I'm no expert here but I fished the lake in early June and loved it. The smallies appear concentrated in the upper part of the lake (before it splits) - I caught everything BUT smallies, including several nice largemouth, in the lower part. My most important gear was superline! I'd never really used it before but was sold on it after this trip. I used green for the low visibility in the clear water, and was able to pull fish from docks and the ever present timber, as well as straighten my jig hooks out all but one time I snagged (and I snagged a lot). They were in shallow at that time of year, and I caught several 16"-18" fish and one 19". I used a 3" grub, but if I was to concentrate just on the smallies, a crayfish colored tube would probably be the best choice - rigging it weedless. Live bait would be continually hammered by the small sunfish and perch. Small spinnerbaits like your friend used would be good for cruising fish. My fish were all pulled from around docks and any area that had some shallow water available instead of just dropping straight down into 20' - I just went from spot to spot with my trolling motor. Cloudy skies and a chop helped a lot. This is definitely a lake to fish in lower light conditions. I'd suggest concentrating on the bass early or late .
