scaleface

It can grow thick in the lakes here but not deep .My three top lures for it are worms both weighted and unweighted , spinnerbaits and buzzbaits .

Beetle spins .

Usually not but I have . I was at the local park just yesterday lots of litter had been tossed with a trash can right there .

If your fishing rip rap , the weight is what gets wedged . Heres a good way to combat this . The weight needs to be smaller than the bait and up against it , not free sliding or separated from . I like to use a roadrunner and then about a two inch section from the middle of a senko style worm .The roadrunner because of the thin head and the senko type worm because of the thickness and casting weight . It looks weird , short and stubby but the head doesnt become wedged, the worm does and can almost always be pulled free .For example I fish the rip rap below a small dam on a river and I "never " see anyone else bouncing their lures in the rocks ,if they do they end up snagged on almost every cast . I do it for hours and lose very few baits if any .

It depends on the spot . One of my favorite places is a slight depression in a major cove , the remnants of a shallow silted in creek , that drops from 6 foot to 8 foot at normal pool with four stumps lining the edge . It holds good fish spring , summer and fall . I dont fish there in the winter .

Full moons are when I like to go .

I Googled Gurgling spinnerbait and found this . I"m going to copy it as close as I can , maybe use a Banana head mold . Well , the link doesnt work . The bait is called the Pomme special . A short armed bait like the Bass buster Scorpion . Just noticed this on the package "Worlds best buzzin bait " The reaper rigged horizontally supplies lift .

It has worked once for me . Not a rapala but a Bomber Long A . I have tried it since but to no avail .

I have a musky Jitterbug . Bought it for night fishing . Never caught a fish on it .

My best day , I only caught 1 keeper though it was my biggest fish of the year . What made it my best day Is I got on two schools of fish .It was probably a 80 fish day, could have been 100 but I ran out of time . The first school was on a long point . The second school were just fish I saw on the depth finder on a deep featureless flat .Caught them on diving and lipless cranks . My best days for 15 inch keepers came November at Mark Twain . I limited out fishing shallow diving crankbaits in the cuts along bluffs .

Waking a spinnerbait is not what I'm referring too . When the blade breaks the surface and is still rotating , it makes a noise similar to a buzzbait almost like a boat propeller cavitating . It gurgles and leaves a trail of bubbles . I have spinnerbaits that do this , we all do . Its difficult to keep it at that delicate balance for a long time . Wondering if there is one that excels at it ?

" Well if you want to do things the easy way you're never going to learn anything " Barney Fife .

My favorite smallmouth photos .

Years ago short arm spinnerbaits like the Bass Buster Scorpion were popular . One thing these lures could do was bubble over the top of the water , making a gurgling sound and leaving a trail of bubbles . But the speed had to be perfect and it was difficult for me to accomplish this on the entire cast . Is there a spinnerbait that excels with this retrieve ?

I ordered one . I havent weighed a fish in years .

Heres a story using Real Craw . It may have turned out the same if I wasnt using it , you never know . I was fishing a point about 15 to 20 foot deep using some sort of soft plastic with real Craw applied . I felt a tic on the line and instead of setting the hook , I slowly reeled a three lb bass to the surface . It didnt let go .

In use a 7 foot light rod that reads Trout on it . It works for crappie too .

I even use soft plastics like buzzbaits . Lightly weighted 5 inch grubs and lizards have worked well . My all time favorite for this was the old Ditto Gator Tail worms . A short armed spinnerbait , when all the components are just right can be bubbled across the surface . This is really cool but difficult to achieve for long distances . Colorado or a Turtle Back blades work . My best Bubbling spinnerbait 3/8 ounce .

Yes . I use to pitch standing timber with spinning gear . Just keep the bail open and the lure falls straight down the trunk .

17 lb test trilene xl is only .015 inches . That is thin .Diameter is more important than published lb test .

There are smallmouths in streams all over Missouri including the Mississippi not just the Ozarks . I fish a fantastic river for "big" fish but I keep it a to myself .

The old fish close to the first structure by the boat ramp pattern . I think that works on every lake in the country .

I've never had a problem .One place I fish you cant wade in it . You will sink in it like quick sand and not be able to get out .

I Googled "What a rack" images .

Buzzbaits .