In this video, Wired2fish’s own Nick Dumke targets largemouth bass stacked in a flowing river system, using a reliable one-two punch—a frog and a jig. As summer heats up and the grass starts growing in, the fish push shallow and group up along current seams and tight river bends. This bite is all about timing, current, and keeping your bait where the bass are feeding. Whether it’s a violent topwater blow-up or a subtle jig bite in a grass pocket, the fish are eating—and eating well.
Featured Product
Frog Setup
- FROG – Northland Tackle Reed-Runner Frog: Buy at Northland
- ROD – Shimano Zodias Casting Rod 7’5″ Heavy: Buy at Tackle Warehouse | Buy at FishUSA
- REEL – Shimano Curado MGL Baitcast Reel 150: Buy at Bass Pro Shops | Buy at Tackle Warehouse | Buy at FishUSA
- LINE – Power Pro Spectra Braided Line Yellow (50 lb.): Buy at Bass Pro Shops | Buy at Tackle Warehouse | Buy at FishUSA
Flipping Setup
- PLASTIC – Duo Realis G-Fix T-Hog: Buy at Tackle Warehouse
- HOOK – BKK Armor Point Heavy Cover Flipping Hook 3/0: Buy at Tackle Warehouse | Buy at FishUSA
- WEIGHT – VMC Tungsten Flipping Weight 3/8 oz.: Buy at Tackle Warehouse
- ROD – Trika 6X Casting Rod 7’3″ Medium Heavy: Buy at Trika
- REEL – Trika TI100 Baitcasting Reel 7:1: Buy at Trika
Finding Bass Where Current Meets Cover
Current is everything in this system. Dumke focuses on river sections where moving water pushes against the bank, creating natural ambush points. These areas funnel baitfish and concentrate bass. Every time he finds flowing grass or bends in the river, the bites start stacking up.
Frog and Flip: A Simple, Effective Strategy
The frog is perfect for covering water quickly and triggering reaction bites from shallow bass buried in grass or holding close to current seams. It excels in thick vegetation, around rice edges, or anywhere the surface cover allows bass to ambush from below. The visual blow-ups are high energy and hard to beat. But not every strike lands a fish. That’s where the jig plays its role. Dumke follows up missed topwater hits with a clean flip back into the same area.The simplicity of switching between these two tactics eliminates hesitation and keeps your bait in front of active fish at all times.
Stay Mobile, Fish Smart, Read the Current
To stay on the fish in river systems like this, mobility matters. Dumke keeps his approach simple: follow the current, watch how it hits the bank, and stay near active grass lines. River fish rely on the current to deliver food, and they position themselves in textbook ways—behind grass points, along sharp river turns, or in breaks where the flow gets deflected. Dumke shows how to read these subtle shifts and strike zones that others might pass by.
Boat Setup
- FISH FINDER – Garmin ECHOMAP Ultra 2 126sv Fish Finder/Chartplotter with Navionics+: Buy at Bass Pro Shops
- FORWARD-FACING SONAR – Panoptix LiveScope™ Plus System w/ GLS10 & LVS34 Transducer: Buy at Tackle Warehouse | Buy at Bass Pro Shops
- TROLLING MOTOR – Garmin Force Trolling Motor: Buy at Bass Pro Shops
- GRAPH MOUNT – Bass Boat Technologies Dual Dash Mount
- OUTBOARD – Mercury Pro XS 250hp: Check out at Mercury
- BOAT – Ranger Z520: Check out at Ranger
