1. Heavy jigs are terrific tools in strong winds or when you're fishing in current or deep water for sauger. The key to jigging is to maintain bottom contact. Your guide to jig weight should always be, "Am I touching bottom or not?"
2. Jig color depends on water clarity. I like brighter colors like orange, pink, lime green or chartreuse in dingy water. Clear water calls for more subtle hues like crawdad, smoke or dark green. The big jig can be dressed with a minnow or nightcrawler. Let the fish tell you want they want.

3. Fish face upstream in current. A natural presentation is to cast upstream and retrieve your lure downstream so the fish can see it coming.
4. Many reservoirs become muddy after heavy rains and the lower areas of the lakes are usually not as muddy as the upper sections. Feeder creeks will clear before the main lake does. Where muddy water meets clear water, fish this mixing area because predators hide just inside the muddy zone and ambush prey as it passes by.

5. Crappie have a thin membrane around their mouths that will tear with a hard hook-set. Your chances of landing the fish are better if you lift your rod firmly rather than jerking.
6. You can make any crankbait run deeper by adding a worm weight or split shot to the line just ahead of the lure.

7. Below dams, smallmouth use currents as feeding lanes and ambush prey from behind objects or by holding at the edge of the swift current and in eddies.
8. Crankbaits are very effective for river fishing. The fast presentation lets you cover a lot of water quickly. Cranking is also a big fish tactic and often produces larger fish than jigs or even live bait.

9. River slipping is a good way to control your boat. You can jig, cast plugs or troll live bait very effectively by putting your bow into the current and keep your motor running in gear. Adjust the throttle so that you drift downstream just a little bit slower than the current.
10. Embellished Carolina Rig: Use a three-way swivel in place of the normal two-way and rig your leader as you normally would. On the third swivel connection, place a leader about 1/3 to 1/2 as long as the other leader, and use a smaller plastic bait, such as a floating 4-inch worm or grub on that hook.

11. When fishing topwater plugs in choppy water on windy days cast a large topwater chugger or popper. It will make more noise to be heard above the surface noises.

To catch smallmouth imitate crayfish by casting a brown jig with a brown or orange pork rind trailer. Use lighter jigs in cold weather because the fish are sluggish but jigs are deadly for catching trophies even under tough conditions.