TRUMAN LAKE SPIDER BITES
To the casual observer, Truman Lake doesn't appear to be a great place for using spider grubs. The water is fairly turbid, and submerged timber comprises the most dominant structure. Therefore, it's considered an excellent place to use crankbaits and big, Texas-rigged worms.

A closer look reveals that Truman has a lot of low, rocky bluffs and ledges -- areas that hold a lot of bass. They're not fished as heavily as the finger points and the timber groves, but I've always caught more bass there than anyplace else. My favorite lures are electric blue worms on a Texas rig and, of course, spider grubs.

I fish spider grubs a little differently at Truman than I do at Table Rock and LOZ. Instead of fishing deep structure, I throw the grub right against the shore and hop it down to deeper water by twitching the rod tip. That's because these bluffs descend in stair-step fashion down to the channel. Bass move up and down on these parallel benches, and when you catch one fish, it's pretty easy to determine exactly the depth at which the others are holding. Again, you usually need only basic colors. If a brown or green variation doesn't work, you can always experiment. If a different color works well, make note of every condition so you can go to it again if necessary.

CURRENT RIVER SPIDER BITES
In my opinion, spider grubs were designed specifically for fishing in Ozark streams. There's simply nothing else that catches smallmouth bass as dependably.

One of my most memorable smallmouth floats occurred on the Current River, between Pulltite Access and the Jerry Presley Education Center, with my friend Tom Cwynar of Jefferson City. It was late summer, hot and sunny, and we were having a tough day. For the first mile or so, all we had to show for our efforts was a big goggle-eye and a yellow sucker that managed to drive a rusty hook into Tom's finger.

In fact, we had more or less given up on fishing as we floated through a long, deep pool. Our canoe floated sideways, and I sat sideways in the rear seat with my feet in the water. Tom and I chatted as I dragged a pumpkinseed/red metalflake spider grub along the bottom of the pool. That was the deepest part of the pool, and I felt the grub go across the top of a small stone ridge. I got a savage strike. After a heroic fight, I boated a 4-pound smallmouth.

As we approached the next set of rapids, we paddled back to the head of the pool and floated back down sideways, just as we did before. I caught another smallmouth, identical to the last one, in the same place. Tom also got a nice one.

We made two more passes, but we exhausted that pool. We fished the same way in every pool thereafter, and by the end of the day, we'd caught four 4-pounders, along with many others up to 16 inches. That was a happy accident, but I now use that tactic anytime the fishing is tough on a stream.

No matter where or when you fish for bass in Missouri, you can always catch bass with a spider grub. What a mighty web it weaves!