Missouribassman95 Posted March 2, 2011 Posted March 2, 2011 Well I'm thinking of taking a trip down to the beautiful Ozarks and fish for some Smallmouth bass this summer. I don't have much expreience with them but I'm thinking of using tubes, and inline spinners. But I really don't know how to fish them for smallmouth. Is it the same as for Largemouth? Quote
Mudwalker Posted March 2, 2011 Posted March 2, 2011 It is very similar here in Virginia. I use the same baits in the river here for smallies as I do for LM in the lakes. The only difference is the colors and I use a kayak for smallies since the river is too shallow for the bass boat. It may be different in other place though. Quote
fishingkidPA Posted March 2, 2011 Posted March 2, 2011 pretty similar, here i downsize my lures a little. Inline spinners kill them, especially in a fire tiger color. i had a 4 pounder in a creek on one, he took a wild leap and snapped my line on the rock > senkos do good too, and tubes. Quote
Missouribassman95 Posted March 2, 2011 Author Posted March 2, 2011 pretty similar, here i downsize my lures a little. Inline spinners kill them, especially in a fire tiger color. i had a 4 pounder in a creek on one, he took a wild leap and snapped my line on the rock > senkos do good too, and tubes. Oh man that would be really frustrating!!! OYa I was defanately thinking about downsizing my lures. Quote
fishingkidPA Posted March 3, 2011 Posted March 3, 2011 pretty similar, here i downsize my lures a little. Inline spinners kill them, especially in a fire tiger color. i had a 4 pounder in a creek on one, he took a wild leap and snapped my line on the rock > senkos do good too, and tubes. Oh man that would be really frustrating!!! OYa I was defanately thinking about downsizing my lures. but given you live in Missouri, your SM should be way bigger than here so might not have to downsize to much. Quote
Rangerphil Posted March 3, 2011 Posted March 3, 2011 I see you are from Pittsburgh I am south of you near uniontown the yough lake has some fantastic smallmouth and big ones! End of march thru may is awesome with 4 pounders possible every trip! Quote
fishingkidPA Posted March 3, 2011 Posted March 3, 2011 I see you are from Pittsburgh I am south of you near uniontown the yough lake has some fantastic smallmouth and big ones! End of march thru may is awesome with 4 pounders possible every trip! hey thanks!! i usually go to slippery rock creek, average is like 1.5-2.5 pounds. still fun tho. i will definatly check out the lake. do you fish the monogahala? Quote
Global Moderator Bluebasser86 Posted March 3, 2011 Global Moderator Posted March 3, 2011 Are you going to one of the Ozark streams? If that's the case just take some shakey heads and small natural plastics and you'll catch a bunch. Throw in some topwater for early and late and you'll be set to catch a bunch of hard fighting smallies! Quote
Rangerphil Posted March 3, 2011 Posted March 3, 2011 I do fish the mon, but south near Brownsville and the west Virginia state line. The fishing is ok catch some nice largemouths but it is very tough! Quote
fishingkidPA Posted March 3, 2011 Posted March 3, 2011 ive only caught smallies out of it in Pgh, dont get me wrong smallies are fun but they are soooo small. I hate city fishing lol. Quote
Gavin Posted March 3, 2011 Posted March 3, 2011 I do quite a bit of floating & fishing in the Ozarks. Here are a few favorites. Topwaters-LC Sammy 100, LC Gunfish 95, Accent B-2 buzzer, Spook Jr., Strike King Triple Buzzer...Have a couple poppers & prop baits but they dont get used very often. Dont be afraid to toss topwaters all day long. Floating Lures: Floating Super Rouges, Jointed Rapalas Mid Water Column: Zoom Super Fluke in pearl or glimmer blue, or a LC Slender Pointer 112 or 97 Spinner Baits: 1/4 oz double willow, or a 1/4oz twin spin (like the old Shannon) Cranks: Wiggle Wart, Norman Middle N, Wee Craws...I dont fish these much Bottom: Zoom Fat Albert Grubs, 4" Chompers Hula Grub, 3-4" Tubes, 6" Trick Worm, Eakins Jig & Zoom Super Chunk Jr. Quote
acmaul13 Posted March 3, 2011 Posted March 3, 2011 Fishingkid, Head north to around the Franklin/OilCity area.French Creek&the Allegheny have great smallies all over Quote
Missouribassman95 Posted March 4, 2011 Author Posted March 4, 2011 I do quite a bit of floating & fishing in the Ozarks. Here are a few favorites. Topwaters-LC Sammy 100, LC Gunfish 95, Accent B-2 buzzer, Spook Jr., Strike King Triple Buzzer...Have a couple poppers & prop baits but they dont get used very often. Dont be afraid to toss topwaters all day long. Floating Lures: Floating Super Rouges, Jointed Rapalas Mid Water Column: Zoom Super Fluke in pearl or glimmer blue, or a LC Slender Pointer 112 or 97 Spinner Baits: 1/4 oz double willow, or a 1/4oz twin spin (like the old Shannon) Cranks: Wiggle Wart, Norman Middle N, Wee Craws...I dont fish these much Bottom: Zoom Fat Albert Grubs, 4" Chompers Hula Grub, 3-4" Tubes, 6" Trick Worm, Eakins Jig & Zoom Super Chunk Jr. Okay thank you. Quote
fishingkidPA Posted March 4, 2011 Posted March 4, 2011 Fishingkid, Head north to around the Franklin/OilCity area.French Creek&the Allegheny have great smallies all over yeah me and my dad already have a camping trip w/ three days of fishing on it ;D Quote
Super User Crestliner2008 Posted March 4, 2011 Super User Posted March 4, 2011 If you don't want to get into a lot of tackle, just to target smallies for a limited amount of time, get yourself a ML spinning rig. Load it with a quality (Trilene XL) 6# test mono line. Get yourself a couple of dozen 1/8 oz. plain jig heads and 1/2 dozen different colors of 3" plastic curly tailed grubs. Rig the plastics on the jig heads and you're good to go. Colors must include at least white, chartreuse and smoke. Trust me, you'll do as much damage with this rigging as anyone else will with 10X the tackle. Quote
Missouribassman95 Posted March 4, 2011 Author Posted March 4, 2011 If you don't want to get into a lot of tackle, just to target smallies for a limited amount of time, get yourself a ML spinning rig. Load it with a quality (Trilene XL) 6# test mono line. Get yourself a couple of dozen 1/8 oz. plain jig heads and 1/2 dozen different colors of 3" plastic curly tailed grubs. Rig the plastics on the jig heads and you're good to go. Colors must include at least white, chartreuse and smoke. Trust me, you'll do as much damage with this rigging as anyone else will with 10X the tackle. Okay thanks. I have a MH fishing rod so I'll be picking up the tackle soon. Quote
Global Moderator Bluebasser86 Posted March 4, 2011 Global Moderator Posted March 4, 2011 Where in the Ozarks are you planning on fishing bassman? I've fished some of the streams and several of the lakes so I might be able to help with some personal experience on it. You might also check out this website, www.missourismallmouthalliance.org/ they have a good bit of information and people that are willing to answer your questions also. Quote
Andy C Posted March 5, 2011 Posted March 5, 2011 I spend a lot of time floating and fishing in Missouri for smallies, it is my favorite place to fish. I would fish tubes, zoom super flukes, spinnerbaits and topwaters. Are you going to be fishing creeks or lakes? Quote
Missouribassman95 Posted March 5, 2011 Author Posted March 5, 2011 I spend a lot of time floating and fishing in Missouri for smallies, it is my favorite place to fish. I would fish tubes, zoom super flukes, spinnerbaits and topwaters. Are you going to be fishing creeks or lakes? My dad was planning on using the flyrod so mainly creeks. Quote
Missouribassman95 Posted March 5, 2011 Author Posted March 5, 2011 Where in the Ozarks are you planning on fishing bassman? I've fished some of the streams and several of the lakes so I might be able to help with some personal experience on it. You might also check out this website, www.missourismallmouthalliance.org/ they have a good bit of information and people that are willing to answer your questions also. Meramac River probably. Where have you fished? Quote
Andy C Posted March 5, 2011 Posted March 5, 2011 Check out huzzah creek if you are looking to do some small stream wading. Lots of good water in the area around huzzah valley. Quote
Global Moderator Bluebasser86 Posted March 5, 2011 Global Moderator Posted March 5, 2011 Where in the Ozarks are you planning on fishing bassman? I've fished some of the streams and several of the lakes so I might be able to help with some personal experience on it. You might also check out this website, www.missourismallmouthalliance.org/ they have a good bit of information and people that are willing to answer your questions also. Meramac River probably. Where have you fished? My favorite is the Elk River because of the combination of numbers of fish and the chance for some really good fish. It has a very good mix of deeper holes with downed timber to shallow fast water spots, bridge pilings, boulders, and roots from trees on the bank. I've never flyfished for them but I'm sure you could catch them doing it. I haven't fished the Meramac but I've heard it's a really good one and would like to fish it sometime. Quote
Missouribassman95 Posted March 6, 2011 Author Posted March 6, 2011 Where in the Ozarks are you planning on fishing bassman? I've fished some of the streams and several of the lakes so I might be able to help with some personal experience on it. You might also check out this website, www.missourismallmouthalliance.org/ they have a good bit of information and people that are willing to answer your questions also. Meramac River probably. Where have you fished? My favorite is the Elk River because of the combination of numbers of fish and the chance for some really good fish. It has a very good mix of deeper holes with downed timber to shallow fast water spots, bridge pilings, boulders, and roots from trees on the bank. I've never flyfished for them but I'm sure you could catch them doing it. I haven't fished the Meramac but I've heard it's a really good one and would like to fish it sometime. I've never heard of the Elk river. I'll have to look into that. This will be my first time fishing the Meramac for Smallmouth Bass so it'll be an adventure. Quote
405z06 Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 I float the Meramec quite a bit. The 2 floats I like the best are the 10 miles from Onondaga (Ozark Outdoors) to Blue Springs Ranch, and the the 10 miles that takes out at Onodaga and starts at a place called "The Bluffs". I usually take 2 rods. While actually floating, I like to throw a 1/4 oz white or chartreuse tandem spinnerbait on 12lb floro w/ a baitcaster. I float solo a lot and it is simply too difficult and too fast to fish a slow, soft-plastic bait effectively. And I can present a heavy lure like a spinnerbait more quietly and accurately with a baitcaster than I can a spinning rig. My other rig I use is a spinning reel with a texas-rigged 4" senko that I throw when I get out to fish a particular stretch more thoroughly. Also, bring a lot of whatever you use. I have had days where I lose 4 or 5 spinnerbaits. It's hard to go after 'em in a canoe & running water. And I won't hardly even throw a Wiggle Wart anymore as fast as I lose them on the river. Actually, anything with an exposed hook that bumps the bottom, you are gonna get hung up and lose quite a bit. You don't have to go get a bunch of new tackle and equipment or necessarily even downsize to go after these river smallmouth. I thought that same thing, too, when I started going after 'em. I started with spinning rods and 6#, but ended up finding that I prefer to use the same equipment and baits that I would use to fish, say, Lake of the Ozarks for largemouth. The Meramec is a beautiful river and a good fishery. Very addicting. You will enjoy it. Good Luck and report back. Quote
Rory_MO Posted March 18, 2011 Posted March 18, 2011 Huzzah can be killer on weekdays, but on the weekends it get a LOT of floaters. Big Piney and the Niangua are my favorite. Quote
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