Gavin

Google Stupid Tube rigging...you can toss that into most junk and get it back...It doesn't hook up as much as a tube rigged on a wire weedguard hook, or an open hook...but it works....about 60/40..v...80%+.

Active fish are usually near riffle areas in the summertime. When they are inactive...they tend to drop into the deep holes near riffles. Look for current, shade, and a changes in bank and bottom structure and you will find the active fish...If its low and clear...long casts...Fish faster baits until you find them...Walkers, Buzzers, Flukes, shallow cranks...follow up with some plastics. Good luck. .

Try a circle hook with an offset point...no need to set the hook and it eliminates the gut hook problem. Works with flukes too.

PB....I don't see anything that doesn't say...Smallmouth. Smallmouth color up like that when they become stressed. TT89's fish looks like a smally/spot hybrid because of the hints of barring under the lateral line......Its not a "Meanmouth" (Largemouth/Smallie Hybrid)...Think they can only cross smallmouth and largemouth in the laboratory and the offspring are sterile(I think) and very aggressive fish....Smallmouth and spotted bass readily hybridize in the wild, and the offspring are fertile. They aren't any more aggressive than a spot or a smallmouth. Meanmouth and smallie/spot hybrids are not the same thing.

We catch a lot of smallie/spot hybrids on some of the rivers I fish...They look kinda like smallmouth...but they have barrings below the lateral line like a spot. Pbrussells fish is 100% smallmouth...not a hybrid...great catch!

It pays to carry a selection...I'll go with a Sammy 128 or a full sized spook on bigger rivers...Sammy 100, Gunfish 95, Norman Top Dollar, or a River2Sea Bubblewalker to start out on most flows...When I get a lot of misses I'll downsize to smaller walking baits...Zip n' Ziggy or a G-Splash....Walking a popper works better sometimes.

The Zip n' Ziggy is a great bait but the tinned stock hooks are junk. Replace them with some KVD short shanks...#6. The Sammy 85 was a disappointment...it sits too vertically, and its harder to walk. The Duo Reallis Pencil 85 looks interesting.

They have the ability to change color to match their surroundings thanks to the chromatophores contained in their skin cells.

That's trout country.....Try for a greenback cut in RMNP..

Walker, buzzer, or a fluke....if they wont eat that, fish bottom.

Usually 1-2 hours one way for a day trip. If the drive is longer than that, I'll spend at least 3 days.

Its a blast when the conditions are suited to it. Usually fish a 9' 7wt, and I use big blockhead poppers, sneaky pete's, and large streamers. If I have to go deep for them, I break out my conventional tackle.

Baitcaster most of the time, but I'll use spinning tackle for small walking baits, and poppers. Spinning gives me a little more casting distance with the small baits.

River Smallies love walking baits. Its usually the first thing I try in the summertime...If they wont eat it in the early AM, try again every hour or so...They will usually hit on top at some point during the day..especially when the river is low, clear, and hot.

There brain is located just behind there eyes...no worries.