Did you forget to put some top water lures in your box?  Did you forget to tie one on to the end of your line?

The next time you get a chance to float fish one of Missouri streams don't forget.  Even in the hottest dog days of summer you will be surprised how many fish you will raise with even a big buzzbait.  The same rules that you may use in lakes and ponds for using your topwater lures does not necessarily apply to smallies in streams.

I remember a blistering hot day my buddy Joe and I fished the Bourbeuse river.  We were fishing in the middle of a heat wave that had held temps in the ninetys for more than a week.  I thought my buddy was crazy when he started throwing a big clattering buzzbait.  To my amazement he was getting bites and eventually landed a nice 2 pounder.  We took that fish home and cleaned it.  (we were young and dumb and didn't realize the rarity of such a fish in Missouri streams)  (please release your smallmouth to fight another day)  That fish must have really been used to feeding off the top water because we were amazed to find a mouse in his stomach.  I would have loved to see that when the mousy started swimming across the Bourbeuse and disappeared in a big smallmouth swirl.