Streamfishing offers some of the greatest rewards in this sport. Many streams are loaded with fish that rarely receive any fishing pressure. The scenery is beautiful. Streamfishing is quiet and relaxing. You don't need a lot of fancy equipment to do it. You just need a little basic tackle and knowledge of how to present your lures to the fish.

 

John Sloan of Tennessee spent years as a streamfishing guide on this state's blue ribbon smallmouth creeks and rivers. He would load his clients into a canoe, then he'd paddle while they'd cast for smallmouths, rock bass and other panfish.

Sloan says casting angles is extremely important when streamfishing. "It's almost 180-degrees backwards from the way you fish out of a bass boat. If you're casting from a bass boat, everybody's usually throwing from the front of the boat, and that makes sense, because that's the direction the boat is traveling.

"But when you're floating a stream and the boat is riding the current, your cast should be straight into the bank or slightly upstream, because fish feed "uphill" (looking upcurrent). The angler in the back of the canoe should almost be casting behind the boat, not in front of it. This is because that lure has got to come down with the current in a natural direction. It's got to present to the fish the same way live bait would present to the fish, and live bait don't swim upstream."

Sloan continues, "One of the hardest things for me to teach people that I've guided in streamfishing is to turn around and cast straight into the bank, and let that lure swim out off the bank and swing. Just as that lure begins to swing into the current, that's when 90% of your strikes are going to come."

So, remember that when fishing in current - in streams or anywhere, present your bait with the current (swimming cross- or downstream), not upstream. This presentation mimics nature, and the fish don't get suspicious of something that looks unnatural to them.