One of the most-deadly strategies to catch trophy smallmouth is fishing live bait in tailrace areas. To live-bait rig for smallmouth, tie a No. 4, pattern 84 Eagle Claw hook to the end of 8-pound-test line. Because the line will be in contact with the rocks along the bottom most of the time you’re fishing, use abrasion-resistant line to prevent the line from breaking.

inch on a piece of split shot, 18 to 24 inches up the line from the hook. The size of the lead will vary, depending on the amount of water being released from the dam. Use just enough lead to get the bait to the bottom and to touch the bottom often as the boat drifts with the current.

Release roughly 30 to 40 yards of line to drift the bait near the bottom but without having so much slack in the line that you can’t achieve an effective hookset. Position the boat near the same spot where other anglers are fishing the tailrace near a dam. Motor your boat into the current, and drift about the same distance downstream before you start the outboard and move back upstream for another drift.