Anyone use these techniques? I would think they would do well? I am tempted to try some now that we are in the fall. Any recommendations?

A finesse swimbait is one of my river smallmouth staples. I like the River Rock Custom Baits RR Striker, 3.75", that bait is similar to a Keitech Easy Shiner.  My second favorite is the Keitech Swing Impact Fat 3.8, it is a similar size but the action is a little different. The River Rock bait is better in cold water and when the fish aren't in full chase mode as the bait has a wider tail kick with a good amount of body roll. The Keitech has less of a tail swing but it is much faster with less body roll, that is perfect for fishing fast and getting reaction strikes. 

I use swimbaits all the time for river smallmouth here in SC. My favorite is a Strike King 3.5" Shadalicious in Green Gizzard rigged on a Gamakatsu 3/0 1/8oz weighted swimbait hook.

 

In the picture, you can see the swimbait I referred to hanging out a 18" smallmouth's mouth, along with a real 4" shad hanging out of its mouth and, if you look closely, you'll see the head of ANOTHER 4" shad back in its mouth/throat. So yeah, swimbaits work. Lol!

Finesse swimbait, isn’t that an oxymoron? I definitely use a lot of small paddle tail shads, usually a hand poured 2.5 inch pearl one or the old sassy shad type paddle tails . Creme braid has been working good as of late 

A finesse jig and a small paddletail (on a jighead) are the two baits I fish the most for river smallmouth. Keitech Swing Impact FAT (3.3"), Keitech Swing Impact (3.5" and 4"), Strike King Rage Swimmer (3.25"), BPS Speed Shad (3"). 

 

4” Easy Shiner on a sled/draggin head.  So far this year it’s maybe my

second most productive presentation overall and the most productive by far for smallies.  

Been doing good in the river with Rage swimmer t rigged. It seems to get hung a lot less then with a jig head or wobble head.

I use swim baits similar to the one in fishwizzards pic all the time. They work well for smallies and LM. They work for walleye, pike, and muskie too.

On 8/28/2019 at 9:33 PM, TnRiver46 said:

Finesse swimbait, isn’t that an oxymoron?

That’s what I was thinking. 

 

I guess the the closest I came to a finesse swimbait is a Berkley Havoc beat Shad on a small jighead. It works but I catch more Smallmouth slow retrieving a Ned Rigged TRD 

Finesse Swimbait to me is the (Black) Marabou jig.  Hard to beat when the water is cold and the fish sluggish or super heavy pressured.