Texas Rig Fishing on Smithville Lake
Smithville Lake · Missouri · Midwest
Smithville Lake sits in Clay County roughly 20 miles north of Kansas City, formed by the damming of Little Platte River and opened in 1979. The reservoir runs about 7,200 surface acres with numerous creek arms cutting off the main lake, producing a diverse structural mix of standing timber, laydowns, chunk-rock riprap, and submerged brush piles. Water clarity trends toward stained to slightly turbid — especially in the upper creek arms — which tends to push bass into predictable shallow and mid-depth ambush zones throughout the season.
A bullet sinker slides freely on the line ahead of a wide-gap hook with a weedless-rigged soft plastic. The rig is completely snag-resistant, making it the go-to choice for grass, timber, and heavy cover. Works with virtually any soft plastic — worms, craws, creatures, lizards.
Texas Rig Setup for Smithville Lake
| Rod | 7'–7'3" medium-heavy casting rod, fast action |
| Reel | 7.1:1 or faster baitcaster |
| Line | 15–20 lb fluorocarbon or 30–50 lb braid in heavy cover |
| Weight | 3/16–1/2 oz tungsten bullet weight (peg it in heavy cover) |
| Hook | 3/0–5/0 EWG wide gap hook sized to plastic |
Seasonal Tactics on Smithville Lake
Lake: Pre-spawn largemouth push into the upper ends of creek arms as water temps climb through the mid-50s into the low 60s, staging on laydowns and submerged brush in 6–12 ft before moving shallower to rocky flats and riprap banks to complete the spawn. Shallow-running crankbaits and Texas-rigged creature baits in the 3/8–1/2 oz range draw the most consistent strikes during this window.
Texas Rig: Slow drag through spawning flats and around beds. Lizards and creature baits in crawfish colors.
Lake: Post-spawn fish scatter across main-lake points and transition areas, with the better class of bass suspending near submerged timber in 15–22 ft as surface temps push into the upper 80s. Reaction baits like a 3/4 oz spinnerbait worked parallel to deeper riprap at dawn can be productive, but midday fishing often requires finesse presentations dropped into brush piles with electronics.
Texas Rig: Pitch into shade — docks, mats, and laydowns. Pegged weight for matted grass punching.
Lake: Shad migrations pull bass shallow into the upper creek arms through September and October, setting up some of the most aggressive topwater and swimbait action of the year. Anglers working a Berkley Choppo or a 3/8 oz white spinnerbait around creek channel swings and wood cover during the first two hours of daylight routinely find the most active fish.
Texas Rig: Cover water quickly on points and along weed lines. Faster retrieve with a reaction element.
Lake: Cold-water largemouth stack on the deepest available brush piles and timber edges in 20–28 ft, moving very little. A drop shot or football jig dragged at near-zero speed on the main lake's deeper points accounts for most of the catches, and most of that fishing happens midday when the sun has had a chance to tick the surface temperature up even a degree or two.
Texas Rig: Slow drag on deep structure, 15–30 feet. Finesse Texas rig with 1/4 oz and 6" worm.
Best Conditions
Heavy cover — grass, timber, laydowns, docks; murky to stained water; any season; pre-spawn and post-spawn periods
Peg the weight with a rubber toothpick when fishing grass. A sliding weight catches weeds; a pegged weight punches through clean.
More Techniques for Smithville Lake
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