I typically wade streams and creek's around my house and town all day fishing for Smallies but can never seem to catch them. Any tips as to finding them (ex. depth to be looked in) or baits to use?

In the streams I fish strike king bitsy tubes work great and can be fished numerous ways. This time of year I would try poppers and small buzzbaits.

I am wading on saturday and all I plan on bringing is a couple 1/8oz buzzbaits, tubes, curly tail grubs, and a couple poppers. I'm sure some zman TRD's may be hiding in my pack too. If I don't catch some fish off one of those I am doing something wrong.

Wading a river for smallmouths is absolutely my favorite way to fish!  First question (might be a silly one but I have to ask…) Are you sure there are smallmouth in the creeks and streams you are fishing?  OK, that’s out of the way.

 

For depth I’ve been catching fish in a foot of water while wading up to 20 feet deep when fishing from the shore.  Areas I would generally concentrate on are fast moving water, the deeper pool that forms below the fast moving water, anything that breaks the current (big rocks, logs, rock ledges), shaded water along the bank.  Try every type of water until you find some fish.

 

I personally don’t fish topwater or treble-hook baits so take the following bait advice with a grain of salt, for me it’s soft plastics.  Tubes, curly-tail grubs, stickbaits (“Senko-type” baits), finesse worms, small jigs w/ trailer, small craw imitators (like the Baby Rage Craw), small paddle-tail swimbaits.  If I could only use one bait it’s hard to beat a 4” YUM Dinger in watermelon red flake.

 

Good luck!

Learn to identify pools, runs, riffles and bends. The above is all good advice. Don't get on the water without grubs and tubes, and smallmouth on topwater are super exciting.

Steveo hit the nail on the head. Whenever I am walking the river I almost always catch one or two fish in the faster moving water, and I am ALWAYS looking for rocks.