I am going up to my cottage on lake ontario and am going to be fishing about 12-15 feet of water over a rocky bottom. What do you guys suggest is the idea rig and bait to use in this situation. Thanks!

Don't limit yourself to just fishing that deep water.Fish early and late .Always start off with a buzzbait,fish boulders and rockpiles right from the bank and bye the drop.Then I'd throw a spinnerbait till my arm fell off.If the fish are chasing and are on the feed there's no need to throw plastic.By throwing the spinnerbait the fish you catch are going to be the aggressive big fish..And for the days that your going have to work them some,nothing beats plastics.......

TUBES! TUBES! TUBES! Throughout the day! Still and prob will always be my goto smallmouth bait. JIghead or T-Rig witch ever you prefer will definatley put fish in the boat. the lighter the weight you can get away with the better. But whatever you decide hope you rip some lips.

TUBES! TUBES! TUBES! Throughout the day! Still and prob will always be my goto smallmouth bait. JIghead or T-Rig witch ever you prefer will definatley put fish in the boat. the lighter the weight you can get away with the better. But whatever you decide hope you rip some lips.

Look through this section for more suggestions, but you will see that tubes are #1 on everyone's list.

Here is something I posted on another thread:

Fish structure, not cover.

Lure/ bait suggestions:

Fat Ika; GYCB 5" Single Tail Grub (clear with silver flakes

and/or smoke); GYCB Hula Grub; 3 1/2" tube; Rapala X-Rap,

Husky Jerk or LC Pointer 100; 3/4 oz. Ledgebuster Single

Willow Blade Spinnerbait; Zara Spook or LC Sammy.

If you decide to fish live bait, shiners on a split shot rig rule!

I recommend using #6 Gamakatsu Octopus Circle Hooks,

light line on spinning equipment, and a reel with a drag you

can trust.

8-)

roadwarrior's advice is very sound. lots of good lure choices there and tubes are always number one for someone's smallie lure list. it just represents so many things based on how you fish and rig it. the subtle changed from rigging it differently can make all the difference. I'd bring a few different tube choices - color and size. standard sizes might be 2.5-4 inchers. don't just fish a couple colors and toss it, though. a lot of time if you work an area quickly with a tube rigged in a few different methods you'll see different results. it matters much more than color.

the most important thing he told you would be "fish structure, not cover". very important to understand this, imo. g'luck!

taking rws advice remember swim the grub do not fish it like a tube or a jig

also swimbaits work

smallmouths have bigger mouths then people think