# good smallmouth bass lure ???



## DiverDog357 (May 12, 2009)

Hey guys you may not believe this but I have been fishing for probably 25 years and I very seldom use lures. About the only time is when I'm trout fishing I like to use Joe's Flies or Hus Lures. I mainly fish the river here at home and when I fish it, I have one of those little lure boxes loaded up with hooks, split shot, swivels, and slip sinkers for when fishing bottom for cats, and sheephead. I only use crawlers, and minnows thats it. I also have 2 or 3 jitter bugs. I never use rapalas, or rubber worms and such. I would like to buy a couple of lures for smallies cause thats all we have here no large mouth, very few if any. I would like to try something that looks like a shiner cause thats what they hit on the best but I'm open for any advice. Any suggestions for what would be good to start out with. I will be fishing a small shallow river with more rapids, and riffles than deep water. Thanks guys!


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## Zum (May 12, 2009)

Well,if you can find calm spot those jitter bugs should give you some top water excitement.Inline spinners(mepps,blue fox,etc) work great on smallmouth,plus will still land you a trout.
I love top water,even though you might catch more on lures/spinners,try running a 1/8 ounce buzz bait for some fun.If you have a second rod follow a miss up with a grub,works 90% of the time.
Good luck.


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## Jim (May 13, 2009)

Inline spinners work awesome on smallies. So do Rapala x-rap lures. Or any jerk type bait. Dont be afraid to throw a spinnerbait too.


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## bAcKpAiN (May 13, 2009)

I love zoom super flukes for smallies. I would also learn the dropshot rig with small plastics 8)


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## G3_Guy (May 13, 2009)

For river smallies I love flukes, jerkbaits, crawdad colored shallow cranks and small jigs.


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## Captain Ahab (May 13, 2009)

4" senkos with a small sliding bullet weight, tubes, tubes and more tubes


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## jkbirocz (May 15, 2009)

If you are only using live bait for smallies, you are missing a lot of action. Sure they will hit live bait, but the action you get with using lures, and the ease of no messy bait, is absolutely awesome. Smallies are very curious and aggressive, making them a great fish to use artificials for. There are millions of plastics that will produce fish, anything from grubs to stickbaits. I would suggest getting some grubs, tubes, craws, and senkos in natural colors. Get some jigheads that fit the grubs and tubes, and pick up some hooks to t-rig the senkos. As for hardbaits get some x-raps and some topwaters; poppers and walk-the-dog type baits, (zara spooks, sammy's, etc.). Throughout the summer you find great topwater action, especially in the early morning and evening. Hard jerks work all year around, but generally lose the effectiveness in the warmer months, but a soft jerkbait, like a fluke, will work when the hardbaits stop working. While I said to get natural colors, do not be affraid to throw obtrusive colors like chartreuse, smallies just cannot resist hitting unnatural colors. I personally only tie on a spinnerbait for smallies when the water is high, and brown. I could go on and on, smallies are a fantastic creature. If you are catching them on live bait you will definately catch them on artificials, you really only need the basics. If you are fishing rivers, I would bet crayfish are the main forage over the minnows depending on the time of year, so I would try some crayfish type baits; the tubes and craw plastics. Good Luck


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## shamoo (May 15, 2009)

Captain Ahab said:


> 4" senkos with a small sliding bullet weight, tubes, tubes and more tubes


I agree wit the hab-man, also you might want to try Bomber 0-4 ft in crawdad color.


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## SMDave (Jun 8, 2009)

My personal favorite for river smallies is either a black tube on a jighead or a 4" watermelon senko weightless t-rigged. I've had some luck on jerkbaits and carolina-rigged flukes too.


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## kentuckybassman (Jun 8, 2009)

G3_Guy said:


> For river smallies I love flukes, jerkbaits, crawdad colored shallow cranks and small jigs.


I agree with G3_Guy.........a smallmouth is crazy for a craw and crankin one in the river will definately do the trick!! I have also caught alot of sm on a texas rigged craw. Also good for rivers but you do get hung up in a current but i'm sure if you use split shot rigs you have experienced that a time or two #-o


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## ben2go (Jun 9, 2009)

DiverDog357 said:


> Hey guys you may not believe this but I have been fishing for probably 25 years and I very seldom use lures. About the only time is when I'm trout fishing I like to use Joe's Flies or Hus Lures. I mainly fish the river here at home and when I fish it, I have one of those little lure boxes loaded up with hooks, split shot, swivels, and slip sinkers for when fishing bottom for cats, and sheephead. I only use crawlers, and minnows thats it. I also have 2 or 3 jitter bugs. I never use rapalas, or rubber worms and such. I would like to buy a couple of lures for smallies cause thats all we have here no large mouth, very few if any. I would like to try something that looks like a shiner cause thats what they hit on the best but I'm open for any advice. Any suggestions for what would be good to start out with. I will be fishing a small shallow river with more rapids, and riffles than deep water. Thanks guys!




I have had good results with Joe's flies,rooster tails,shad style jigs,all kinds of plastic worms,and my favorite is top water pop'r that is silver with a green back.In a river I like to toss Joe's flies and rooster tails.Most fish seem to find depressions in the river bed with swift water running above them.The fish sit facing into the current and wait to ambush.I toss down river and slowly work back up the river over holes.If the current is keeping the spinners spinning I will let the lure sit there and use the rod to move it back and forth over a hole while twitching it a little.That's just one technique I use.Can't give them all away.


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## WV Outdoorsman (Mar 21, 2010)

I love to fish for smallies and the one bait I would never forget to take is the Rebel Crawdad plugs, they have alway's worked for me. Shennandoah and James river in VA and the New and Greenbrier rivers in WV. My favorite is the natural crawdad colors.

WVO


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## gizfawfish (Mar 22, 2010)

try a #5 shad rap in silver color, also i like to use bitsy bug jigs in black/blue color because they seem to see this color better in streams and rivers i like to hav a matching trailer behind it too. However any color will work for me on most days.


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## BloodStone (Apr 13, 2010)

I fish almost the same type of river for smallies up here in the Land Of The Economically Lost (aka Michigan) as you do. One minute the water level is 3-4' deep, the next your arse is getting out of the aluminum Jon-Boat & walking it up to a spot (against the current-natch!) where you can float your boat. My three top choices are a Rapala Skitter Pop, a jointed jitterbug & a Rapala Husky Jerk-silver with a black back 3-4" long. Problem is, Mr. Pike also lives in said waters & they LOVE Rapala's. In fact, last Labor Day I went up the river with my 55lb thrust Minn Kota trolling motor & lightweight rod & reel and caught the biggest pike of my life (9lbs3oz 33" long) on that very same Husky Jerk. Funny thing is, there was no big nasty smash like you see on numerous fishing shows, more like he went up & just wanted to gently mouth the thing (weird). Only after he saw me & I saw him did Mr. Pike say "NO WAY!" & thus the battle of wills began (I won) :lol: Anyway, that day the Pike to Smallies ratio was 3 to 1. Usually it's the other way around (I certainly hope it is this year). Hope this helps.


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## Truckmechanic (Apr 13, 2010)

G3_Guy said:


> For river smallies I love flukes, jerkbaits, crawdad colored shallow cranks and small jigs.




These are my favorites too


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## fish devil (Apr 14, 2010)

:twisted: Over here in South Jersey the Strike King Redeye lipless crank works well on lake smallies.


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