08-21-2003, 05:40 AM
I generally fish with ultralight gear and smallies are a blast. I'm from MO and we have lots of hard bottomed rivers and large creeks, so that's generally where I'm fishing since I don't have a boat for the lakes. I greatly prefer clear water and try to stay back out of sight while casting.
I try to fish near cover, be it weeds or fallen trees. I also like to fish the piers supporting bridges and near the discharge areas of any bridges with pipes running through them. I also see a lot of rock cliffs going into the water and those are good, especially if they create shade during the summer. I also fish REAL SHALLOW riffles anytime I can. I have caught 15 inch fish in a foot of water and less. Caught a 2 1/2 pound smallie in water that didn't even reach the top of my hiking boots. They can put up a heck of a fight and snap 4lb. real easy in that kind of water. I figure that if they're there, they must be hungry and they are gonna hit fast and hard.
I like crawdad jigs in the spring, especially in the little backwater areas. Red and chartreuse jigs with 1/16 to 1/4 ounce leadheads have been good to me through a lot of years. But my number one setup for smallies and panfish is a 3 inch trout worm (about 1/4 inch diameter) in non-translucent orange, speared in the middle with a size 6 or 8 hook attached to a snap swivel with 4lb test. Just cast and let it sink slowly, with a slack line. Wait for the line to start straightening and set the hook. With this setup on the end, retreiving doesn't produce many strikes, but when it does, it is generally always a bass or good sized panfish. I usually cast, let it sink, jerk it clear of the water and let it sink again and then just retrieve it quickly. 90+% of the strikes come when it is sinking slowly. I've caught 5 pound largemouths with that little sliver of rubber and up to 15 fish without changing the worm, just rehooking it in a fresh place.
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I try to fish near cover, be it weeds or fallen trees. I also like to fish the piers supporting bridges and near the discharge areas of any bridges with pipes running through them. I also see a lot of rock cliffs going into the water and those are good, especially if they create shade during the summer. I also fish REAL SHALLOW riffles anytime I can. I have caught 15 inch fish in a foot of water and less. Caught a 2 1/2 pound smallie in water that didn't even reach the top of my hiking boots. They can put up a heck of a fight and snap 4lb. real easy in that kind of water. I figure that if they're there, they must be hungry and they are gonna hit fast and hard.
I like crawdad jigs in the spring, especially in the little backwater areas. Red and chartreuse jigs with 1/16 to 1/4 ounce leadheads have been good to me through a lot of years. But my number one setup for smallies and panfish is a 3 inch trout worm (about 1/4 inch diameter) in non-translucent orange, speared in the middle with a size 6 or 8 hook attached to a snap swivel with 4lb test. Just cast and let it sink slowly, with a slack line. Wait for the line to start straightening and set the hook. With this setup on the end, retreiving doesn't produce many strikes, but when it does, it is generally always a bass or good sized panfish. I usually cast, let it sink, jerk it clear of the water and let it sink again and then just retrieve it quickly. 90+% of the strikes come when it is sinking slowly. I've caught 5 pound largemouths with that little sliver of rubber and up to 15 fish without changing the worm, just rehooking it in a fresh place.
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