45 replies to this topic

[AZfishrman01]

My personal favorite is a Power tube t-rigged with a 2/0 Gamakatsu and a Tru-Tungsten 1/8 oz bullet weight. Pulling/ hopping that through the weeds is devastating. Either the tube or a mini Paca craw catch'em in my neck of the woods.


What's everyone elses?

[NEjitterbugger]

In my favorite smallmouth spot my go to bait is a rapala about 3 to 4 inches long and the classic grey body fading to a black back ( preferably a broken back).I also like to use use jig heads and use any of your favorite soft plastics in slower moving parts of rivers...

If there are lots of crayfish in the river the smallies are probably fat, you would think that they would hit them but I fished one spot with crayfish for about an hour...nothing...switched to my rapala... caught 40 smallies and 6 trout..smallies were ranging from 1lbs to 2lbs 14oz. Crayfish for me anyways are more successfull in lakes.

[Crestliner2008]

3" curly tailed grub on a 1/8 oz. ball head jig. Has caught countless smallies for me for over 30 years.

[iceintheveins]

Panther Martin #15, or a 3" tube on a 1/8 ounce head.

[retiredbosn]

The Greenbrier and New river 4 inch curly tail for sheer numbers. Tubes and naked t-rigged craws, bitsybug jigs with a paca chunk trailer seem to catch bigger bass

[moguy1973]

4" puke colored BPS tube or white super fluke. Rebel craws always work well too.

[bigdawg74]

i fish every weekend morning on a river a few miles from my house . it is just big enuff that i can cast almost across it with a topwater. that being said i have had great luck with a jitterbug. there is to much stuff on the botom to use anything that sinks because if it its bottom i lose it 9 times outa 10. i have had real good luck tha last few weeks with a berkley black and white walley crawler harness that i modified so the 2 hooks are closer together.

[wademaster1]

2" charlie brewers slider grubs in baby bass color on a cottonmouth jighead work great for me; gold panther martin spinners too

[RyneB]

I have been fishing smallies on a small river (20 yds across on average) since for about 17 years. I have 5 favorite baits

- X Rap in clown color
- grub with a 1/4 oz jig head. I like black, but have caught them on any color you can think of.
- tube, i like a chartreuse tail with a brown body
- finesse jig
- Yum Crawbug. This is my favorite smallie bait. Rig it naked or as a jig trailer, either way, it flat out catches fish.

[Curved]

2" southern pro triple tail grub on a splitshot rig
1-2" piece of a senko on a hook unweighted
4" power worm with the tail cut off, unweighted, wacky rigged

[Bluebasser86]

Zoom Meathead or finesse worm on a shakyhead, Guido Bug on a shakyhead, LC Sammy, SK Bitsy tube.

[11justin22]

Texas rigged tiny brush hog or sk bitsy tube

[PABASS]

Seems like it depends on the year locals tell me that, few years back a senko would be the bait to throw, few years back before that a single tail grub, few years before that would be top water, having allot of success this year on hula grubs without the skirt, go figure, and top water is out, sadly.

[Curved]

Just found a great new-to-me smallie bait: Powerbait Twitchtail Minnow

Caught a limit and then some of good size fish in a couple hours after work today.

[bowhunter63]

Tube in craw color or banging rocks with a crankbait.