What are the top 10 smallmouth destinations?

[JDCovey]

I would love to take my son someplace to catch some big smallmouth before he graduate's from highschool... or for graduation! My question is, where are some good places to start looking. I would prefer DIY type trip. So what'ya got?

Thanks,
Jason

[anglerxxx]

Hi Jason,
It might be helpful if you let everyone know where you're at.
The New River is a great Smallmouth fishery in SW Virginia, but that may be a longer journey than you have in mind if you live in Idaho.
Scott

[HookUp]

Read it & dream ...

http://www.in-fisherman.com/2012/08/21/ ... uth-spots/

[inrll]

Not knowing where you are or how far you want to go makes it hard but I would HIGHLY recommend Lake St. Claire in Michigan.

[JDCovey]

Sorry fella's, I live in S. Indiana. I hope to do this for him in the next couple years. I don't mind to drive a little way's for good fish'n. I would like to find a creek, river or small lake in a less populated area. Maybe even a float trip! We will for sure be taking kayak's. Been looking into this for a while, hopefully I'll get some good suggestion's.

Thanks,
Jason

[inrll]

If your in Sothern Indiana and want to make a trip of it then you might try Elkhorn Creek here in KY. The main branch of the Elkhorn is just north of Frankfort, KY. It is exactly what you describe, not populated, has a few options for floats as far as distance and/or whether you want to tackle small rapids or not. The Elkhorn is KY's crown jewel for moving water smallmouth fishing. You probably won't catch any trophies but you will catch good numbers.

The folks at Canoe KY would be able to take care of any float you choose and there are a couple camp grounds directly on the creek. http://www.canoeky.com/

[oubassman]

Too bad you aren't closer to PA, as those Susky smallies tend to be nice ones

Unfortunately, can't help with anything in that area

[dlivrr]

I know the rivers and streams around here are good. The Driftwood, Flatrock, East Fork of White River, Sugar creek, and Clifty Creek. I think most the smaller rivers and streams down here are good, especially as the smaller ones don't get much boat traffic, just us kayakers.

The top destination, in my opinion, was already mentioned. It's St Claire, across from Detroit. You can get in on the American side after about a 5 1/2 hour drive from here.

[singingdog]

Come to Ontario. Lake Simcoe is neck-in-neck with St. Clair for big smallies (the fall classic is won almost every year with a 27+ lb limit). Heck, I could put you on lakes where the likelihood of 20" smallies is very high.

[target]

Check out Northern Wisconsin. Tons of different rivers to try. From my experience, I can tell you the Flambeau River, Chippewa River, and Wisconsin River all offer excellent smallmouth fishing (plus muskie/northern/walleye) and are perfect for kayaking. I just moved up here from Illinois and it is an angling heaven. There are a lot of options for camping along the rivers if you're interested in that or there are outfitters who will drop you off/pick you up for a fee. Rivers up here are pretty quiet, most people head to one of the thousands of lakes.