"Ken Fortenberry" Smallmouth bass are *great* gamefish, that much is
true, but
most of Whitlock's hyperbole is either opinion or bull****.
How do you compare the intelligence of a trout and a bass ?
Do you give them underwater IQ tests ? And everybody knows
that the hardest fighting freshwater fish, pound-for-pound,
is the bluegill.

I believe I'd have to go with the rock bas, pound for pound wise...

I'd love to go fly fishing for smallmouth with poppers. That's
one of the reasons I paddle far into the Canadian backcountry.
The reason I don't fish for them more around central Illinois
is that they rarely hit surface flies in our streams. Around
here it's mostly wooly bugger fishing and phooey on that ****.

Well, YOu have to hitthe water early enough that you tied your popper on
before you left 'casuse it's barely starting to break light..
'reverse that for night time poppers-right about dark thirty



Sounds like a great trip, Chris. Wish I could load up my canoe
and join you !

Good luck.

--
Ken Fortenberry

john