I'll defer to what the others say here as I don't fish for smallmouth bass.

I was bascially describing the way I fish for crappie at Patoka Lake.

I watched a guy catch some nice big slabs at Patoka one day and he showed me his method. He won the CrappieUSA Spring Tournament two years in a row using the method I described. But the one question I have always wanted to know is did he fix his slip float bobber with a plastic peg or not. I lost contact with him and never did see him again.

So maybe the fixed float and the long poles work better for catching smallmouths.

I'll have to try it someday. Thanks for the tip on FnF fishing. I learned something new today.

He said he was using a custom rod too but didn't say where he got his rod. He was from the Louisville, KY area though so I wonder if he got the rod from some shop in that area?