As the milfoil was growing, the water quality was also improving. The Tennessee River carries a fair amount of silt and that silt keeps the water dingy in the lake. However, because of better agricultural practices throughout the watershed -- mostly a turn toward no-till planting practices -- the water was, and is, clearing. The smallies like that.

All this combines to make for great smallmouth habitat. Thanks to the drought and other factors, they have plenty of vegetative cover to hide and grow in, better water quality and, thanks to Kentucky Lake's thriving forage base, an unlimited supply of menu items. That's all the smallies were waiting for, or at least all they needed.

Now that's the good news. The bad news, or at least the not-so-good news, is that Rister believes the high number of 5- to 7-pound fish is due largely to a highly successful spawn and a year-class from several years back. Unfortunately, he doesn't see a repeat on the horizon. He believes the smallmouth fishing is about as good as it's ever going to get.

(Even if Rister's right -- and not everyone agrees that he is -- Kentucky Lake will still be ranked as one of the best smallmouth venues in the country. That's no small thing.)

Kirk Weber is a long-time professional guide on the lake. He'll tell you in no time flat that the smallies on Kentucky Lake are on fire and that the best time to get a good one is from January through the first part of March. "There's no time she'll weigh more than just before the spawn," he said.

His preference during the winter is warming spells that last anywhere from a day or two, on up to a week or more. According to Weber, that starts the big smallies on their journey toward shallow water.

"The east side of the lake is best," he opined. That's because the main river channel runs along that side of the lake. In most places, it's at least 20 feet deep. Weber believes that the smallmouths winter in those deep waters and only venture out for brief periods of time to feed and spawn.

In general, he looks for spots where the channel swings in toward the shore and offers easy access to shallower water. The very best areas are those where the channel runs against chunk rock and gravel banks, on flats, in less than 10 to 12 feet of water. To get in touch with Captain Weber, call (270) 354-6017, or visit his Web site, www.captainkirksguideservice.com.

If the chunk rock is black, so much the better. Black is best because it holds the heat and warms the surrounding water, sometimes as much as 5 degrees. The warmer water temperatures activate algae, which in turn attract shad, baitfish and minnows. Once these forage species are swimming around the neighborhood, you can bet the smallmouths won't be far behind.

Taken as a whole, such areas offer deep-water travel lanes, safety and shallow-water feeding opportunities. "That's about everything they need," Weber said.

Areas such as those described above can be found just about anywhere along the east side of the lake. With that said, however, some spots are better than others. One of the very best is the rock quarry located about 10 miles from the dam near the old river channel. This spot is well known and gets a lot of fishing pressure. Still, it gives up several big smallies every year.

Another good spot is the Eggner's Ferry Bridge on the river channel side. (That's the U.S. Route 68 bridge that crosses the lake.) Both ends of the bridge offer favorable winter smallmouth angling opportunities.