Jerry Crook eases his aluminum johnboat up to the face of Wilson Dam, a huge concrete and steel monolith that looms above the Tennessee River. Powerful chutes of water blow out from the base of the dam, creating imposing, dangerous currents. Crook ties a slipknot to a metal ring jutting out from the concrete wall and then hands me a rod followed by a wiggling 4-inch shad he dips out of a bait tank.

"Hook it through the lips, drop it to the bottom and bounce it up and down. If we don't get anything in a while, we'll move," says Crook, a veteran fishing guide with over 22 years of experience.

Reeling 'Em In

Crook's boat stays tied to the dam for the rest of the day. Each time I lower a baited hook through the swift water, I'm greeted by the telltale thump of fish inhaling bait. White bass, stripers, hybrid bass and powerful freshwater drum all grab my bait within seconds. There must be hundreds of fish under us.

I'm having the time of my life and before I take the first bite of my lunch, my shoulders, forearms and wrists ache from battling dozens of fish. My thumb is rubbed raw from the rough lips of the fish I grab out of Crook's net. It's the best fishing I've experienced in years, but I have come to these waters with a single purpose: to catch the biggest smallmouth bass of my life. Be patient, Crook says.

Tennessee's Dale Hollow Reservoir surrendered the world record smallmouth bass, but that was nearly 50 years ago. Now, Pickwick and Wilson Reservoirs, located in northwestern Alabama, are the destinations of choice for so many anglers seeking the fish of a lifetime. Bass over 4 pounds are common and 5-pounders are there to be caught. Crook, however, figures no one will ever come close to breaking the long-standing 11-pound, 15-ounce world record. Equipment is better, anglers are far more skilled and pressure is much more intense than it was just 20 years ago. And from Crook's vantage, too many anglers are keeping the first 5-pounder they catch, a trophy destined for the taxidermist and a final resting place on an office wall.

"You can't catch 5- and 6-pounders at will like you used to, but there is still no place like this," says Crook. "Last year, my clients caught six smallmouths between 5 and 6 pounds in two days. It's still pretty common for at least one fisherman in my boat to hook a 5-pounder about every day. I hear of fish over 7 pounds caught every year, but they certainly aren't very common."

The morning chill has turned into a hot midday sun and the action has slowed, but only a little. The two of us continue to catch a white bass or hybrid every few minutes. Crook barely has time to dip another shad out of the bait tank and hook it to his line before I'm hollering once again for the net.

This time, the fish feels different. Instead of staying deep like all the others, it rockets to the surface, the sure sign of a smallmouth bass. When it leaps, I'm stunned by its size. Crook can only offer words of encouragement and a net when-if-I bring the fish to the boat. Everything works in my favor and I release my breath as my guide scoops up the bass.

"Four pounds," Crook says, studying a hand-held scale, "11 ounces."

It's shy of my 5-pound goal, but it's still the biggest smallmouth bass of my life. We admire the fish, snap a few photos and slip it back into the water, hoping it will someday be someone else's biggest smallmouth ever.