Ken et al, it seems many of you fish downstream with very good success. i have always been an upstream or cross current fisherman. i do ok, but there are obvious types of water or conditions where it seems that a downcurrent presentation would be very useful and i feel a little lacking in that dept. could one o fyou guys take the time to just give me the basics? are you just hanging a jig or stick bait in the current and let it just kind of slide left or right or pay out a little line and bounce it back down in the current along an edge? any basic help would be appreciated. thanks

For me at least, that is just about it. I will try to match the weight of my jighead to the current so it will sink slowly if left to sit tightlined in the main current. If you swing your bait to the side along a current seam it will sink faster, so you want to do a "swim-up and sink back" reverse retrieve through the slack water areas. Also, the size and tail action of your twister tail grub can affect the sink/swim ratio.

Jerkbaits and cranks I haven't messed with too much, but cross current and hanging it in and around downstream seams has worked for me when targeting walleye at night.

Ken will have a better explanation, but for the most part, you can work your lure downstream slowly by making a cast in front of the area you want to fish, and slowly use the current to work it downstream.

I have so much stuff on fishing downstream I don't know where to look. I know there's something here, but I'll be damned if I can find it.

I did find one big long thing I wrote about it back in 2000. The word processing software I used back then doesn't even work anymore, so it opens a bit garbled.

You have the right idea. Everything that swims in the water is facing upstream and virtually nothing moves in long fast lines like people like to reel. Bait fish move in little movements. Up, down and back and forth and always trying to relate to some kind of cover or structure or the current. Make your lure do that after you quarter it or cast it down stream. Especially as it reaches that point straight down from you. Move it back and forth in and out of current breaks.

The best thing is learn by doing. Just keep trying it. All I know is that I catch fish out of spots after hanging lures in the current and just doing what I said above. There's no way you would have caught them by casting upstream to them.

Ed's explains it pretty well too. This should keep you busy.

thanks gents. i will definitely try it out the next time i am wading.

at a piece of ledge or rapid, it sounds easy but many times i have just cast directly
downstream and moved the rod back n forth slowly.

raising the rod tip gets the bait off the bottom.
slowly sweep the bait or lure into the eddy and across current.

no bites.
crank once or twice and repeat.

trick is slowly move the rod back n forth.
slightest bit of hang up i raise the rod tip.

that keeps the jig/crank hook just off the bottom.
i can sit a jig on the bottom with tail up wiggling...
wait then move to the side.

i've used this a lot, then perfected it watching a guy flyfish for trout in some rapids.
Shaking the rod while sweeping it to the side shook and moved the bait.
While sweeping the rod to the side, tap on the rod blank.
Its enough to cause a vibration down to the bait.

in clear water watching the movement was killer.
The baits shimmyied and moved just like real.

I added his technique to mine.

not brain surgery nor the first method to be used.
but it works.