I just got back from a 7 day shasta trip. The small mouth bite was awsome!!! It was my first time fishing for smallmouth. I caught 6+ fish every day. the heaviest was 6 pounds 9 ounces!!! pound for pound it was my experience that smallmouth fight harder and longer than largemouth! The majority of the fish were caught mid-day at about 15 feet on steep rocky drop offs. The mornig action was good with poppers but I dident get much love at sundown. My thumb is still raw from the fangs those little guys have! The 5 inch morning dawn roboworms were the best producing baits for me by far! I even threw some storm shads at them with decent results. Shasta is like a little slice of heaven on earth!!! I already reserved 2 weeks at bridgebay next year. Shasta is so beautiful that even when the bite is slow the view is amazing! I even got to see a few bald eagles! If anybody has the chance to take a trip to Shasta I would highly recomend it! you wont be disappointed!!! Wish me luck..... I submitted a resume to Shimano for a position at their corporate office by my house. If anybody is planning to head out to shasta send me an e-mail and I can give you some more detail about the spots that were working for me.