Photo by Ron Sinfelt

Eastern Missouri smallmouth anglers are a fortunate lot.

No matter the season, no matter the type of water preferrred and no matter the angling style, there's something for everyone. And May is one of the best months to sample it all: The fish are off the beds, the reservoirs are warming, the rivers are stable, and the streams are at their prime.

Let's take a look at three of the best venues in the area.

When it comes to big water, there's no better place to fish for smallmouths than Table Rock Lake, north of the Arkansas state line and south of Springfield. The lake's reputation is growing every year as the place to catch huge smallies in Missouri; indeed, it's beginning to develop a national reputation, rivaling that of the Tennessee impoundments and of the Great Lakes for high numbers of big fish.

Table Rock is best described as a classic highland reservoir -- meaning that the waters in this 45,000-acre lake are deep and clear. There's a lot of structure and cover under the water along with a high number of in-flowing tributaries. Bluffs, points, cuts and bays also characterize it. Table Rock is full of chunk rock, pea gravel and sand. All in all, it's a textbook example of a top-quality smallmouth fishery.

Of course, that won't grow big smallies by itself. You still need lots of forage and spawning opportunities. That's no problem for Table Rock. According to Bill Anderson, Missouri Department of Conservation fisheries biologist for the lake, the forage base is excellent, as are the spawning conditions.

Anderson reports that the lake has a high population of threadfin shad, gizzard shad and crawfish. They all have plenty to eat and regularly achieve strong spawns. This provides the smallmouths all they could possibly want on a year-round basis.

Good spawning conditions have helped the smallies. With water levels relatively stable, the fish reproduce quite successfully each year. That's important, indeed essential, for good fishing over the long haul.

Add to these ideal conditions a rather mild climate, and it's easy to see why the smallmouths in Table Rock grow fast. According to Anderson, the fish reach 15 inches in 5 or 6 years. This rapid growth allows them to reach larger sizes well before their natural mortality.

Numbers are good as well at Table Rock. It's not uncommon, especially in the spring and fall, for anglers to catch several smallmouths over 3 pounds in one day.

After the spawn, usually between late April and the beginning of May, smallmouth fishing starts picking up on the lake. Professional guide Phillip Stone (www.ozarksfishin.com) says that's when it's time to head towards the dam. As the thermocline forms, the fish begin moving into their summer pattern. During this period, they're hungry, and typically feed early and often.

This is when Stone hits any of the five islands scattered around the dam. The better spots have brushpiles resting on gravel or chunk rock in 15 to 25 feet of clear water. "Seems like they all produce good fish even though they're fished constantly year after year," he said.

If the islands don't produce, he'll usually head towards one of the countless main lake points on Table Rock. The points are not created equal, however. The best ones are those that drop off into deep water, have substrates of pea gravel and offer some form of artificial structure, such as a brushpile. And if there's a river channel nearby, the point will often produce some of the larger fish.