06/08/2026
June is prime time for river fishing.
Water temperatures are rising, insect activity is booming, baitfish are everywhere, and predator fish are feeding hard before the peak summer heat arrives.
🐟 **SMALLMOUTH BASS**
**Best Lures:** Tube jigs, Ned rigs, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, topwater walking baits
Target current seams, eddies, rock piles, and submerged timber.
🌊 **WALLEYE**
**Best Baits:** Minnows, leeches, nightcrawlers, jigs, crankbaits
Focus on deeper holes, current breaks, wing dams, and rocky structure.
🦷 **NORTHERN PIKE**
**Best Lures:** Spoons, spinnerbaits, swimbaits, jerkbaits, topwater baits
Look for w**d beds, slack water pockets, and backwater areas.
🐠 **CATFISH**
**Best Baits:** Cut bait, chicken liver, nightcrawlers, live bait, stink bait
June catfish often stack around deeper holes, outside bends, and current transitions.
🌈 **TROUT**
**Best Lures & Baits:** Inline spinners, spoons, flies, worms, small jerkbaits
Fish riffles, pools, undercut banks, and cooler oxygen-rich runs.
🐟 **WHITE BASS**
**Best Lures:** Inline spinners, small swimbaits, spoons, blade baits
Watch for baitfish schools and feeding activity near current.
The biggest river fishing mistake?
Casting where the water looks good instead of where fish can conserve energy.
Fish love current.
They just prefer letting the current bring food to them.
Find the current break and you usually find the fish.
Smallmouth, walleye, trout, catfish, or pike? Which river fish keeps you coming back every June?
