I have recently started to become interested in smallmouth fishing and am enjoying it a lot. I live in east tennessee and fish in a river where there seem to be good numbers of fish. i was just wondering if i could get some pointers on fishing for smallmouth bass and what types of baits i should use etc. all help is greatly appreciated

Check out the smallmouth section of the forum, there should some good advice there.

Set yourself up with medium action, 6 1/2' - 7' spinning rod and a 1500 series reel, to balance it. Load it with 6# test fluorocarbon line on the primary spool (best for any sub-surface presentations) and 6# test mono on the other (for top waters).

Get a bunch of 3" curly tailed grubs (various colors, but make sure you have smoke, white and motor oil), along with several dozen 1/8 oz. ball head jigs and you're golden. For on/off bottom retrieves, rig the tails to oppose the curve of the hook; for more horizontal retrieves, rig the tails to follow the curve of the hook.

You can augment these jigs with tubes, hard jerkbaits and a popper or two. You'll have more than enough to get you into a lot of smallies! And do NOT forget to bring along a bag of Senkos!  

Welcome aboard!

Grubs, tubes and jerkbaits are always possibilities.

8-)

Thanks guys, and like i said all help is appreciated, looks like im heading out to the river for a couple of hours tomorrow and we'll see how that goes, ill be sure to let you know how it goes.  

I have had the most luck for smallies with grubs but alot of people swear by tubes and have good success with them.

No luck today, it was rainy the whole time and i was throwing a spinnerbait that i was told would yield good success by a guy i know that catches some smallmouth. i saw a few fish jumping and actually saw one swim past my lure as i was about to pull it out of the water, oh well, we'll get em soon.

Remember, if you see them....they've seen you. No way it's going to take your offering at that point. Mark the location. Use extreme stealth in re-approaching that spot, a couple of hours later. Then present a wacky rigged Senko. You'll get bit.

I caught two today on a panther martin spinner, pretty good sized fish. i look forward to getting back at it tomorrow