Those old guys have experience.

I'm not much for slow techniques on the river so it's not my thing. I have wacky rig under a bobber to some degree, but I prefer a hair/feature jig or platics jig.

You should try asking people who have had success with the tactic first, they can probably provide more accurate information than most or us on the forum. That said, try fishing different areas, or try a flea flicker jig head, that will cut down on the drift that the river has on your worm. Try fishing places where there is an area of still water on the edge of the current, bass will usually stay in these areas and wait for food to float by them.

I'm NOT an expert with this...but having fished in rivers a good deal of time I'll give you my thoughts on this.

For anyone reading after my post....if you disagree with me...be kind enough to state the reasons why...instead of calling me stupid.

1st off...river fishing...especially with some type of current...dictates that you either fish near the bottom (for fish like walleye, sauger or sometimes catfish)...or you fish next to cover...such as laydowns...rocks...weedbeds...etc.

Secondly...how strong the current is will also affect how you should fish rivers...and for that matter...the size of the river CAN make a difference in all of this too. JMHO

There's basically 2 different approaches to this.

The 1st one is to cast up ahead of the cover from a downstream angle...and bring the lure downstream as CLOSE as you can...or even into it...into the cover. Both weight of the lure...and speed of the current...and your retrieve speed...will affect your presentation...so you have to play with that...and also any added weight to your set-up.

The 2nd basic approach is to be upstream of the cover / structure (let's say the edge of a hole for example...or a major laydown / brushpile / rockpile)...and cast your bait / lure to a position that is upstream of the "spot"...then let out line as needed...to allow the bait to drift down into the spot you are trying to fish. Once again though...current speed and weight of your lure will affect your presentation...so at the risk of sounding like a broken record..."ya gotta experiment".

I'm NOT experienced with southern rivers that can have no current at all sometimes...yet when the dam is releasing water...then the fish turn on. Member ouachitabassangler is a master at that kind of thing...as are many others that I have conversed with on here...so hopefully you can give us some more info on your rivers...and that others will state their experiences.

Last but not least...take a look in Members Tips for a Topic I started years ago called River Fishing. A LOT of info was lost in software transitions on here...but there's still some good info there...I will try to redo the Topic this winter

I hope I didn't offend anyone with this post

Good advice Dave. Took me a long while to figure out that a bait had to travel downstream to get hit! I believe the poster is fishing the Rock river just below the Il/Wi line, so your info can't be too far off! Now about the stupid part...... Tom

Got one of the best lessons on the river several years back.  I found myself getting more and more dependent on different concepts of worm fishing when I finally found time to fish with guy who had been after me for several months to fish the river (Altamaha) with him.  We had hardly begun to fish when he laid down his worm rod and picked up a road with a long silver topwater Rapala.  After three or four cast he had a nice bass.  Eight or ten casts latter he had another real nice river bass.  This went on for a short while, long enough for me to tie on a similar Rapala.  If there is one thing I hate worse than not catching fish--it is someone else just tearing me up!  Finally, I asked what I was doing wrong.  He asked me if I had tied the lure on with a Rapala knot.  I had no idea what he was talking about.  He finally gave in and showed me how to tie it.  I would have never believed the knot could make that much difference until I began to catch bass just as often as he was.
I guess it has been around as long as the lure--they use to even put directions in the box with the lure but I think they have ceased to do that.  I never thought a topwater Rapala could fish a fast running river until then.  I really became surprised to see how seldom it got hung and when hung how easy it was to unhang.  One of the real secrets was to let it sit for about 20 seconds if the fish will wait that long.  Give it a try and like me you might just go WACKY!  Uncle Tom

QUACKs like a duck, TACKs like a duck, and WACKs like a duck...It must be a DUCK. Wack, wack, wack, wack,....LOL's.

Sometimes you have to change lures. Sometimes it's to change to match the exact way the other guy is fishing.