigs. Barbaree throws jigs from a quarter ounce to 1 ¼, depending on conditions.
“The main thing is to get the bait into the target zone. At Lake Seminole, when the current’s moving they stay around the grass. You have to get down through it, so I use a 1 1/4 jig. It is a matt, and once you punch through it, it’s clear.”
Line size is determined by water clarity. Fishing around structure, Barbaree typically uses the heaviest line he feels will not be too visible, from 14-pound test in clear water to 17 and over for more stained water.
Up ahead of the camera boat, Wolak and his host were catching fish in just the types of spots Barbaree was used to finding fish. Each one they caught brought a grin to his face.
“Of all the types of bass fishing, fishing with a current is my favorite.”
