The day is never fresher than the hour after sunrise, especially when the wind is in your hair and the breeze is in your face.

So began another fishing day last week. Miles of glass-smooth Ohio River stretched in front of me as I pushed the Mercury in gear and mashed the Hot Foot throttle. The BassCat planed out and made short work of the two-mile run to the morning’s first stop.

It happened quickly. Three casts were all that I needed to catch the attention of a river bass, which rocketed vertically out of the water to eat my surface popper. The smallmouth churned and ran sideways, then jumped and splashed two more times before diving under the boat several times in the manner so characteristic of the hard-fighting smallie.

Great start, to say the least, and a delightful reminder of the reason I love to fish the Ohio River.

So what’s the attraction? The Ohio River is not well regarded by America’s bass brats. Big-time professional bass championships have put their contenders on the Ohio and it flat-out whipped their butts.

The river has a mercurial personality. Some years it’s good; most years it’s as tough as a well-done chuck steak. It also is fickle. Around the time an angler thinks he or she has figured it out, the river flips and deals you a losing hand.

For me, however, the river is fun for two simple reasons: It has smallmouth bass and miles and miles of unpressured water with cover and structure that fit the way I love to fish.

Other nearby waters also have good populations of smallmouth bass. I’ve caught them at Berlin, Milton, West Branch, Shenango, Lake Erie, Chautauqua Lake, Pymatuning and the Mahoning River. So it’s not as though I have no options to satisfy my appetite for smallie action.

I live 45 minutes from the Ohio, but I count myself as a river rat. That’s because I feel a kinship with the anglers who grew up fishing the big, broad and temperamental Ohio River.

I have caught my fair share of Ohio River bass. I’ve had days when I boated more than 40 of them. And I’ve had a few days when I zeroed.

That’s the Ohio, the river I love.

My visit there last week was just my second of 2021. Weather permitting, I hope to hit the Ohio a couple more times this year.

I never am certain what exactly I might encounter. Smallmouth bass, walleyes and sauger I expect. I’ve also hooked up with hybrid striped bass, largemouth and spotted bass, crappies, yellow perch, sheepshead, flathead and channel catfish, muskies and, unexpectedly, a rainbow trout – obviously a survivor from Pennsylvania stockings in the Allegheny River drainage.

All of the fish are fun, but it is the Ohio’s smallmouth bass that wind my clock.

I boated seven fat smallies over the keeper size last week and a like number that were short on size but big on attitude. Seven-inchers have voracious appetites and apparently no fear of lures meant for their adult cousins. Big or small, the fish pack a punch from hookset until they finally are in my hand. They don’t come easy – few good things come easy – but when they do, they make the Ohio River a very special place indeed.

Jack Wollitz’s new book, The Common Angler: A Celebration of Fishing, is based on his experiences on local reservoirs, the Ohio River and waters throughout the US. He enjoys emails from readers. Send a note to jackbbaass@gmail.com.