Anyone have an opinion on the best lake, not river, for smallies in Missouri? Talking best chance at a 4lb.+. Would love a chance at catching some on jerkbaits in the spring.

Bull Shoals mid May through mid June. If you want to slide down into AR, this is 

the best guide I know: http://www.hotdawgguideservice.com/

 

I’d say Bull Shoals or lower Table Rock.

Stockton lake in mid-Missouri 

15 minutes ago, mc6524 said:

Stockton lake in mid-Missouri 

Stockton is the one.  State record came from there a while back. 
 

Table Rock has a lot of them too but it’s a bigger lake so they can be harder to find. 

17 hours ago, moguy1973 said:

Stockton is the one.  State record came from there a while back. 
 

Table Rock has a lot of them too but it’s a bigger lake so they can be harder to find. 

I think I may try to hit TR, BS, and Stockton this year. I am pretty interested in Stockton as I have a cabin that is closest to that lake, if I visit the southern lakes that border Ark., I’d have to rent a cabin. Which is no prob, @road warrior thanks for the guide tip, I’d need one if ventured there.
 

Is it true the south end of Stockton holds all the smallies? I’d assume wind blown points with chunk rock are the ticket?

I've caught most of mine from Table Rock but quite a few from Stockton and Bull Shoals also. Never any over 4 pounds though. All my smallmouth over 4lbs have come from Kansas lakes.

Most of mine have come from Table Rock as well. The Dam area is probably the most well known but my best one came up the James river on a spinnerbait. It was a old buck, super long and skinny but I'm sure over 4lbs. 

They like gravel and bright shiny things.

On 12/25/2020 at 11:25 AM, PotatoLake said:
 

Is it true the south end of Stockton holds all the smallies? I’d assume wind blown points with chunk rock are the ticket?

No from my experience.  Most of the smallies that I have caught on that lake have come north of Edge Island.  There location will depend on the time of year.

12 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I've caught most of mine from Table Rock but quite a few from Stockton and Bull Shoals also. Never any over 4 pounds though. All my smallmouth over 4lbs have come from Kansas lakes.

Yeah I’ve always wanted to try Melvern and Milford. I’m sure there’s others I’m not aware of in Kansas.

4 hours ago, PotatoLake said:

Yeah I’ve always wanted to try Melvern and Milford. I’m sure there’s others I’m not aware of in Kansas.

There's several. Of my top 5 smallmouth last year (all over 4 to just shy of 5lbs), none were from Melvern or Milford. 

I would love to go to Stockton but I want a lakeside cabin with covered boat slips . Table Rock and LOZ is where I have went the previous few years and have not caught a big smallie . Did lose a couple at Table Rock that were pretty nice , maybe four lbers .

52 minutes ago, scaleface said:

I would love to go to Stockton but I want a lakeside cabin with covered boat slips . Table Rock and LOZ is where I have went the previous few years and have not caught a big smallie . Did lose a couple at Table Rock that were pretty nice , maybe four lbers .

There aren’t any of those.  There are no lake side cabins and I don’t know of any resorts that have docks.  There are 3 marinas.  Two of them have rooms fairly close to the lake but not on it. 
 

That is what makes it so appealing to me.

5 minutes ago, Jig Man said:

That is what makes it so appealing to me

I understand that . When I go south to the Ozarks its usually between one and two weeks . I  like the convenience of coming and going fishing as I please .  

On 12/25/2020 at 11:25 AM, PotatoLake said:

 

Is it true the south end of Stockton holds all the smallies? I’d assume wind blown points with chunk rock are the ticket?

I have only had the chance to fish Stockton once and it was a few years ago during the spawn in a post front situation with high winds and cold temps.  We still caught close to 100 small mouth in a couple days, mostly buck bass as we couldn't get our baits down fast enough before the smaller fish would hit it.  Most of our luck came in the Little Sac Branch around Masters.

I feel like the odds are better at Table Rock than Stockton... I fish both two to four times a year, and I seem to catch more and better smallies mid lake at table rock than anywhere I've fished at Stockton. I've never fished downstream of KC bridge at Table Rock. I like the Baxter area a lot because it seems a little bit quieter than some of the other sections of lake.

 

With either lake- don't be afraid to fish flatter, less attractive points. Some days it seems like they really concentrate on a few stumps or boulders on hard bottom points that otherwise don't look very attractive. 

On 12/27/2020 at 2:10 AM, Bluebasser86 said:

I've caught most of mine from Table Rock but quite a few from Stockton and Bull Shoals also. Never any over 4 pounds though. All my smallmouth over 4lbs have come from Kansas lakes.

My guide, hotdawg, caught his PB (6 1/2 lbs) on a trip with me to Pickwick. At Bull

Shoals we catch big numbers with an average weight of 3-4 lbs and an occasional

5.  25+ smallmouth (a piece) over a six hour period ain't that bad!

1 hour ago, roadwarrior said:

My guide, hotdawg, caught his PB (6 1/2 lbs) on a trip with me to Pickwick. At Bull

Shoals we catch big numbers with an average weight of 3-4 lbs and an occasional

5.  25+ smallmouth (a piece) over a six hour period ain't that bad!

I will be visiting Bull Shoals this spring. Haven’t nailed down the dates, but I am for sure hitting it. Pretty sad I’ve lived in Missouri my whole life and never have been there. Only fished Table Rock once and never fished Stockton as well. I would be very pleased with 25 smallies in one day.

On 1/17/2021 at 8:20 AM, roadwarrior said:

My guide, hotdawg, caught his PB (6 1/2 lbs) on a trip with me to Pickwick. At Bull

Shoals we catch big numbers with an average weight of 3-4 lbs and an occasional

5.  25+ smallmouth (a piece) over a six hour period ain't that bad!

I dunno, I'm from Missouri so I'd have to see it but anyone who can catch 50 smallmouth averaging 3-4 pounds in 6 hours out of Bull Shoals isn't a guide he's a miracle worker.

I don’t fish a lot of our lakes. But our rivers are full of them. 

Well, I fished with hotdawg the first week of June during the high

water period in 2008.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bull_Shoals_Lake#Flooding_of_2008

 

We caught fish for 2 1/2 days on Baby Diaper Yellow Gitzits.  I would

HIGHLY recommend hiring Tim! 

https://hotdawgguideservice.com/

 

p.s. Maybe we could get together for a trip this spring. I will set it up if you are interested.

 

I've fished Table Rock my entire life.   The most prevalent areas of big smallmouth are from the Kimberling City bridge to Long Creek Marina.  

Its been forty years but I'm heading to Bull Shoals in mid May for a whole week .