Must Have Smallmouth Lures?

[Creekcrappie]

I am completely new to smallmouth, I have never fished for them in my life. I want to go to Center Hill or Dale Hollow sometime to fish for them. What would be some must have lures for them? I have a spinning rod with 8 lb pline on it, I am guessing I will fish with that mostly.

[EvanT123]

You can catch smallies on the same lures you use for large mouth. A few things I never leave home without when targeting smallmouth; tubes, grubs, flukes, senkos, and spinnerbait.

[NorcalBassin]

Tubes and grubs work pretty much all year long. Get some 1/8 oz and 1/4 oz tube jig heads and darterheads and you're good to go with that spinning set up.

[swagkid300]

senko's!!!!! wacky rig em, texas rig em, so many rigs you can try with the senko!!

[zewski]

My most productive lure to find smallies is the Rat-L-Trap, they just can't resist it, but remember use it to find fish and then slow down using senkos, tubes...

[tholmes]

1/8 - 1/4 oz. bucktail jigs.

 

Tom

[RandySBreth]

Don't forget 4" and 5" grubs with jig heads from 1/16 up to 5/16 or so.. I like watermelon/red or pumpkin/purple for swimming close to the bottom and pearl or smoke for swimming up high like a shad.

[Mainebass1984]

Live Target crawfish brown/orange 6-8ft diver square bill. Most effective smallmouth crankbait I have found.

[Dylan L]

I use small crankbaits and tubes. A good crankbait color is shad or bluegill and a good tube color is green pumpkin. Also, never leave home without a pack of rage craws!

[webertime]

Bone with Orange Belly Spook (big one)

Zoom Speed Craw (on jig head or C-Rig)

Lucky Craft Pointer 100SP in Chartruese Shad

Fat Ika or Keitech Salty Core Tube on a 4/0 EWG hook.

[AssassinAngling]

Any thing with a hula skirt seems to do the trick. Cranks and spinners also produce quite nicely. 

[bostonsox2904]

Jointed Rapala and Tubes/Senkos for river smallies. Fish soft plastic with the current and the jointed rapala slowly against/diagonally

[tytay89]

110 style jerkbaits....

[Ratherbfishing]

My most productive lure to find smallies is the Rat-L-Trap, they just can't resist it, but remember use it to find fish and then slow down using senkos, tubes...

 

Agreed.  Rat-L-Traps are excellent search baits.  Don't be afraid to go LARGE either.  If the fish are cooperative, you may not even need to slow down.

[fishguy613]

tubes, grubs, soft craws, crankbait, lipless cranks, yum dingers, spinnerbait,

im going to try shakey head jigs for the first time soon, well see if they like it

[29JMP29]

I'd go with anything that you normally finesse fish with. 90% of the time im throwing a shaky head, dropshot, or tube for smallmouth, other 10% is spinnerbaits, cranks, and jigs

[Bluebasser86]

Slender Pointer 97MR in gunmetal shad

KVD 1.0 in silver sexy shad

Xcaliber XR50 in ghost

Keitech swing impact in black shad

Super Spook Jr in bone

Zman Zinker in pumpkin/chartreuse 

[Flippin N Rippin]

I have had great success with using Strike King Plastics. Mostly the coffee tubes. With and 1/8 or 1/4 tube jig head. I have caught 1211 bass over the last summer and I can honestly say that 3/4 of them were on Strike King plastics. 

[5fishlimit]

You may get laughed or poked fun at, but don't overlook the color pink for smallies. You can call it bubblegum if I makes you feel more secure in your manhood.

If I know my fishing waters that have smallmouth I always bring tubes, flukes, and worms in pink. I'd bring pink grubs, too, if I could find them.

[Crestliner2008]

Over the years I've probably caught more smallies on a 1/8 oz. jig head dressed with a 3" curly tailed grub than everything else in my tackle bag. Lately, the Senko and drop shot has had equal share.

[roadwarrior]

#1 is the Rage Tail Baby Craw, T-rigged.

 

If you are fishing in water that is less than 10' deep,

give the Fat Ika a try, weightless.

[moguy1973]

Rage Rigged craws, tubes, skirted twin tailed grubs (anything that mimic's crawfish).   Weightless flukes, jerk baits.  Those have been my best bets...

[Tom 513]

Well, I was waiting for what Moguy said, (anything that mimic's a crawfish) or as we call them crawdad, allthough I have read that in the late Fall a smallie will seek forage that suppys more fat content like minnows. I have good luck with plastics, Rage Craws, small tubes in Pumpkin green and Rootbeer color. I plan on trying more jigs this coming year, and also senco worms, but for now my go to smallie lure is a 2 3/4" Pumpkin green tube weighted according to the flow of water that day. Also I would suggest any of Tim Holschag's books, I am reading His newest one right now River Smallmouth fishing, and its killing me not being able to fish (5"of snow now)

[Nick]

Creek Crappie,

The Center Hill and Dale Hollow smallmouth wuld be somewhat more specialized and somewhat different quarry than a Great Lakes, Missouri Ozarks streams,  or New York smallie for several reasons that we need not go into.   Fishing these Tennessee impoundments is best mostly at night except in March-April during the spawn and in winter with the floatin fly daylight hours work. These lakes really demand finesse approaches most of the time during the day with lighter lines, smaller lures, and often deeper presentations. I would rate these lakes quite difficult for beginners, so if you live near a stream or creek that has smallies, you will be able to be much more successful in a much shorter amount of time.

 

 These large impoundments  will demand that you have a solid boat with good electronics and a decent knowledge of structural elements, food sources, and current that will help position these fish. Only during the spawn can you fish successfully by hugging the banks, so the other 49 weeks of the year, it can get a little daunting for a beginner.

 

Creek and stream smallies, by their aggressive nature, can be had just about any time by anyone who can cast small lures decently along the banks. Not saying this is always the best way to catch loads of big smallies, but you will have success fishing for them if the water supports a decent population., and you give a solid daylong effort. You often need just a canoe, kayak or just go wading, and these fish are not usually finicky. A few four inch green pumpkin worms, small crayfish cranks, a small white or chartreuse spinnerbait will work nearly 100% of the time fished on 6 or 8 lb. line unless you encounter high muddy water.  If that is the case just wait a couple of days for the water to gets back into fishing shape, (clears up a little.)

 

So if I were you, I would start a serious campaign of gathering info on running water smallies near you for best results and forget the big lakes for now.

[Nick]

Creek Crappie,

The Center Hill and Dale Hollow smallmouth wuld be somewhat more specialized and somewhat different quarry than a Great Lakes, Missouri Ozarks streams,  or New York smallie for several reasons that we need not go into.   Fishing these Tennessee impoundments is best mostly at night except in March-April during the spawn and in winter with the floatin fly daylight hours work. These lakes really demand finesse approaches most of the time during the day with lighter lines, smaller lures, and often deeper presentations. I would rate these lakes quite difficult for beginners, so if you live near a stream or creek that has smallies, you will be able to be much more successful in a much shorter amount of time.

 

 These large impoundments  will demand that you have a solid boat with good electronics and a decent knowledge of structural elements, food sources, and current that will help position these fish. Only during the spawn can you fish successfully by hugging the banks, so the other 49 weeks of the year, it can get a little daunting for a beginner.

 

Creek and stream smallies, by their aggressive nature, can be had just about any time by anyone who can cast small lures decently along the banks. Not saying this is always the best way to catch loads of big smallies, but you will have success fishing for them if the water supports a decent population., and you give a solid daylong effort. You often need just a canoe, kayak or just go wading, and these fish are not usually finicky. A few four inch green pumpkin worms, small crayfish cranks, a small white or chartreuse spinnerbait will work nearly 100% of the time fished on 6 or 8 lb. line unless you encounter high muddy water.  If that is the case just wait a couple of days for the water to gets back into fishing shape, (clears up a little.)

 

So if I were you, I would start a serious campaign of gathering info on running water smallies near you for best results and forget the big lakes for now.