Rivers provide excellent opportunities to catch bass, whether largemouth, smallmouth, or other black bass species. When targeting river bass, current breaks and eddies are a great place to start, and presenting a tube on a Tokyo Rig can be a killer presentation in this situation. Professional angler Bob Downey walks us through how he finds and catches structure-oriented river bass using soft plastic tubes and Tokyo Rigs.
TACKLE
- HOOK – VMC Tokyo Rig, 4/0
- WEIGHT – VMC Tungsten Slider Weight, 1/4-ounce
- PLASTIC – X Zone Lures X-Tubes
ROD SETUP
- ROD – St. Croix Legend Xtreme Casting Rod, 7′ MH
- REEL – Daiwa Tatula Elite Casting Reel, 6.3:1
- LINE – Sufix Advance Fluorocarbon, 17-pound
FISH FINDERS & BOAT CONTROL
- FISH FINDER – Humminbird HELIX 12 CHIRP MEGA SI+ GPS G4N
- FISH FINDER (360 Imaging) – Humminbird MEGA 360 Imaging
- MAPPING – LakeMaster PLUS Digital Charts
- TROLLING MOTOR – Minn Kota Ultrex Trolling Motor
Downey targets rock to sand transition areas by making accurate casts and letting the current impart a natural action to his tube. Once he locates a school of fish on these transitions, he makes repeated casts while Spot-Locked in one location. He also uses MEGA 360 Imaging to key in on “sweet spots” such as rock to sand transition zones and larger individual rocks. For example, in this video, Downey used MEGA 360 to locate a subtle rock point that extended into the eddy.
Lastly, Downey shares his rod setup and stresses the importance of using a sensitive rod for subtle bite detection and why he avoids putting a hard bend in his Tokyo Rig dropper wire — a quick tip that’s sure to save you some rigging hassle.
MISC.
- HOODIE – Rapala Fleece Pullover Hooded Sweatshirt, Color: Graphite
- HAT – Rapala Side Script Hat
- SUNGLASSES – Costa Del Mar Corbina Sunglasses
