Daniel My Brother

Honestly, you don't need a boat for every body of water. Research the lakes and rivers around you, pick where you'd like to fish and get something that works there. I've got two kayaks under the back deck that I use on the rivers around here. I've also got a 16 foot modified V, with a 9.9hp outboard for Cedar lake in southern Illinois. Cedar is only 4 miles long, but has 40 miles of shoreline and I never get bored. I've taken that 16 footer on Guntersville, Table Rock, Wapapello and Kentucky Lake and it's been fine. Just go early or late to avoid the pleasure boaters, wear your vest, and stay close to shore.

Before you decide on a boat, you really need to decide where you're going to fish. South St. Louis is tough because you have to travel to get on the water. There is good bass fishing nearby in southern Illinois, but many of those lakes have horsepower restrictions. Coffeen has a great bass population and a 25hp limit. Baldwin has a 50hp limit. Washington County lake is quick from downtown STL, but has a 10hp limit. 17 foot, 25hp Bass Tracker style aluminum boats are what you see most often on the east side. They are small enough for the hp limit lakes, but big enough to to be safe on the larger lakes like Carlyle. However, I have fished out of a 17 foot on LOZ and it was not enough boat in the area we were vacationing. That lake is a different level of mayhem. On the Missouri side, I've never fished the Meremac and don't know the regs. I know there is excellent smallmouth fishing as you head southwest towards the Black, St. Francis, Gasconade, Piney, Jacks Fork, Current River and more. A kayak is tough to beat on those waters. As far as aluminum versus glass, aluminum is much cheaper to run, easier to tow, doesn't need as much power, and won't rot (though many aluminum boats do have wood in the floors and transom which can rot). Glass boats burn a lot of gas, but they are a smooth ride and don't blow around in the wind. Best of luck to you!

We catfish some, we'll catch shad and put them in one bucket, then after they finish stressing out in that bucket, we put them in a second bucket of fresh water and this seems to keep them alive longer.

Learning to cast a throw net out in the yard, then stalking a school of minnows, making a perfect toss and watching that net open over your target will put a smile on anyone's face, and it's a great way to find out what's swimming in the rivers you like to fish. I would use live bait more often, but opening a package of soft plastics is so much easier.

If I can actually see the fish, I just assume it's not a Smallmouth. They are so well camouflaged in my local rivers that the only time I can actually spot them is during the spawn. Carp, suckers, catfish, and even trout stick out like sore thumbs, but those smallies just blend right in.

Welcome Jason! You're not alone.

Grandpa used to say "If you can see them, they can see you." My best luck has been to mark the spot where I see fish, then leave the area. When I return, I cast at the spot from distance. If the fish was holding to that spot because it offered a good ambush point, he'll likely still be there.

I fish rocky streams for smallmouth with spinning gear. I've avoided braid because I've heard it's more likely to cut on the rocks. Let me know if your experience is different. I typically use P-Line CXX 6# and the line twist can be pretty bad, but I put up with it because it's crazy strong, and the moss green is nearly invisible. On my daughter's rod I use 8# Berkely Big Game in green. It does not twist as badly and it's plenty strong, although noticeably more visible. Luckily, the fish don't seem to be as line sensitive as I am.

I don't worry about color much at all. If the water is pretty clear, I'm going to use natural colors. If the water is dirty, I'm going to use black, or maybe a little black and chartreuse. That's pretty much all the time I spend on color. It certainly saves money on tackle, and I don't think it's costing me fish.

For 20 years I've fished a private 40 acre strip pit in Southern Illinois that used to produce a lot of 4 to 5 pound bass. Eventually the old guys that used to catch and fry bass quit coming around. Soon we quit catching those big bass, then we stopped catching anything over 2 pounds. Something had to change, so about 4 years ago we decided to aggressively harvest the small bass that we caught. This year we caught a great variety of healthy bass in all sizes up to 5 pounds. The lake is back, and we continue to catch and keep bass under 14".

If I don't get bit in 10 minutes, something's gotta change. Sometimes I'll force myself to slow down. If that doesn't work I'll switch lures, still no luck and I'll change locations.

What a beast! Congrats.

I have a cheap Humminbird 561, and if I turn the sensitivity up to about 90% I can see the thermocline. Right now it's at about 25 feet where I fish. You won't find bass deeper than that, but you'll find a lot of bass right at or above it. If you find structure on a point at that depth, you'll have a good chance finding fish, but If you don't get bit after ten minutes, move around on the point and look for anything different on your depthfinder, a treetop, a ledge, a pile of rocks, anything and try again. Keep moving 'til you find the bass. I use the gps anchor on my trolling motor to hold my position. If I was in a kayak I would invest in marker buoys. I know a lot of fishermen don't like the Fish ID on their depthfinder, I'm not one of them. I not only turn on the Fish ID, I turn on the fish alarm as well. It's nice to hear that beep-beep when you're line watching, then you can glance at the depthfinder, see how deep the fish are marking and determine for yourself if they're bass or not. A final thought, don't be afraid to change tactics. Just because you think the bass should be deep on points, doesn't mean they always will be. If you ain't catching, try something different.

My first car was a 1972 Pontiac Catalina with big rust holes in the rear quarters. I must've cornered too fast coming home from a fishing trip, because when I got to my driveway all of my rods were either busted or had the tips grounded off. It was quite a sight seeing them dangling out of that rust hole.

I'm assuming you're fishing the Senko weightless? It can be tough to get a Senko down to where the fish are this time of year, especially if there's a lot of vegetation. I typically fish the weeds with a creature bait and a bullet weight heavy enough to punch through. If the weeds are matted on top, I might peg the sinker.