Looking for bigger fish, I eased into a shallow-water hole for a one-of-a-kind encounter. Working the topwater plug back quickly, I saw the water suddenly erupt. The strike looked like it left a 2-foot void on the surface. I drove the hooks of the Puppy home, and the biggest river smallmouth I've encountered to date launched into the air, having only one way to go in the shallow water -- up. The topwater plug found itself on the inside lip of a 7-pound-plus river dream.

As stories go, this one was headed for a bad end as well. Three jumps into the fight, the big female was done playing with me. The last jump came just inside of 10 feet, and I could see her eyes as she spit the Zara Puppy back at me. The plug hit me in the chest and fell in the shallow water at my feet. Another one gone, but never forgotten.

There are only a handful of states that you could come close to one of these encounters, let alone two of this caliber. And again, the most memorable encounters are with the big fish that get away.

OUR BEST SMALLMOUTH RIVERS
Like most Volunteer anglers, I love the night-fishing found on our brown fish lakes in the summer and the bobber fishing on the deep, clear highland reservoirs in the winter.

But in the summer, give me moving water.

Jason Henegar, the TWRA river and streams coordinator, said we've seen very little change in the riverine smallmouth population from last year. Again for 2010, Henegar likes the Pigeon River once again as the top smallmouth river destination in Tennessee, followed by the Holston River system, the French Broad, and then the famed Nolichucky River.

Those are the best of the best rivers, but as always, keep the Buffalo, Cumberland and Duck rivers in mind for the smallmouth opportunities there. The rivers in East Tennessee definitely are the most talked about moving smallmouth waters, but their Middle and West Tennessee counterparts make nice trips from the springtime into the fall.

Wherever you decide to go, remember your target. I've never caught a bad smallmouth or one that didn't fight regardless of size.

The Duck, Buffalo and Cumberland are better for numbers of fish than big fish, but you'll find the occasional trophy smallie on any of them. But as good as they are, Henegar said they just do not produce the numbers of quality fish that the Holston, Pigeon and French Broad rivers produce. And in the last couple of years, bigger smallies -- in the 4-pound-plus class -- are showing up again in the Nolichucky River.

Henegar said there are many factors to take into account with any quality fishery. Of course, you have to have the available forage to grow quality fish, but the availability of habitat for larger fish has to be present. He said this may be in the form of more consistent and adequate flows or structure that allows the larger fish to escape high flows or feed more efficiently. Another factor that affects a quality fishery is the amount of fishing pressure it gets and that it can withstand. Those qualities can be found in all of the East Tennessee smallmouth rivers.

Henegar also added river enthusiasts can expect no changes in regulations for smallmouths in rivers for 2010. Whether you fish one of the trophy streams with quality regulations like the Pigeon or Little Pigeon rivers, or one of the moving waters with statewide regulations in place, all will benefit from this year's much-needed rainfall.