I usually find myself fishing the Trinity River in Arlington but on Saturday I branched out and went to Fort Worth. I tried two different spots and in about 4 hours total we landed one small blue.

My main question is, when fishing a River, is it important to change spots often when it is dead, or stay put and wait for the next "batch" of fish to roll by? From what I have read, fish will move around quite a bit in the rivers. Any other tips would be greatly appreciated!

The only tip I can offer with little experience, which you're probably aware but for others with no experience that read this, cast up current so if you book a big one you aren't fighting the fish and the current. As far as finding fish I need advice on that too

Great tip. Thanks bud! The Trinity doesn't have a lot of current but I will keep that in mind if I ever fish a river with more current.

DAM's working, but I'll ask him to chime in on this...

Thanks LakeLass. Much appreciated.

Alot of the trinity river systems in Fort Worth are sectioned off by dams approx 1 1/4 mile apart. This doesn't let water or fish move very much. So waiting on the fish isn't really productive there, along with the lack of a good shad source. Try to fish the forks with cut/live perch, they tend to hold feeding fish more times than not. Locate 2-3 spots that work for you and plan on fishing them all in one night. Spend about an 1 1/2 - 2 hrs at each spot. When I do this it's work but I'm not there for a bunch of fish I'm just there for one fish. Some nights you might not catch a thing some nights you might catch several. But if you catch one right away and there isn't another good bite for a bit, pack it up and hit the next fork. Don't be afraid to move and try new spots. You never know until you go

I river fish religiously.I don't have electronics. So I move around and first find a bait spot.(where there's bait there's hunters close by).
I move around frequently I never stay put more than 30 to 45 minutes and generally anchor down when fishing.I fish out of a small boat and with drastic depth changes and limited room never drift.
I've come to believe River catfish are nocturnal.I can put up a good stringer consistantly from 10 to 6.it's always better at night. (for me anyways).
I look for shallow to deep drop offs and rocky flats.if you can find submerged timber or brushy piles where crappie or bass hold the big cats are sure to be stalking.I've also use birds as tattle tales pelicans feeding off the banks or trees that overhang over the river that hold birds especially if you can still see em holding up in trees flying south. Just anchor down and get your rods under em.
Or close by. If your using Live shad or perch and your poles aren't bouncing or bowing move around and come back. I generally pick out about 5 or 6 spots till I find the sweet one. The birds and animals feeding off the banks are my electronics.

Ft Worth Trinity.......just try to find where they dumped the bodies and you'll find some big ole catfish and gar

I have heard behind Papadeaux on 30.......maybe the fish can smell the food cooking? lol

drop offs drop offs drop offs that is the key factor to finding multiple fish holding in an area in any river system generally you will find these drop offs on the inside bends in a river system generally speaking the water will look like it is trying to change direction and go up river if you see this you need to fish here...typically the inside part of the bend will be shallower but do not overlook this as many times you will catch the larger cats and gator gar in these shallower areas but you will catch more fish at the drop off area and some larger ones there as well

look for tale tale signs that the river has a good reason to hold fish a bunch of visible timber is nice but these spots are heavily fished look for isolated structure weather its 1 stick or a small patch of rocks ect isolated structure in a river system usually means there's much more than meets the eye under the surface but many pass these pieces of structure up because it appears that its just 1 branch stuck in the mud and is insignificant which is most certainly not the case

and last but certainly not least is bait freshness many of you know that fresh bait is key in lakes but its more of a factor in rivers because due to the current the scent disperses to a wider area and faster if your using fresh caught bait and havent had a bite in 20-30minutes and it looks like a prime spot with the key features change your bait just because you cant see the current doesnt mean its not there

Great tips guys! Thank you. I am banking it and will put this advice to good use.

Usually you want to cast downstream. In little or no current you can get by casting upstream but fish will usually pick up the bait and move downstream making it much easier to hook them, especially when using circle hooks. Keep moving till you find fish, look for deep water and structure. The only time I would set on a hole for more then 15 minutes is if it is a big deep hole that might hold a few large fish.

Banking it makes it tough to move around to a bunch of spots, in my limited experience. I guess I will need to hunt for more accessible places! Thanks for all the tips. Keep em coming!

When you're banking it and want to hit multiple spots you gotta stream line some what. A good cart that will hold all your stuff helps too. if you can unload your cart and set your rods in it and take off to your spot. Set up fish for 2 hours, then reel in your rods, pick up your chair and your bank holders and wheel your cart back to your ride in just a few minutes then it makes it a lot easier to move around when you are a bank fisherman.

I do need to get a cart. The spot behind my house is rather limited and the banks are pretty steep but there is a lot of structure.. I need to find some new spots.

the spot that we fish on the trinity hasnt been producing like it did when we first started going there either. the past few times we have been skunked.. or garred to death. im just gonna keep at it and hope for the best.

we fish at a "pool" type area off the trinity. started where the river feeds in to the pool.. and then the opposite bank (where the deeper water is) with more current.

our next time out we are going to fish further back in to the "pool" area and see if we cant find more structure.

good luck!