The only river trolling I have done is on the C-land for stripes., both with and w/o guides. The guides will always troll with the current. Their reasoning is the fish will be in a current break facing into the current waiting for something to come by. I have tried both ways and going with the current has always been much more productive. Sometimes you will get a reaction strike when you surprise one from behind, but my luck, it always seems to spook the fish.

All this being said, I have not tried pulling plugs while in the river. I use live bait, bucktail jigs, or swimbaits/jig & grub combos.

Joe