Got a few events on some lakes here in Oklahoma that have a good smallie population. Lake Eufuala, OK

Just seeing how quickly you can load the boat when u find a school it seems like a good idea to target them.

Only ever chased those big mouth bass, ha.

Here is what I have recently learned.

They like sunny days and they tend to be more hunters than there cousins.

And that's about all.

So any tips to get off on the right foot is appreciated. Thanks!

Your right a LM is usually fat and lazy, smallies are roamers hunt and seek.  Look for humps and drop offs away from shore. Favorite baits jigs, jigs and jigs, tipped with craw immatations, in very early spring when the water is cold suspending jerk baits fished with long pauses are killers, summer, early morning top waters until the sun comes up.  remember you may catch more fish along shores but quality fish are along structure away from shore close to deep water.  Gd luck.

You know..................I see this repeated a lot, and in a lot of diff. places, that smallmouth are supposed to be very active on sunny days....and I have some decent days fishing for them on sunny days, but why is it that all my best days with them have been in almost down right miserable weather?

For me, most of the smallies I catch come from fishing rocks or gravel.  Rocky points are one of my all time favorite smallie places.

Any place there is a rocky substrate and higher oxygen levels (i.e. submersed rivers/springs) seem to alway produce for me. I may not catch the biggest but I seem to catch quantity and most colorfully vibrant smallies in these places.

Nice good info here thank you!

One lake that has a small, small mouth presence is very rocky

But Eufaula produced our state record going out this weekend to do some scouting on some known small mouth areas.

Do any of you just troll around until you see them on the graph? Like do u even bother to fish like say ur favorite spot even though the graph maybe didn't show much?

When they say a school, like what's and average school population amount? Any good guesses?

The best day I ever had Oneida Lake was sunny, hot and flat calm and the hot bite lasted well after noon, only after a breeze picked up a bit.   Just sat on/near structure with a rod in your hand waiting................waiting............until a small boil appears on the surface within casting distance.   Then you fire your lure (Super Spooks for us that weekend) and try to hit that spot exactly, if you did it would only take a twitch or two and they were all over it.    Waiting to cast was crucial.   If you tried to fish while waiting for the boils you would waste too much time reeling to make the cast.   The little frenzy would be over.   That weekend we would have a boil within casting distance every two or three minutes, and on one shoreline there were boils as far as you could see in both directions for hours.  

 

So if your fishing are schooling, and they are chasing bait to the surface, watch for this.

_WNY,

    _{I have only fished Oneida once, but just bought a place on De Ruyter Lake late 2012. Plan on trailering the boat to many of the lakes in the area to try my luck. Any particular months better than others at Oneida Lake?}

 

_Gary

_WNY,

    _{I have only fished Oneida once, but just bought a place on De Ruyter Lake late 2012. Plan on trailering the boat to many of the lakes in the area to try my luck. Any particular months better than others at Oneida Lake?}

 

_Gary

 

 

I prefer the open water months.    lol

Much easier on the motor!

I don't have a very fancy finder and, honestly, am not very good using a finder to find fish. I have my usual spots and somewhere in the vacinity of my "spot" I will land smallies. My uncle taught me to use the areas where faster moving water meets calm water, even the hidden areas, and that is when I anchor down. The fish finder, for me, doesn't do much when I am targeting smallies. A map of the lake showing springs or rivers is better.

Smallies are easier to FIND on sunnier days because they are roamers and roam like crazy on cloudy days.  They are more visual in feeding than largies too.

Forgot: Invest in chartreuse. When all else fails, use a rootbeer grub.

My advice:  Try not to fall in love... One day of good smallmouth fishing is a drug, and you find yourself chasing another fix.

You know..................I see this repeated a lot, and in a lot of diff. places, that smallmouth are supposed to be very active on sunny days....and I have some decent days fishing for them on sunny days, but why is it that all my best days with them have been in almost down right miserable weather?

Could be that's when you are most confident.  Unlike LM, I believe a smallie's strike zone expands rather than shrinks on a sunny day.  I've had them come up 20-30ft. on a sunny day to hit a Spook. Rarely on an overcast day.