The Salt River is a great place for largemouth bass fishing.
Fisrst thing to know is how the water level changes on the river.
During the river they open the Stewart Mountain Dam at Saguaro Lake and the river will be flowing around at 1000-1500 cubic feet per second, but during winter they can lower it all the way down to 8 cfs.
During the summer when the waterflow is heavy you won’t find Bass in the rapids as much.
The bass will position themselves in slow pools just outside of the waterflow usually on rocky outcroppings on the side of the river.
They’ll also hide behind large rocks in the middle of the river as well as downed trees that end up in the river or along the bank.
Bass will hide in these spots orient themselves to look up river and catch food as it flows down the river. This is key to catching bass. They won’t eat what they don’t see.
Once you have identified a place with cover where bass could be cast just beyond that spot and pull your lure back past where you think the fish is.
In the winter when the water is lower I still like to look for small pools that a bass could be resting in but I’ll find them out in the middle of the river as well.
Remember to go slower in the winter as well since the bass slowdown as well with the cold.
If there is a lot of grass I like to pull a weedless lure through those as well, because largemouth bass love to hang out there and strike at passing fish.
I’ll also slowly pull spinners through the open water when it’s calm and actually have had quite a bit of luck.
If you’re in an area without a lot of weeds jerkbaits work really well on the Salt River.
Just simply cast out and do a few jerks on the lure using the rod then reel in the slack.
On really rocky sections near the bank I’ve had a lot of luck with plastic Crawdads on an offset hook with a bullet sinker.
With the plastic crawdads its really easy to take the exposed part of the hook and have it barely popping out of the crawdads back so that it doesn’t catch onto all the weeds.
So the most important thing when bass fishing is to always be looking for resting spots where the bass are likely to hang out. These are always the best places to try first.
Good luck, have fun and remember to pick up after yourself.
Read About Trout Fishing on the Salt River
Disclaimer: I only recommend products I have used and truly would use again. Some of the links on this site are affiliate links and may result in me getting a commission though they don’t affect my reviews.
The Rocky Outdoorsman 