Hello all, this is my first time in this forum... It is great!  I was hoping to get an education on small mouth tactics, I am fishing in a crystal clear lake, with a high population of herring.  Any lure suggestions?  Also, since the people at Berkley decided to discontinue the production of Ironsilk, I am looking for new line, if you have a suggestion on that I would appreciate it.  Thanks a lot.

Welcome aboard!

We have a couple of threads running on the first page of this section addressing lures and in the "Rods, Reels, Line..." forum on "Best Lines" or "favorite line." So, look around the site a little and I think you'll find quite a few threads addressing these topics.

But since you ask:

Lures/ baits: Jerkbaits & topwater in low light, single-tail grubs, Hula Grubs, Fat Ika and 3 1/2" tubes are a few suggestions. If you fish deep structure, try a  3/4 oz Ledgebuster Single Willow Blade spinnerbait.

Line: Everyone has their favorite. My suggestion is generally #6 Yo-Zuri Hybrid Ultra Soft for spinning tackle, but in ultra clear water I fish #4 (8.5 lb test) original formula Hybrid.

I'm not very experienced, but by far my most successfull bait is slug-go's.  Single tail 3-4" grubs do well for me, too.  I live on a smallie pond, so my situation might be a little different, but if you findlily pads, they are perfect spots for smallies.  Tiny Torpedoes and hula poppers also trigger the smallies here.

I use Trilene 10 lb test because I can't stand losing lures and smallies seem more aggressive than attemptive.

Hope I helped and good luck!

THis is my first season targetting smallies in fairly clear water and I have been doing very well with the drop shot technique.

Line: 6# Fluorocarbon, SeaGuar Invizx

Baits: Roboworms and Sniper Snubs.

The fc line should serve you well in that clear water.

I fish for smallies in what I consider to be very clear water (12-20' visibility) and here's what I use:

Lures:  4" tubes in black w/red flake or smoke w/purple&blue flake, XR10 X-Raps in perch or rainbow trout pattern (rip 'em hard), 4" grubs in black or smoke w/silver flake (herring-like?).  I use the bigger baits because I'm not interested in the smaller fish, even though I do catch a few of them anyway.

Line: 8-12 lb test Mustad UL MAX in the dark green on soft baits, and clear on X-Raps.

Hope this helps you.

Chad