Any river will have its special “sweet spots,” and in John Bennett’s opinion, one of the most consistent is near a bridge.

At first glance, all rivers seem to look alike: flowing water interspersed with boulders, with a few fallen trees breaking the current here and there. A novice who has heard stories of the good smallmouth fishing in upper Midwest rivers might well ask, “Where do I start?” My answer would be to start near a bridge and work your way upstream.

The first reason is purely for convenience. Bridges afford access to a river without having to cross private property or a field with growing crops. I would much rather get along with landowners than rile them by trodding uninvited across their land. I can usually find a place to park my truck where I am off the road, bothering no one, and can make a very short hike to the water’s edge where I begin my jaunt up the river.

River fish live and die by the current and spend about 90 percent of their time facing into it, since this is the direction from which their supply of food comes. Minnows, snakes, worms, insects, hellgrammites, crawdads and other crustaceans are all on the diet of river smallmouths and all, at one time or another, will be found in the river’s flow.

Therefore, anglers should make stealthy approaches to a bridge from at least 50 yards downstream, if possible, to avoid spooking fish, and slowly move up to it, making casts to any likely looking structure along the way. Smallmouth bass will hold just below the bridge, right at the bridge abutments, or just above the bridge. The 100 yards that make up the river just below and above it should be divided into these three zones.

With the exception of fall when water levels are typically low, there should be a pretty good flow of current below any bridge abutments. Look for eddies, pools, slicks and submerged boulders, all of which are holding zones for gamefish that lie in wait for any morsel of food that washes by.

Try tossing a 2 1/2- or 3-inch Texas-rigged tube lure into the very edge of the current so that it tumbles in the stream, mimicking the antics of a crawdad or an injured minnow struggling in the fast water. If this produces nothing, try a small, silver-bladed Mepp’s Spinner, a Roostertail or a small crankbait such as the Storm SubWart in green, brown or shad colors. Work your offering through the pools and eddies or just in front of emerging weeds. These little minnow imitators often produce savage “reaction strikes” from fish that may be in a neutral mood.

Bridge abutments may be made from concrete, metal or a combination of the two, but they all have one thing in common: They collect and hold debris that has floated downstream and provide a haven for predatory fish. Logs, tree limbs, corn stalks, leaves and, sadly to say, the odd garbage bag or two wind up in a snarl at the front of these abutments. Current swirling around these obstructions washes out pools in the bottom of the river, and causes current breaks, eddies and areas of slack water immediately behind the abutments. Each should be given equal attention.

For lures, the first consideration should be that it will not snag in the thick cover. My first choice, once again, is a Texas-rigged tube. It can be dragged, hopped or allowed to remain still without much chance of becoming snagged in the debris. A small Gitzit rigged on a #6 Gamakatsu Shiner Hook, behind a 1/8-ounce bullet weight in Bluegill or Little Crappie colors, has proven to be deadly time after time.

One of my buddies, now deceased, used to swear by a purple Berkley Bungee Worm, Texas-rigged and fished on a spinning rod. He caught lots of fish on it, so I can’t argue with his success. Fish these lures in the thickest of cover and work them to the very edge of the current. This is the strike zone for smallies lying in ambush under the debris.

After dissecting every inch of the debris, try switching to small Rapala Minnows in black/gold or blue/silver and make a few casts to the abutments themselves. Or try a small spinnerbait and actually scrape it along the sides of the abutments. The lures will fall straight down and into the cement chunks that invariably are located there. “Scraping the bridge” can produce a fish or two that otherwise might have been missed.

Then, it is time to move upstream to the 50 yards or so in front of the bridge. Often, this area contains weed beds, submerged boulders and low-hanging limbs on trees. The chances are good that there will be a bend in the river nearby with washed-out banks and a pool or two.

In early morning or early evening, I usually probe the weed beds with surface lures such as small buzzbaits or a Rebel Pop-R.

Later, when the sun hits the water, is a good time to switch to Rapala Minnows, Storm SubWarts or Wiggle Warts. Work the outside edges of the weed beds and probe the pools and undercut banks for fish that have gone into deeper water.

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