Hello Bass Resource Fishing Community! This is my first post and I would love to hear some of your favorite smallmouth bass fishing lures to use in Rivers? Thanks for reading and feedback. Have a great day.

X raps x-r8, poppers, KVD 1.0, finesse worms and I'm gonna try drop shotting tiny flukes and Shakey head craws season

1 hour ago, Drowning A Worm said:

X raps x-r8, poppers, KVD 1.0, finesse worms and I'm gonna try drop shotting tiny flukes and Shakey head craws season

Thanks for the input! Ill check out some of these for sure

I have been fishing the Tennessee River for nearly twenty years. The only lure I have ever used that has out-fished live bait is the Rage Tail Menace, T-rigged and weedless.

 

river fishing for smallies? hmmm

 

a bone colored small pop-r

white/chart manns classic spinnerbait 3/8 oz

1/8 oz aru patterned pins minnow

1/4 oz football jighead with a 4" smoke/silver flake grub

1/8 oz screwlock wormweight 1/0 gammie offset round bend hook with a black/chartruese tailed berkley power ringworm

 

sometimes I will switch the grub out for a green pumpkin yamamoto double tailed hula grub (is there anywhere that doesnt work?)

4" senko, x rap 8, 3" grub/jig head, tubes, pop x, ned rig.

Soft Plastic craws are number 1 where I fish . Tubes,  Hula Grubs ,  spinnerbaits , Beetle spins ,  Buzzbzits and poppers ,Jig head and grub  . 

6 hours ago, roadwarrior said:

I have been fishing the Tennessee River for nearly twenty years. The only lure I have ever used that has out-fished live bait is the Rage Tail Menace, T-rigged and weedless.

 

I have been fishing the Tennessee river for 30+ yrs....... and after reading what roadwarrior posted, I altered my work route slightly today and popped into a sporting goods store!!!!! Wouldn't you know  it, they were on clearance. Thanks for the advice! Hahaha

White Curly tail grubs kill everything in clear moving water.

Tight lines

Welcome to Bass Resource MCF!  There have already been lots of great river smallmouth baits mentioned and I use most of them.  (Strike King Menace Grub is definitely one of my go-to smallmouth river baits!!!!!!)

 

I'll add a 3"-5" soft paddletail swimbait.  And a rubber-skirted jig with craw trailer.

Rage Craw ,Rage Menace ,Fluke and a swimjig with a swim bait trailer.Welcome Aboard

Swimming Fluke Jr. and wacky 4" Senko type kept me in them last summer.

Make sure you have a Bomber, Strike King, Bandit and a Rapala version of a fire tiger crank. All time anywhere producer but I've gotten away from the color some the last few years. Lack of rain clears water up. That pushes me away from that color a bit. Gotta have it though. 

You'll go broke buying everything on this post by time it's over. Hope you have a big tackle box and a back strong enough to carry it. ?

We just talked about this also in a recent thread. A few nice Mepps or Rooster Tail spinners are a must have. #3's & 4's

Ned Rig.

Black and blue Bitsy Jig.

I'll throw a couple general items into the mix.  Spinnerbaits with white and/or chartreuse in 1/4 to 1/2 oz.  Also, shallow to medium diving crankbaits with chartreuse and craw patterns.

Somewhere in my limited traveling around back awhile ago I saw this Mepps with a double gold blade yellowish bead body with yellowish matching squirrel tail. Looked like a killer but I didn't pick it up. It was a 4 or 5. Wasn't trying to be cheap to not buy it. Just got side tracked and inline spinners are not on my mind that much. I'll see it again. It's a catcher, I felt it.

Where I river fish for smallies it's a "selective gear" fishery to protect the native redband trout. So single barbless hook, no bait (includes scented plastics). I've done well on inlines, float-n-fly, Mr Twister grubs on a 3/32 jighead. I've pinched the barbs down on a couple of Strike King Mini King's but have lost them both on the first cast stuck in the rocks. Also tried some cranks and poppers with a single hook but I haven't caught many like that. I really wish I could toss a 3 or 4" Senko in there.

Don't do a lot of smallie fishing unfortunately, but do fish for Guadalupe bass and they fish similarly. I throw small buzzbaits and Bomber Fat A's when the current is swift. Eakin's finesse jigs w/craws, baby boo jig w/plastic, Kalin grub, tube, Tiny Lucky 13 and Rapala, Rebel or Smithwick floating minnow (depending on size and rattles).

Haven't tried the swim jig or Ned rig for Guads, but looking forward to trying.

Poppers or tubes. They always catch fish!

Homemade Bucktail chartreuse w/ yellow saddle feather and a silicone ruby glitter skirt.

Homemade again, inline spinner #3 copper blade, brass body (1/4 oz) paint with flouresent red rings. Approximately 3.5" long.

Mainly used in the foot hills rivers of mountains or in the mountains rivers. 

Here's what to use, and how to use 'em!

 

Nice vid., over my 50+ years of fishing I agree with all in the video except for a few. The first is the clarity of the water controls color of a group of baits to use, sound is important also for muddy to stained waters. The second is I don't want to go where most can go. I want it to be a chore for most people to get to these areas. As all of us know the pressure on the fish is extreme. So I will do a little work to have a lot of fun. Normally it's well worth the effort. These are just my opinions.

 

Take care

I spend the majority of my time on a fairly small river fishing for smallies. About 75% of my fish come on a Green Pumpkin or Black (depends on water clarity) Ultra Vibe Speed Craw with a 3/16 ounce spot remover. The rest come on a variety of squarebills, ned rigs, topwaters, and spinnerbaits. After a redfishing trip I took a page from their book and started using a safety pin style spinnerbait with a 4" paddletail swimbait. River smallies are not really shy when it comes to eating. More about finding the right kind of water that will be holding them and putting it in front of them.