I'm catching more smallmouth as I fish off-shore more and I think they also like my weightless soft plastic lures. Here are two from this morning:

Smallies are a blast. You’re lucky to have both in your pond(s). Around here I have to go wading in creeks and rivers to find them!

On 7/14/2026 at 12:03 PM, bp_fowler said:

Smallies are a blast. You’re lucky to have both in your pond(s). Around here I have to go wading in creeks and rivers to find them!

They are fun. I know that bass anglers who boat both brown and green fish commonly say that smallmouth are better fighters. Having caught thousands of each, I disagree. I think they fight differently. Hooking an lmb is like hooking a three-quarter ton pickup. Lots of low end torque for pulling power. Hooking a smallie is like hooking a mid-engine vette. Lots of high end rpms and the ability to corner like it's on rails.

Different.

Both fun.

And they go airborne more often too! All this smallie talk is getting me pumped for my Huron trip.

Are the off shore areas you’re fishing more rocky/hard bottom? Or is it more weedy cover there?

In my opinion, Smallmouth in medium to fast moving current are lean fighting machines when compared to the footballs coming out of mostly still waters. I love them both, but pound for pound the ones from current are longer, slimmer, and meaner.

1 hour ago, bp_fowler said:

Are the off shore areas you’re fishing more rocky/hard bottom? Or is it more weedy cover there?

Sometimes they relate to rocky shores and I also catch them on a rocky flat, but I strangely find them in the weeds too, feeding alongside lmb.

1 hour ago, Tackleholic said:

I love them both, but pound for pound the ones from current are longer, slimmer, and meaner.

Agree. I use to live on the Wisconsin River and I fished for them every morning. They were slim and powerful.

Here's another off-shore smallie that I caught this evening:

9 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

Sometimes they relate to rocky shores and I also catch them on a rocky flat, but I strangely find them in the weeds too, feeding alongside lmb.

I previously associated smallies primarily with rocky habitats, like the bluff banks on Lake Huron. Surprisingly, I caught a large number of smallmouth on weed flats there during the summer.

1 hour ago, bp_fowler said:

I previously associated smallies primarily with rocky habitats, like the bluff banks on Lake Huron. Surprisingly, I caught a large number of smallmouth on weed flats there during the summer.

Yeah, they like weeds too!

I got quite a few throwing a frog on / around grass and lily pads this past weekend. My first time using a frog for smallies and it was a blast.

@Standard what size frog did you use?

1 hour ago, bp_fowler said:

@Standard what size frog did you use?

Hmm... a frog sized frog?

I honestly don't know exactly what size they were, I just remembered I had a few kicking around in one of my tackle boxes. I think around the 2.5" mark.

1 hour ago, Standard said:

Hmm... a frog sized frog?

I honestly don't know exactly what size they were, I just remembered I had a few kicking around in one of my tackle boxes. I think around the 2.5" mark.

Interesting. I had been wondering if they would hit frogs. Now I know.