7. Rainy Lake, Ontario -- If Al Lindner had to choose one smallmouth fishery to spend his summer on, he wouldn’t hesitate. “I’d pick Rainy Lake in a heartbeat,” he admits. “Lake of the Woods is fun, but Rainy is just explosive. Smallies are growing, and we haven’t seen the top end yet, because the population is changing. Walleye netting has been so heavy on the Canadian side that walleyes are in trouble,” Al explains, “because smallmouths moved in and took over most of the habitat the walleyes vacated. Biologists are finding them 40 to 60 feet deep by late summer, and nobody targets these fish.”

Smallies over six pounds are showing up where they never grew so large in the past. “The odd thing about Rainy is how smallies feed and how deep they go,” Al adds. “In May, most smallmouths are on classic rock bars and reefs. By mid-July, those spots are history. Fish drop deep to rock humps that top off at 25 to 38 feet, using the structure to ambush drifting schools of suspending smelt.”

Rainy’s bass are fish eaters, according to local biologists, and they look up to feed. Smallmouth fishermen that stick with bottom-oriented presentations may have trouble locating fish in summer. “I swim jigs and grubs in Rainy, as opposed to bottom hopping,” Al advises. “I had success with Normark Husky Jerks. I think suspended, up-oriented smallmouths are predominating, even more than in the past.”

Smallmouths in Rainy key on larger baits, such as 6-inch minnowbaits, 1/2-ounce and larger spinnerbaits, and large deep-diving cranks. Smelt are the key forage, and hooked smallies often cough up smelt fully 1/3 their body length. “The old axiom about downsizing for smallmouths doesn’t work on Rainy, or anywhere else these days,” Al says.

Darryl McLeod, area biologist for the Ministry of Natural Resources, says proposals are planned to protect the smallmouth fishery. “Especially the larger fish,” he says, “which go deep by late July and stay deep through early fall, into September, so they’re not targeted heavily yet. Numbers are good right now, and what we’re seeing is the result of an excellent and abundant 1987 year class.”

So many great smallmouth fisheries exist in Northwest Ontario that it’s difficult to name just one, but Rainy can handle the pressure.

Resorts: Canadian side -- Ministry of Tourism, 807/223-7601. Coppen’s Resort, 807/481-2564; Rainy Lake Houseboats, 800/554-9188. Guides: Harry Bell, Rainy Lake Guide Service, 807/274-6895. Also ask the resorts if guides are available.

8. Dale Hollow Tennessee -- Billy Westmoreland is the legend of Dale Hollow Reservoir, and Dale Hollow is legendary among smallmouth anglers. This is the lake that produced the world-record (depending on who you talk to), a 10-pound 14-ouncer. And Westmoreland himself has captured two over 10 -- maybe the only person to ever accomplish that.

Dale Hollow is a beautiful shade of aquamarine, surrounded by steep hills and thick, green hardwood forests mixed with a modicum of cedar. “Fishing has been real good,” Westmoreland reports. “We’re catching numbers again, since the 18-inch minimum was put in place four years ago. Lots of fish out there now. Not as many big fish, maybe, but Dale Hollow always has a few giants.”

March, April, and May are key months, as are December and January, Westmoreland says. “During prespawn and spawn, cranks, jigs, little grubs, Silver Buddys, just about anything works,” he adds. “Smallmouths move into 8 to 12 feet of water. Find the spawning banks, those gradual slopes of gravel and red or yellow clay. Smallmouths will be a long cast from the bank. I rarely catch better fish in close. Expect 12 to 15 nice smallmouths on a good day, mostly in the 31⁄2- to 4-pound range, with a real good shot at a 6, even an 8.