What, if any, trailer?

Josh

 

I didn't use a trailer. Just a plain ole' 1/4oz white spinnerbait.

I have found the river smallies in my area to really relate only to rocks, boulders, rip-rap in the Fall. Other times of year I do fish around wood, brush, lay-downs, etc. But I catch squat in those areas once the leaves start to turn. Again, we're talking Minnesota, your area may be different.

The other thing is I switch off between 2 baits. One is a 5-6 inch sucker minnow, the second is a white 5 inch Yamasenko. In the darker river water and lower light conditions of the Fall, that light/bright color (officially called Blue Pearl Silver Flake) has actually outfished the live bait on more than one occasion. Smallies seem to be more oriented to the color white than largemouth in my experience. I've been hammering them lately... maybe worth a try. All the fish below were caught in the last week on that worm when other options were not working...

Relating to rocks as the temperature drops is a common trait. Rocks hold heat more/longer than wood. Bait will relate to the warmer area.

Here in NW Ohio we're having record temperatures into the high 60's. Wouldn't surprise me to find smallmouth congregating around clumps of boulders or even near the banks eating worms that are available now. 

Every region is different but white in the winter is the ticket here. A 3" white with silver flake tube T-rigged on an 1/8th of an ounce rarely fails. Fish it slowwww.