I posted this prior to a trip North to Maine. cobbessecanti? Spelling may be off lol well in deep water with smallies virtually non existent in that lake I was getting LMB in 30-40ft on shakey head with a finesse worm, couple on a drop shot with a shad style bait as well. Less than 20 ft C-Rig was the ticket with a lizard... I seriously pulled a fish off a bed in JULY!!!! Insane, it must of just got ready to spawn or just spawned its entire bottom and tail were red as hell. A game warden I spoke with said a year or so ago all the smallies came up to spawn during a warm week in April and then winter continued. They were in shallow water with no weeds for oxygen and didn't go back to deep water so a massive fish kill off happened. Any how great to see the feedback! Tight lines!

For our lakes it would be a football jig

I voted football jig, but I also like to use a heavy weighted t - rig.

I like a shakyhead/Ned or a drop shot.  The thing I really like about drop shot (as n00b as I am at it) is that it brings the bite "right there" as in you might have a ton of line out, but you aren't line watching you're feeling it.  I really like that, as sometimes the bite on a shaky or Ned feels like it's lightyears away and I'm struggling to make a good hookset because of how much line is out and slack for the shake.  

 

Practice makes perfect though I guess.  

I like a shakyhead/Ned or a drop shot. The thing I really like about drop shot (as n00b as I am at it) is that it brings the bite "right there" as in you might have a ton of line out, but you aren't line watching you're feeling it. I really like that, as sometimes the bite on a shaky or Ned feels like it's lightyears away and I'm struggling to make a good hookset because of how much line is out and slack for the shake.

Practice makes perfect though I guess.

I hear ya. Although when going for smallies most of the time they whack the living hell out of it. But yeah LMBs sometimes you're second guessing what you're feeling.