Everyone has a favorite fish and while there's much debate about which is the best, most anglers agree that pound for pound the smallmouth bass is one of the most thrilling to catch. Whether battling a smallmouth on a wide river or luring one from the depths of a lake, these aerobatic fish almost immediately head for the surface and give a spectacular performance. And while these fish are a blast to catch -- just ask fishing legend Al Lindner who says smallies are his favorite fish -- there aren't many good smallmouth lakes in the southern half of Wisconsin. (Continued)

Smallmouths prefer rocky lakes and stained water, but lakes in the southern portion of the state lack rocky bars and points and tend to have clear water. Add to that a healthy population of largemouth bass and it isn't hard to see why hot smallmouth spots are rare in southern Wisconsin. Still, there are a few lakes that hold monster bronzebacks in the 5- or 6-pound range. Here are some of the better lakes in the area.

GENEVA LAKE
Geneva Lake, also known as Lake Geneva, covers more than 5,200 acres and has depths down to 135 feet. But when it comes to smallmouth habitat, the shallows have great rock and gravel bottoms that the fish love. Local guide John Reddy of Reddy's Guide Service knows that Geneva can be slow to offer up its secrets.

"Geneva is so large, it can take awhile to find fish if you don't know what you are doing," he said. "In the first part of May, I usually find smallies in 12 to 15 feet of water. I'll work the breaklines with Chompers on a stand-up jig. The fish tend to stack up on the breaklines, so I position my boat in deeper water and then cast up to the shallows and bring it back."

In terms of what to use, Reddy has many suggestions.

"This lake has more crayfish in it than nearby lakes," he said. "I've found that plastics in crayfish colors work really well. I've also done well on Senkos, Gulps and Twister Tails in those natural colors. I found in the early season that Rattle Traps and other suspending baits work well. They like the bait a little slower this time of year, so I'll do a pause-retrieve, pause-retrieve kind of action. The fish will hit it on the pause. I've also found that spinnerbaits can work well. They like the in-line spinners better than the tandems. On Geneva, the bass are keyed in on perch, shiners, and crayfish. I've found that colors that mimic these natural foods work the best. For the crayfish, it seems like the brighter the red or orange, the better."

You can also use live bait. Reddy prefers a night crawler on a drop-shot rig.

"The water is still too cold for leeches. They will just ball up around your hook," he said. "Crawlers are much better. I often cast out and bring it back to me slowly. Just look for a twitch in your line to indicate a fish is on. You can try to drop shot vertically, but I've found I've caught more fish with a slow retrieve than with a straight vertical presentation."