Nick

We need to know what general latitude or area that you are fishing to give more sound advice. Water temperatures can be a big thang in helping you out. Generaly smallies are not very bait selective in small waters. Speed and depth could be issues as they related to temps.

I've been chasing river smallies for about 40 years. If your water is quite clear, say 5 feet or more visibility, that's a very tough time to catch any good bass. You don't indicate the water temp., but if you are fishing into the 40's, the algae die off makes the water even clearer. So in the winter, go fish when the river is higher and more colored than normal. Fish suspended jerkbaits and jigs. If you can cut the visibility by half, you'll be able to fool these smallies if you can get out of the current. If the water temps are in the 50's or higher, they are much more tolerant of the current. The best warm water bait for smallmouth during the late prespawn through the summer is a superfluke fished on a 4/0 gammy no weight. White works everywhere, and if you have quality bass in your stream, visibility of 2- 4 feet, the Superfluke is the best bait going. I've caught thousands of big smallies on jigs, but just try that fluke as the water warms. Don't put hardly any action on it. Just let it sink and glide along. Good luck.

It's a vision thing for me with tubes and lizards, and floating worms. I like 'em bright! This year I'm going to use more big plastics like fake big bluegills ans swimbait sized baits. I hate it when I have to use the natural greens to get bit, but whatever it takes!

Storm has a lot of adherents for both the Wart and the Chug Bug. They also make the suspend dots and strips that most of us use. I have had bad luck with some Berkley products. The Vanish line seems to rot after three day's use. Gulp may catch fish, but it's not allowed in my boat. Too stinky.

Check out what the FLW pro's do down there next week. They'll let you know what the potential is for catching good smallies at what should be a prime time for them in TN.

Anyone else wanting to to an extra swap with me is welcome. I am offering handmade sugar pine topwater walking baits. You would get a choice of colors. Just pm me. Nick

I'd be willing to trade with three other people if they are willing to receive two walking handmade topwaters. Nick

Whittler, I'd trade with all the guys posted. I still have a few of my walking wooden topwaters that do catch lots of bass. Please sign me up if there is to be another bait trade!

Hope there is a round two! Sorry, I was absent for a year! I sold a walking topwater that I made personally, and would love for you fellows to catch a big un or two on my topwaters!

4lb. 9 oz.

All critters react to the gravitational pull of the moon. It is increased during both the new and full moons. I do find that many more bass go on the beds as the moon fills to full. When water temps hit to low 60's start looknig for beds in the shallower coves that get direct light from the southern sun. Bigger bass choose the best locations for a nest. Some males will make multiple nests in an effort to convince the larger females to visit. Bass do prefer a hard, clean bottom on which to lay eggs. Sometimes they'll even lay eggs off the bottom suspended area like a jet ski lift or on a submerged stump. Not all bass seek out the sun for a nest. I've flushed them out from under swim platforms and from under the shade of docks, but many will spawn in the light. It's the male that actively guards and shases away threats esp. after the eggs are laid. Females are tougher to catch on beds becasue they don't stay as long and do not try to defend the turf as readily. Bass are not in an eating mood on beds. They strike defensively. Sometimes a larger bait will provoke a strike like a floating lizard or bluegill swimbait, but often you'll get more success on a tiny tube or craw or worm. Crankbaits would be a last choce for me. I want sonmething that stays in that bed a long time and provokes a strike. I think the bedding process is usually about a 10 day event. You may only see the female of about one or two days, and often she'll be cruising the area checking out the best mate. I think the fry appear in about 10 days, and the males will usually stay close and drive out enemies for about a week to ten days. Some males are more duty bound. These are the easiest bass to catch on beds and should be left alone as they are taking care of the youngsters. Big female post spawners take some time to get back in the rhythm of eating. My guess is about a week. But since not all the bass spawn at the same time, you may encounter prepawn females, heavy and eating to target, in cooler waters, and not worry about the post-spawn blues. To get a foot in lenth will take a year at least in most climates. In the north country it could take five or six years. You can tell when the bass spawn is nearly over in the shallows. When you see the swarms of bluegill making their round nests, the bass have just about finsihed their spawn. I think this is natures way of protecting both species. Spawning bluegill are having many of those domestic quarrels with their neighbors giving some of the the bass fry a chance to survive. The male bass are still protecting the fry so they don't maraud too many of the bluegill nests. Pretty cool, eh? I hope this helps, and I don't know everything there is to know about spawning.

Sometimes one wonders why we ever prefish! The weather changed from winter to spring and back to winter again. The winds blew 30-35 for three days and it snowed enough on the final day to throw snowballs! What amazed me was some bass continued to move shallower, at least the catchable ones. My greatest fear is having a god prefish and two days before the event, I really got on some good fish on jerkbaits. I left each area quicky, and figured I had a good idea of how to catch them on day one. Uh-oh, after 8 fruitless hours of casting, I returned to weigh in on day one with a zero. I tried to follow the practice fish from shallow to deep, but never found them in any of the tree pl;aces I caught tem in practice. I pretty much abandoned the channel swing bite and moved farther back in the pockets and get on the board with a total of six keepers over the last two days. The Kentucky bass were striking lightly and I failed to boat 4 more of them. I'm confident that all were keepers. The water temps stayed in the low 40's, and some fish were caught over pea gravel. By the third day I was just trying to hit as many untouched places as I could to find aggressive fish in the colored waters around Theodosia. That plan worked a a little, but I failed to get a check. I did accumulate enough points to feel confident as this series has just four events total before the championship. I finished 57th. A longtime asquaintance of mine Tim Fleetwood won the event going away. He lives on the lake, and no one does a better job eith the jerkbait than he does. Congrats.

On the streams in MO I fish all winter in the usual slow down places fairly deep at least for streams. The bite picks up any time the water temp is over 40: under 40 it gets a little tougher and the bites are much mushier. Been river fishing in the winter for 25 years and that's just the way it is in Missouri.

Smallmouth are not picky critters in streams. If it runs straight and gets in the right places, smallies will drill it. Frakly I wouldn't spend those $ on them when a 2.99 norman will do the same thing. Take a look at their crappie cranks and little N's.

Anyone out there with a Humminbird side finder? I have an 897 mounted on my trolling motor and the results so far are mixed. I find boulders and solid objects well. I can find schools of baitfish and pick up larger fish, but I don't see planted brush as well as I would like. Any comments or suggestions?

I've switched to a seven foot All-star medium light graphite rod. I like the extra casting distance and the softness of the long rod for landing fish. Longer is beter for me.

Do any of you guys know how to fish? Could be embarrassing?

As usual I came close. Missed a 30 grand boat by one good bite last weekend in a championship event. I write for the tournament trail I fish so I break even on entries even if I lose. Lost money in the FLW events due to travel expenses, but if I can get six fishing vacations for about $300 each all across America and fish with some of the best out there, I'd say it's worth it to me.

RW, In those clear waters like the Tenn River area, I'll bet most of the giant smallies are caught at night. Would you agree?

I have guided and still do at times. I also fish professionally, and let me tell you, that when you are the guide, you don't learn much from clients to stay sharp like you do fishing competitive tours. Guides should fish with other pro's to learn even more about techniquesand gear. As for fishing, I've seen guides who front ended the clients all day long, and I've seen those totally disinterested who wanted to quit by noon. The best one that I saw in action had that gift of gab and fished from the back of the boat "used water" with a transom mount trolling motor. I think it's important for the guide to catch something to get the client fired up if his enthusiasm has waned, but guides have to put the rod down if the client is a good fish catcher. I would never guide full time unless I could dip shiners in Florida or perhaps chase smallies across the north.

Me thinks the old fellow was using n effective bait in theright place.

Basser89, For grins I tried racing my jig as fast as my Curado would retrieve it, and for the first week or so many bass shot out of the riprap to nail it. After 8 trips, though, I couldn't get a strike even though I changed jig colors. I don't know if the bass left the riprap in numbers, or just got used to the fast jig, but this past Wed. evening, I tied on a six inch swimbait for grins and caught a 5 pound largemouth within 4 feet of the riprap shore on my seventh cast. They hadn't seen the swimbait for three months, an then I only used it for a few casts. Again, I think the novelty of the swimbait triggered a very positive response.

I like avid's idea. The best fishermen I know don't go fishing, they go catching. For them it's a matter of harvesting. They have had so much success that they expect to do well regardless of the conditions. They have learned the habits of the quarry, and they know how to use the tools to make fish bite. Their confidence is acquired from repeated successes. Successful anglers eliminate as many unknowns as possible. They can pretty well determine what they should be doing when they can cut the long list of variables that affect fishing. It's making the best decisions to come up with the dominant pattern to put the odds overwhelmingly in one's favor. #1 find the depth of the fish based on season, water conditions, weather, and food. #2 fish the structural elements fish are relating to #3 determine the mood of the fish or activity level : active, nertral, or inactive #4 select the proper lure to elicit strikes.

Raul, I'm glad you got here first. All too often these clarity words are tossed around: stained, muddy, and clear. I have never read of anyone ascribing an actual depth of a Secchi disc reading to denote these three generalizations. Help me if you have a standard. Boy, do we need one! My measuring way is in reference to how many guides up my rod I can see white (like a spinnerbait skirt) helps me determine what bait, depth, and speed to fish. Of course the big co-variable here is the water temperature. At low light, dusk, dawn, cloudy weather, the visibility diminishes as well. So many considerations is what makes bassin so much fun! At Okeechobee last winter I was poking my spinnerbait in the water regularly and without doing my measurement of clarity, we would not have caught bass. By eyeing the surface, the water looked pretty much the same color, but poking that skirt underwater told me that some water had as much as 20 inches of clarity while some other "stained" water had just 6 inches. You had to be in the clearest water to catch Big Sally!

It's generally a confidence thang. Many of my buds swear that bass are Italian, ergo the garlic spray!