Going fishing this weekend in the potomac river for some smallmouth. I truth be told, I havent caught a smallie in years, not since I was a kid. I remeber catching them with spinner baits, and tubes.

 

Just wondering, what you guys like to use? Im assuming the water is gonna be stained.

 

Any of you guys have any luck swimming a jig? I'll be wading down the river and fishing from shore in some spots, so I'll only have one rod with me. So I'm debating which lure to tie on first. A spinner, crank, or a swim jig.

Out of those listed I've had good luck with small jigs with a straight tail or shakey head worm as a trailer.  I think it resembles a goby.

 

I'd make sure to have some tubes with, its nice to have a proven performer with you if all else fails.

I was on the Juniata river a few weeks back when it was super hot and a white 1/4oz swim jig with a River Rock Baits Swim Grub was the only bait worth throwing. We caught every fish on that set up with the biggest being a 20.5" 3lb 12oz pig!! Yes, a swim jig is a great option and don't be afraid to go big, the 1/4oz bait we used has a 4/0 hook and we actually caught 2 fish that were around 10" on it.

I like topwater this time of year myself but cranks are a close second.  With the water temps being warm they will be looking for areas of high oxygen and lower water temps if possible.  That usually means either deeper cooler holes or more active water like riffles and the like.

Caught a few today swimming a jig. 

Going fishing this weekend in the potomac river for some smallmouth. I truth be told, I havent caught a smallie in years, not since I was a kid. I remeber catching them with spinner baits, and tubes.

 

Just wondering, what you guys like to use? Im assuming the water is gonna be stained.

 

Any of you guys have any luck swimming a jig? I'll be wading down the river and fishing from shore in some spots, so I'll only have one rod with me. So I'm debating which lure to tie on first. A spinner, crank, or a swim jig.

Not sure if you'll read this post before you go fishing, but here it goes... I fish the free flowing Potomac pretty regularly from DC to Dam 4. Better fish will be in the main channel/heavier current during mid-day and could be anywhere at dusk/dawn. This is a gross generalization, but it's what I've found to be the most consistent pattern. Last time I fished up that way the fish were all caught either in eddies downstream of islands, or suspended around 6-8' in deeper stretches (usually 10-12 fow.)

Smallie baits that have proven successful this year:

-Dark jigs fished slow on the bottom (#1 color is all black with black/chartreuse 3" grub trailer.)

-White or chartreuse buzzbait fished across riffles earlier and later in the day.

-Any whitish colored popper bait earlier and later in the day.

-Natural colored tubes (browns, greens, etc.)

-Watermelon colored 3" senkos rigged on either a ball head jig or slider head are always productive on the Potomac. Houdini is another color that performs well.

-Broken back suspending Rapalas (usually when fish are hitting these, color seems pretty irrelevant.) Craw or blue/red seem to be a sure bet.

-Shakey head rigged with a craw imitating soft plastic (either dark like blue fleck, or natural.)

-Float and fly (slip bobber with 1/16-1/8oz. jighead and natural grub was working well for suspended fish.)

-Also caught a few on orange jig heads with 4" blue ringworms while fishing for walleye.

Hope you tear it up tomorrow. I'll be chasing snakeyfish close to home, downstream of you.

Small white grubs, under 2-inches in size.

 

Jig and pig.

 

Buzzbaits.

 

Small crankbaits.

I've been catching them really well swimming a small finesse jig/rage craw through riffles.

1/4oz chart/white brovarney swim jig /w  a shorter than I would like pearl subwoofer worked well on smallmouth yesterday.

Not sure if you'll read this post before you go fishing, but here it goes... I fish the free flowing Potomac pretty regularly from DC to Dam 4. Better fish will be in the main channel/heavier current during mid-day and could be anywhere at dusk/dawn. This is a gross generalization, but it's what I've found to be the most consistent pattern. Last time I fished up that way the fish were all caught either in eddies downstream of islands, or suspended around 6-8' in deeper stretches (usually 10-12 fow.)Smallie baits that have proven successful this year:-Dark jigs fished slow on the bottom (#1 color is all black with black/chartreuse 3" grub trailer.)-White or chartreuse buzzbait fished across riffles earlier and later in the day.-Any whitish colored popper bait earlier and later in the day.-Natural colored tubes (browns, greens, etc.)-Watermelon colored 3" senkos rigged on either a ball head jig or slider head are always productive on the Potomac. Houdini is another color that performs well.-Broken back suspending Rapalas (usually when fish are hitting these, color seems pretty irrelevant.) Craw or blue/red seem to be a sure bet.-Shakey head rigged with a craw imitating soft plastic (either dark like blue fleck, or natural.)-Float and fly (slip bobber with 1/16-1/8oz. jighead and natural grub was working well for suspended fish.)-Also caught a few on orange jig heads with 4" blue ringworms while fishing for walleye.Hope you tear it up tomorrow. I'll be chasing snakeyfish close to home, downstream of you.

Thanks for the tips man. They really liked the senkos! Unfortunately, I didn't tie one on until the last half hour of the day. I caught a small LM, and very nice smallie.

Try a topwater in the morning, but I think the bottom line is if you put it where they live, they will eat it. For sure a swim jig can work.