Dale Hollow can be a very humbling lake. It can be feast or famine and takes a LOT of time to not only learn the lake but also to learn the habits of the smallies to try and catch them. I believe when the Smallies are in their deep water summer patterns that they migrate between the deep grass beds and the black shale/chunk rock depending on the moon phase chasing Crayfish. As the Crayfish spawn on the full moon they will be closer to the shale/rock and when the new moon is up they are around the grass. This is just what I believe in my years of fishing Dale. Learn to fish the Deep Grass Beds with jigs and soft plastics and you will have better luck but it takes time. As far as the fellas on Smalljaw, there majority of them only fish Dale and they know the lake VERY WELL. There are some outstanding fishermen on Smalljaw that really know how to put them in the boat.