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On the water with...Dwayne E. Cooper |
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Table of Contents Learning to find water on my own Information on the 99' fishkill on the White River Have fun...but don't get your feet wet!
A nice 6 pound smallmouth from Pickwick lake that came from the famed Muscle Shoals, Alabama area. This smallie fell for a deep-diving crankbait in 20 foot of water!
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Home - On the water with Dwayne Cooper
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Smallmouth Fever...I don't think there is anything like the fight of a scrappy smallmouth wrestling to get loose from the hook. I am very fortunate to have matched wits against quite a few smallmouth despite the fact that I live in Indiana...a state that is not known for many bronzebacks. Although I often travel out of state to do battle against the smallmouth, I have found quite a few places in Indiana where smallmouth can be found... While Lake Wawasee, in northern Indiana, introduced me to my first smallie and the Ohio River has shown me hundreds of smallmouths...no place in Indiana has provided me more smallmouth action than the White River in downtown Indianapolis. When I moved to Indianapolis, I took a long look at this river and wondered whether it was possible for a body of water that flowed through such a big city could hold the fish that I longingly sought after... Much to my surprise, the White River brought me to smallmouth fishing galore and really taught me a lot regarding how different these fish are from their largemouth brethren... Where the largemouth liked white, green and black colors...the smallmouth loved chartreuse, oranges and brown colors, where the largemouth preferred wood...the smallmouth preferred rock, where the largemouth were primarily downstream... the smallmouth were primarily upstream... where the largemouth often put up a scrappy fight...the smallmouth's fight was unrivaled. And smallmouth present a wonderful learning opportunity... I remember one time on the Ohio River, I was struggling at the time...picking up a fish or two here and there with a crankbait, spinerbait or worm...when I saw a couple of older gentlemen who were fishing out of a jonboat with white hula poppers just hauling in the small mouth right and left... These gentlemen were fishing a spot a hundred yards or so out in the river! I stopped and talked with them a bit...hoping to pick up on what they were doing. I learned that the smallmouth were relating to the main river bluff in the very clear water that existed during that time. I moved on and found several spots very similar to that area and had some very enjoyable days having many nice plum smallmouth rise from the very deep depths of the Ohio river to bust my Pop-R! Although I found a better largemouth pattern for the tournament, it was a fishing technique that I have used with success in many different places. Interestingly enough, a smallmouth weighs less than a same-sized largemouth...although a smallmouth will often look bigger. I remember a tournament on the Mississippi river where I tried desperately to replace a very pretty 15" smallmouth with a 15" largemouth or bigger...all to no avail. While the lone smallmouth in my bag "looked" good at weigh-in, it cost me a Top 10 finish in a very important tournament.
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Some of my favorite smallmouth baits... 1. Mister Twister crankbait shallow diver in 1/4 oz. hot chartreuse 2. Bandit crankbait shallow diver in 1/4 oz. firetiger 3. Bandit crankbait deep diver in 1/4 oz. firetiger 4. Rebel Pop-R in 1/4 oz. chrome/blue 5. Smithwick Suspending Rogue in bream 6. Jig n' pig (#11 pork or small pumpkinseed plastic trailer) 7. Excalibur Fat Free Shad in firetiger 8. Rat-L-Trap in 1/4 oz. in chrome/blue 9. Worden's Roostertail in 1/8 oz. bumblebee 10. Cooper's (various sizes) Spinnerbait with chartreuse blades
My wife, Kathy, with a nice 5 pound smallmouth from the White River in downtown Indianapolis
A nice smallmouth from Lake Wheeler in northern Alabama
A nice 4 pound smallmouth from the White River in downtown Indianapolis (the summer after the fishkill) Some of my favorite smallmouth lakes/rivers... 1. Wheeler lake (AL) 2. Pickwick lake (TN/AL) 3. White River (IN) 4. Grand River (Mich) 5. Wilson lake (AL) 6. Kentucky Lake (KY/TN) 7. Mississippi River (IO/IL/MO) 8. Wawasee (IN) 9. Ohio River (IN/KY/IL) 10. Lake Erie and Saginaw Bay (MI) will move quickly up this list once I get there!
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