Proven Tactics for Ozark Smallmouth Bass

PROVEN TACTICS FOR OZARK SMALLMOUTH Bill Cooper for RDN Pursuing smallmouth bass on one of the many splendid clear water streams that course their way through the Ozark Mountains is a favorite pastime of thousands of anglers each year. Understandably, as is in all sports, some fishermen stand far and above the masses of anglers who call the smallmouth bass “King.” Tactics separate the consistently successful smallmouth anglers from those who occasionally hook a big one. I have had the good fortune to spend some long days and nights chasing Ozark smallmouth bass with several of the best fishermen to ever ply the waters the brown bass call home. All the great fishermen have one thing in common; they revere the smallmouth bass. That reverence comes, in part, to the fish that got away, the ones seen and not caught, the clear memories of bruiser bass caught under idyllic conditions and the rivers visited and the friends with which the angler shared such moments. Too, these dedicated anglers stand constantly on vigil, looking for a new tactic that will help them catch more of the wariest fish to swim our Ozark streams – the smallmouth bass. I caught my very first smallmouth bass from the Meramec River in the late 1960s and immediately fell in love with the muscular, bronze colored fish with the red eyes. The 14-inch fish hit a white marabou jig with bulldog force. My light rod arched to the point of breaking. I gasped as the bass tail-walked across the surface of the Meramec, shaking its head violently to free itself from the jig in its maw. My heart raced as the fish jumped five more times before I slid it to hand and grasped its lower jaw. Its raw, wild beauty left me spellbound. That moment began a lifetime love affair with smallmouth bass. I have since traveled thousands of miles and talked to hundreds of fishermen who, too, love the smallmouth. From them I learned – tactics are everything. Smallmouth bass can be caught from our Ozark streams all year long. However, the season on black bass is closed from the end of February to Memorial Day weekend. Smallmouth bass spawn during this time. The closed season helps to sustain populations by leaving egg-laden females in the rivers. Cold weather is a top notch time to chase smallmouth bass. “One of the advantages to smallmouth fishing during cold weather is that there is very little competition,” says Mike Jones of Hufstedler’s Canoe Rental in Riverton. Mike is a long time fishing guide on the Eleven Point River. “I guide mostly for rainbow trout, but the Eleven Point is a tremendous smallmouth stream as well. I use a lot of live bait, primarily big minnows which I seine from the river, for trout and smallmouth. However, my favorite time to go after big smallmouth bass is in February. The bass ball up in the deeper holes. If there is a spring seeping into the bottom of the river, smallmouth will concentrate around it.” Jones catches smallmouth on a variety of lures and big minnows. On one trip I shared with him, he clobbered both trout and smallmouth on a rough, deer hair jig he had tied himself. It consisted of a wad of white deer hair, about 5-inches long, tied to an eighth-ounce lead head jig. Bass ate it up as he bumped it slowly across the bottom. “Trout and bass both scavenge on the bottom,” Jones explained. “A dying minnow, or its imitation, or a totally dead minnow rolling across the bottom is an easy target for smallmouth. Too, really big fish are smart. They don’t want to expend any more energy than is necessary to get a meal. A big dead, or dying minnow, or something that imitates it, will catch these fish.” Jones also tosses black RoosterTails and minnow imitators, but the darnedest thing I ever witnessed was Jones throwing a big dead minnow. He used a slow retrieve that made the oversized minnow wobble in the current. That tactic drove fish nuts. “My favorite lure to throw at smallmouth during the high water of February is a one-eighth ounce brown Roadrunner,” Jones said... They work like a charm in the murky water, but you do have to know where the fish are congregated. That only comes from time spent on the water.” Tom Gallagher, of Sullivan, is another avid cold weather smallmouth fisherman. He spends most of his time on the Meramec. “November, right in the middle of deer season, is my favorite to be on the Meramec chasing bruiser smallmouth bass,” Gallagher confidently instructed. Being an engineer by trade, Gallagher is death on detail. “Being prepared is an important part of my fishing tactics,” he admitted. “I do not want to have problems with my boat, motor or my fishing equipment while I am on the river. I am there to catch smallmouth and have a good time. I check my equipment after every trip and I check it again the night before I head out on a trip. Makes for more of what I like to do- fish.” Gallagher, too, likes to use live minnows for smallmouth. He sets traps baited with crackers, or his favorite, Fruit Loops cereal. Gallagher has fished the Meramec for four decades (conservative estimate) in the Stanton area. He knows it well. “Minnows are common in the Meramec and make great bait, but smallmouth also love crayfish,” he began. “I often fish soft plastic baits which resemble crayfish, especially Chompers. Green pumpkin is an excellent color.” “You can have all the best baits in the world, but if you don’t put them in the right place, you might as well stay home,” Gallagher continued. “Big smallmouths are creatures of habit, not unlike humans. I know that food at home is in the kitchen. Bass tend to find their food in the same places, or types of places all the time. The trick is to learn where those ‘bass kitchens’ are located. I have found many of them over the years and consistently catch smallmouth year after year in the same locations. That is not to say that the river doesn’t move the fish’s refrigerators once in a while. Every flood changes the river, and often the hangouts of big bass. That just adds to the challenge.” Upon returning from deer camp this year, empty-handed, posted on my e-mail, I found a blaring photo of Gallagher with a 4-1/2-pound smallmouth bass. Unfortunately, most fishermen are fair weather fishermen. They miss a lot of action. However, there is lots of smallmouth fishing to be had during the warmer months of the year. During the spawn is a fabulous time to fish for smallmouth bass on our Ozark streams. The stealthy fisherman can catch some of the biggest fish of the year, egg laden females on the nest. However, every angler should remember that these girls are producing the fish of the future and should be treated with proper respect. Sight fishing for big nesting smallmouths is as fun as it gets – almost. Smallmouths seek shallow spots associated with cover to build their nests. “The buddy system works well to approach these fish in a canoe,” says Corey Cottrell of Huzzah Valley Resort. “One guy perches in the front. Standing up offers a much better view, but you had better make sure your paddling buddy in the rear of the canoe is paying attention.” Once a fish is spotted, the paddler must bring the canoe to a quiet halt and hold in position while his partner tosses a bait to the fish. That is one tough assignment! “The angler must be deadly accurate with his cast,” Cottrell continued. “The bait needs to land in the nest. Bass instinct is to protect the nest, so the nester will usually viciously attack anything that falls into or near the nest. She will then swim away from the nest, crushing the intruder in her mouth as she swims, and then spits it out several feet away from the nest. This can all happen quickly, so the trick is to set the hook swiftly. Miss a strike, and you will be assigned to the back of the canoe. There is little mercy among nest fishing anglers.” If a bass refuses to take your bait for some reason, do not continue to harass that fish. Move on. There will be more. Salamanders are the favored bait to throw at spawning bass. The “water dogs” are common marauders of bass nests, and smallmouths attack them religiously. Jigs, plastic craws, and small worms and grubs will also entice nesting bass. After the spawn, bass are thin and hungry. They are ready to eat and put on to restore their bodies to normal conditions. However, tactics must change. The fish will have changed locations looking for food. The post-spawn period can be one of the toughest to fish, simply because the fish have changed locations. “You simply have to ask yourself where the food sources are,” says avid smallmouth angler Dale Goff, of Rolla. “By this time of year the weather is warming and the metabolism rate of fish is picking up. They need to eat and are more willing to chase a bait. The strikes can be awesome.” Smallmouths hide out in rocks, rubble and around logs and brush. Crayfish and minnows are plentiful there. However, boulder cover near deep water is another favorite lair from which to ambush unsuspecting prey. “I like to toss a spinnerbait this time of year,” Goff said. “A spinnerbait is a great prospecting bait because I can cover a lot of water with it quickly... Once I get a few strikes, I often change rods and pick one with a crawdad colored crankbait or some sort of plastic bait like a Chomper or a Brushhog. I then work out the same areas thoroughly, trying to poke a bait into every likely looking piece of cover. It takes a lot of time, but it is amazing what I pull out of those. Lots of guys like to hurry to the next place. In the process, they miss many quality fish. Slowing down is a key tactic to rooting out these fish.” Vern Clements, of Rolla, was the best smallmouth fishermen I ever had the pleasure to meet. Clements loved the Gasconade. It became his last resting place. Clements tossed giant buzzbaits at summertime smallies, sometimes all day long. “I love to so those mean bass blow up on a big bait,” Clements used to say. “There ain’t nothing meaner in the water than a hungry smallmouth. They attack like they mean business. I know as soon as one hits, that it is a smallmouth. They hit like a freight train!” Clements was famous for floating his river jon on the upper and middle portions of the Gasconade. “The big boats can’t run up here,” he would say. “It is quiet and peaceful up here. Too, the smallies get big up here. I know I have caught some of them a dozen times over the years.” An incredible expert with jig and pig and crawdad colored wiggle warts, Clements was something to behold on the river. “Watch this,” he once said to me as we floated near a rocky point jutting into the river. He pointed his rod tip towards a trio of rocks at the end of the point. “I will get that three-pounder hanging there. Caught him twice already this summer.” I watched, thinking he was nuts. The Wiggle Wart plunked down exactly where Clements said it would. Three fast cranks of the reel handle put the bait down and fleeing from the rocks. “Whissh,” he set the hook. “Gotcha, you dummy,” Clements laughed as he hauled the three-pound smallmouth to the boat. Only the “King” of the Kings would call a smallmouth bass dumb!