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GAPEN’S
...Where Two Rivers Come Together
(continued)
To fish this structure the angler can choose to anchor the boat directly on top of the
drop and await the coming and goings of fish schools as they pass by.
The drop is an
excellent structure
to take spring
steelhead trout on!
This is the
secret spot I’ve found in my local rivers and
it always produced a fish worthy of a photograph
when I needed it.
The three fish on the opposite side from
the drop in the drawing will generally be
large walleye, northern pike or muskie if
they exist in your river. These will usually
hold tight in this spot and await your
offering.
Good Luck
and, if its rough fish you
are after the river ‘drops’
hold plenty of them
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I’ve found rigging live bait, such as night crawlers, on a Bait
Walker sinker to be one of the best ways to approach this
drop structure. One strange occurrence that happens on this
spot is that you may encounter as many as 6 or 7 species of
fish each arriving ten minutes apart. Each school may have
fish all of similar size while the heavier fish are fewer in
numbers in a school.
Example: A school of smallmouth bass may contain
as many as 18-fish, in the pound to pound and a half size.
While the next smallies you encounter may go over 4
pounds and there are only 4 or 5 of them. The same is true
of walleye, channel cats and rough fish. The only exception
to this rule is when you encounter white bass. White bass
schools can be high in numbers and vary greatly in body
weights.
Dan Gapen, Sr.
muskellunge
noun
a large pike that occurs only in the Great Lakes
Go to page 158 and pick up copies region. Also of called Dan maskinonge Gapen’s or muskie. ‘River
Rat’ DVDs.
• Esox masquinongy, family Esocidae.
This spot (where two rivers muskelunge, come together), muscallonge, milliganong, along or with
countless others are exposed to
maskinonge
the angling
(and often abbreviated
public
"muskie"
both
or
in
"musky"), is a species of large, relatively
spring’s high water and summer normal water levels.
123
a bait Walker Plus and cut bait
attracted this huge channel cat on a drop
The muskellunge (Esox masquinongy), aka: as
uncommon freshwater fish of North America.
Rocks, especially high rocks, exposed above river's surface can produce goodly numbers
of gamefish. Walleye, smallmouth bass, catfish and trout all seek out this structure
for several reasons.
1 - These rocks provide an excellent area to ambush food as it seeks shelter from the
river current forces.
2 - In the spring smallmouth bass seek out
Feeding Fish
this structure to spawn behind. Generally
there are a couple of sand and gravel Panfish
pockets directly behind the rocks which
D
Walleye or Bass
make excellent spawning dishes.
3 - The rocks provide resting areas for large
A
gamefish to stage in before feeding.
These same resting spots see food come
to the fish, food such as minnows, hellgrammites,
and crawdads, thus less effort
is needed to acquire a meal.
NOTE: 'A' & 'A' – The aggressive walleye and
bass have taken up positions along the current
cuts produced by the above surface rocks. It's
here where these feeding fish get first chance at
C
the downstream-descending food.
Smallies will
hold closer to the
rock while walleye
tend to stage
B
d o w n s t r e a m
where the rockcreated
eddies fade out and water traverses downstream,
once again. 'A' & 'B' – These are noted by the last three
fish in the diagram.
Probably the most fish
caught on exposed
rocks in rivers will be
smallmouth bass
GAPEN’S
Fishing Tips:
FROM
HIMSELF!
EXPOSED RIVER ROCKS
Panfish such as rock bass, bluegill and crappie generally
hug close to the backside of the rocks (these are shown in
green) at the spot marked 'C'. They are easily caught by
dabbling a 1/16 oz. Ugly Bug jig directly on top of them.
Tip the small jig with a tiny piece of nightcrawler and hang
on. The minute it reaches a spot near bottom you'll
receive a strike. Often, if this spot contains rock bass - you
can boat a dozen or more.
F iF sih s h G aG pa ep n e’ n s’ s
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128
ROCK
ROCK
A