Home Forums Fishing Freshwater Smallmouth Bass: Top 5 lures or your go to lures?

What are your faves.....and colors too?

spinner baits.



love me some spinner baits cause pike will smack em hard too.

Off the top of my head, I'd say...

1) Jig (mostly natural colors, though I do like some wild ones)

2) 4" slider style worm on a spider slider leadhead (color not terribly important, but can never go wrong w/ black)

3) Rat-L-Trap (chrome w/ blue or black, white or bone, strawberry red)

4) Rapala countdown minnow or similar (a neutral weighted Lil Ripstick is awesome)

5) Spinnerbait (though I much prefer items 1-4)

That said, if the jig is even remotely working I'll stick with it, unless trying to cover water quickly.

Night crawlers

one of about 1000 kinds of spinner baits

Rapala's

Mepps spinners

jig n plastic

We always had great luck using a three-hook crawler harness at our place in Ontario. (red beads, three spinners). I've never had any luck with any artificials up there, and I've thrown everything imaginable at them.
I have good luck cutting two of the hooks off the same type of harness and using a minnow or crayfish instead of worm. The lake we're on is a great smallmouth producer; catching them in the 5+ pound range is quite normal.

we caught a bunch of them on our leech rigs set up for trolling for walleye last year......

jigs
Smallish rapalas
Rat l traps

Will be tossing flies at them this year. Smally shop

I'll go a little diferent early...Orange Flo Rooster tail spinner with a gold blade///

Otherwise, 4 inch worms, pop'Rs...stick baits...

Rapalas if the bite is aggressive.

Powerbait pumpkinseed craw on a slip sinker rig is the bite is on the bottom.

Dat one...I like it a little more brownish, but I think its what I like, and not so much the fish...

Ingwe

Rattlin' Rogue jerkbait... fished in a specific style.

I've caught smallies where ever they swim on those.

You sure do have an interesting sense of humor. This pictured is my absolute fav, including the color. Next in line would be:

Crawdad Crankbait
Wally Diver
White Spinnerbait
Shad Rapp

Good to have a little variety as well. Threw in a "Turd Tube" for ingwe. That's actually what the company (Wacky Worm) calls it.

ingwe

What do you guys use when they are on beds?

something simple to use that is...:)

Since the smallies don't touch artificials where we go in Ontario, I'll use a small jig with a live crayfish hooked through the tail, right on the bottom. A slow bounce and retrieve is all it takes to entice them off the beds.

I sometimes go out at sunrise just to do a little scouting to see where they are; it's usually so calm and the water is so clear you can see them in up to 30' of water. They won't bite in the calm, but go home and have a little breakfast after the scouting trip and try them as soon as the breeze picks up and it's almost always a success. When they're sitting on the drop-offs and around the huge boulders in the lake, I'll use the crawler harnesses with live bait, minnow or worm.

I don't know much about smallmouth and the top five suggestions are of interest. I lived on a good smallmouth river when I was a kid but majored in trouts. Fished smallmouth with a crawler on a 3-way mid-summer.

I've fished Lake Michigan shoreline(rocks)at the first of June and they hit spinners but have never tried live bait there. Last year we didn't do well... Do you think your live bait setups would outperform the spinners?

Spent my summers on Rainy Lake and it is a great Smallmouth water my favs are,
1. Jighead and grub combo both single and double tail, pearl, chartreuse, yellow or purple, Powergrubs work well, better than Gulp in my experience
2. Old Rapala Fat Rap in Crawdad or gold with black back, hard to find now so a Craw colored Wiggle Wart works well
3. An inline spinner in 3/8 to 1/2 ounce with a single hook and twister tail gold color is my first choice
4. Spinnerbaits with single or double willowleaf blades, I like to fish smallies fast and the other blades rise up to quick, I have the best luck with gold blades and a chartreuse and white skirt
5 when I have to fish slow cause of conditions I will use a hulagrub in watermelon/pumpkin pepper color on enough jig weight to feel bottom these work for me pretty much where I fish Smallies, there are times a modified Carolina rig or dropshot will work better than the 5 methods I described but more so on very clear water

There are only two for me in Southern Missouri's Current River

Storm Wiggle Wart crankbait in green or brown craw

Then 3" green or brown tube 1/2 oz jig head

Nice smallie......Have you ever tried using tubes rigged with Gitzit type jig heads? They make the tube dart when they fall giving em a little more action.

fat ika
mimmic minnow
spinner bait
xrap
3:16 baby wake

not in that order all the time

Kitek Jig
Shad Rap
Gitzit
1/2 oz football with 5" Yamamoto Hula Grub(BB or green pumpkin)
Chartreuse Spinner bait
Carolina rig pumpkin lizard w/ chartreuse tail
Gold 3/4 oz Silver Buddy(water temps in the 40's)

Yea, yea, I know it says 5 baits but I couldn't leave any out....

1. Grub. Usually a Zoom Fat Albert in Watermelon or Smokey Rainbow
2. Jigs. I have thrown hair, rubber and silicone with every head config and color you care to try, they all have their place.
3. Flukes, I like Ark Shiner and Baby Bass color.
4. Crankbaits, in shad and crawdad patterns
5. Float-n-fly. Works great when the water is cold and the fish suspend.

For Maine rivers:

1). 2"-3" white curly grub tail with 1/16 or 1/8 oz leadhead jig

2). Spinners: Mepps Rooster Tail: 1/8 - 1/6 oz, (depending on current). colors (body/blade): white/silver, black with copper flecks/silver, medium brown with copper flecks/silver or gold, yellow/silver. Panther Martin: yellow body/silver blade 1/8" oz

3). 3"-4" Rapalas, black/gold, black/silver), floating or "countdown", depending on water.

4) 1/8 oz silver spoons ( ie: Little Cleo, Hopkins Lure, Sidewinder ), plain treble hooks, but sometimes white bucktail.

5) White floating/diving crankbait ~3" long, with rattle. Fish on top with twitch, or ~ 3-4 feet deep on intermittant retrieve.

Bonus:
#6 (couldn't stop at 5): Johnson Weedless spoon, 1/8 oz, silver. Great for working the bottom of rivers , and not getting snagged.


Flyfishing:
Brown/white lefty deceivers
Mudler Minnows (classic brown, or all white )
Hellgramite pattern gray or black
Leech pattern (black or purple)

Good smallie reading:
http://www.bronzeback.com/

For Montana smallies

1. tube jig either watermelon or pumpkin seed
2. grub on a plain lead head jig any color works as long as its smoke/pepper
3. bandit 100 crank baby bass and brown craw-fish orange belly
4. 3" or 4" cigar bait on a light jig watermelon or creme
5. good old jig and pig subtle browns greens with a strand or two of chartreuse and a 4" cigar bait as a trailer, preferably watermelon

For So. Colorado smallies:

1. Shad color crankbaits
2. Crawdad color crankbaits
3. Chartreuse spinnerbaits
4. Rapala stickbaits
5. Fly rod, Dahlberg Diver patterns

crayfish colored crankbait or blue and black laminate senkos

For Northern and Central Illinois streams and rivers.
1st- River2Sea Standin' Yabbie, it's a pre-rigged soft craw
2nd- 4" twister grubs (power bait)black, yellow, white, on Mr Twister Wtd. keeper hooks or equivelant
3rd- Rebel Crawdad Crankbaits
4th-5" senko style worms (I like the Berkley Fat Sinkworm)
5th- big, white, squeeky buzzbaits!(this is a new addition to my "go to" arsenal this year, wish I had used 'em earlier for river smallies, cause they really work

works for me

Buzzbait
Rootbeer Gitzet tube with 1/8oz.weight inside.
Lucky Craft 3" Pointer 78
1/4oz Eakin's style Finesse jig
1/8 oz. Shakey Head

Buzzbait

Rapala brokeback, the biggest they'll hit.

Rapala Husky Jerk/X-rap

Swimbait

Berkley 4in worm (or Dinger)

Boy this post has been up here a long time. I guess I'll share, since I'll be able to stand on the water here another 3 months.

1. White Rooster Tail, dressed hook and silver blade. #1's and #2's.

2. Panther Martin Yellow with red dots and gold blade. Same #1's and #2's.

3. Rapala 2" original or countdown in Gold Minnow.

4. Culprit 6" electric grape or June bug curly tail worm on a 2/0 Eagle Claw 45 Automatic hook and maybe 1/8oz. bullet weight.

5. Powerbait 4" or 5" salamanders (power lizards I think) in electric grape or June bug. Same hooks and weight as above.