I am interested in starting to target smallmouth this spring. I am in central Maine and will mostly be fishing small rivers and streams, with the occasional pond thrown in. I don't have a boat so am limited to fishing from shore. I would like to get a basic variety of baits/lures to cover the scenarios I am likely to run into. Right now I have a L 7.5' Fenwick HMG paired with a 30 size President.

 

I am new to bass fishing in general and am a little overwhelmed when it comes to baits and the variety of ways they can be rigged. I've read about Ned rigs, drop shots, wacky rigs, etc., but a little unclear on exactly what types and sizes of terminal tackle I need for each rig.

 

Any help would be appreciated!

I'd start with a senko, there are about unlimited ways to fish it and it's probably accounted for more fish than any other lure since it came to the market, lots of affordable alternatives if the Yamamoto versions are too proud for your budget, I would probably start weightless, or if that's not doing it a Texas rig is an essential skill in bass fishing, so pick up some 1/4 and 3/8oz bullet sinkers, and some 4/0 worm hooks, I'd keep it pretty simple for color too, bag of green pumpkin or watermelon, and a bag of black and blue, or just black really, by sticking with just one presentation you'll take some skunks, but it'll give you an idea of when/where it works which is very helpful longterm. 

River smallies you say? Go to www.tacklehd.com and look at the HD Swimmers and HD Craws. I love them both for bass of all kinds. 

On small rivers and streams, especially in clear water, I like to keep it kind of quiet. It's hard to beat a floating Rapala or a pop-r. Maybe a small really shallow running crank bait like a rebel craw. 

 

A simple grub or other small plastic on a lead ball head can be good.

 

As mentioned above, weightless plastics are another good option.

Wacky-rigged 4" senko style worms.

Black buzzbait.

White flukes.

White spinnerbait.

Craw-colored cranks.

1/8-3/8oz chatterbaits.

 

Adjust to water clarity.  White is never a bad choice, but I always bring green-pumpkins, and some black/blue if the water is dirty. 

Tubes and grubs 

Senko, tube, and popper should keep you busy if you want to keep it simple. Wacky rig the senko and throw up stream and let it float down stream. I love green pumpkin as an all around but another color/bait I’ve found to work very well is the zman zinkerz (senko style bait) in the hot craw color

Thank you everyone for the responses - they are super helpful. As far as terminal tackle, so far I have 4/0 worm hooks, ball jig heads, and 3/8 and 1/4 worm weights. Are there any other essential hooks, sinkers, or rigs that I am missing?

1 hour ago, NateTP38 said:

Thank you everyone for the responses - they are super helpful. As far as terminal tackle, so far I have 4/0 worm hooks, ball jig heads, and 3/8 and 1/4 worm weights. Are there any other essential hooks, sinkers, or rigs that I am missing?

Jerkbait/fluke.

Yum Crawbugs were mainstays back when I used to fish rivers for smallies.  I just dragged them on the bottom.  I would always have a 3"-4" swimbaits on a ballhead jig tied on as well.  

Flukes have been mentioned.  They are great on river smallies.  Fish them weightless, let them float down a little , then jerk, wait, repeat.  It's not unusual to see the wake from an attacking fish.  White has been recommended, a good clear water choice.  Bubble gum and Tennessee shad are good, too.  Use a size 3/0 EWG worm hook, hook through nose then up through body with the hook just sticking out the back.  Get it in there evenly so the action will be good without going too far sideways or spinning.

 

Wacky rig Senkos or equivalent are hard to beat, too.

 

If I wanted to limit my carry to just a few I think it would be Senko/Fluke/small in-line spinner.

2 hours ago, NateTP38 said:

Thank you everyone for the responses - they are super helpful. As far as terminal tackle, so far I have 4/0 worm hooks, ball jig heads, and 3/8 and 1/4 worm weights. Are there any other essential hooks, sinkers, or rigs that I am missing?

The basic idea with hooks is going to be whatever presentation your including on it, if you take an offset round bend and try to rig a vilebug, there's a greater chance of the plastic not collapsing and giving you enough of a gap to get the point in his mouth, conversely, all things being equal if you can get your hook gap right your hookup ratio on hooks that have a less pronounced offset between the hook eye and the hookpoint will be higher, so if the gap is right, I prefer to use a round bend if I can get away with it, there are plenty of exceptions to this, but it's a major source of frustration for a lot of new anglers I have dealt with not sure which hooks do what, so keeping some basic philosophy about hooks can be helpful, don't worry about all the crazy hook styles out there, learn worm hooks and then move on from there, circle hooks, siwash, o'shaughnessy etc can come into play later, but a sound foundation and developing a couple of presentations your confident in tying and using is crucial in the early days, so try to keep things reasonably limited and it will pay dividends later as you add things to your arsenal, you'll start to see WHY this lure/rig is more suitable than another, and exactly where a thing fits into your tackle selection.

9 hours ago, MGF said:

It's hard to beat a floating Rapala or a pop-r

 

My go to is a Storm Subwart in a smaller river sized I fish.  Its extremely effective.

 

I keep this lure slinging towards "fishy" looking locations and when they swipe at it and miss, I cast right back there with a different, slower lure like a small senko, TRD, or a tube.  Works almost every time.

 

Its easy to toss right back at the fish that missed it with the same lure, but its more effective to put that down and throw back with something else.

This is my #1 and will be yours, too!

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Strike_King_Rage_Twin_Tail_Menace_Grub_8pk/descpage-SKRTTMG.html

 

Start with Smokey Shad. 

You will need a pack of 3/0 Gamakatsu EWG hooks and 1/4oz bullet weights.

3 hours ago, Junk Fisherman said:

Yum Crawbugs were mainstays back when I used to fish rivers for smallies.  I just dragged them on the bottom.  I would always have a 3"-4" swimbaits on a ballhead jig tied on as well.  

Did you use a bullet weight or a jig?

14 hours ago, MGF said:

Did you use a bullet weight or a jig?

I used a T-rigged 1/0 hook with a bullet weight but I think if I was fishing it now I would use a small football head jig.  

Inline spinner.  Mepps or Vibrax #3  

floating Rapala 

Rebel Craw

1/4 oz hair jig

Hula grub

 

Your biggest limitation is going to be trying to get smallies from small rivers and streams from shore. Covering as much water as you can is important. You don’t necessarily need a boat, but at least consider getting in the water and wading. River banks are usually covered with bushes and trees that block you from getting near the water. Sooo much easier to cast and get your bait where you need it from the water. Which baits you use don’t matter as much as you might think. Throw almost anything in the right spot and you will have success. Just use as light a weight as you can. If you are dragging the bottom, be prepared to snag a lot. While wading, it is much easier to wade over and get your lure back than trying to free snags from shore. 

This will get you started...

Tiny torpido

buzz bait

devil horse

wacky

tube

skinny dipper

jerk bait

crank bait

spinner bait

I generally stay away from treble hooks in the creeks and streams I fish.

This may not be good advise for anyone else but my water has alot of branches and weeds and treble hooks get caught up too often.

If i have dragged a jig through an area enough times I will tie on a crankbait but if I can make a similar presentation with a single hook thats probably what I'm going to tie on.

 

With that said I really enjoy throwing a rattling squarebill or a Rebel wee craw.

I catch creek smallmouth on lil craws like this. This one is a Tackle Hd, I took orange garlic spike it pen to the claws. It looks to be a winner once the conditions get right. Zman crawz have caught too many to count for me. 

Rage Tail Baby Craw, T-rigged.

Get a couple crankbaits that run different depths. This way you can fish near the bottom, mid water, and near the surface. Crankbaits are easy to fish and one of the best lures you can use for river bass fishing.

On 3/4/2021 at 4:30 AM, MGF said:

A simple grub or other small plastic on a lead ball head can be good.

This is what I use for smallmouths in a cold, clear river in eastern Ontario.

 

I brought a tackle store worth of gear and yet I never had a reason to stop fishing this:

 

Zman ned rig jig (finesse shroomz)

Yum grub 3" in white and in green pumpkin

 

Both can be found in the US at Walmart for $1.5 for a pack of grubs and about $4.50 for the jigs.

You can use a simple ball head too, and arguably that is better than the shroomz head.

 

You can cast even in shallow streams and keep your rod tip high enough that you rarely get snagged.

 

If you lower your rod for a minute and stop reeling, the action of the grub tail keeps their attention.

 

This has been a consistent producer for me.

 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, Smells like fish said:

I catch creek smallmouth on lil craws like this. This one is a Tackle Hd, I took orange garlic spike it pen to the claws. It looks to be a winner once the conditions get right. Zman crawz have caught too many to count for me. 

That thing looks like you just picked up a rock and grabbed it! Very nice.