Search-Baits For Summer Smallies

[RangerDanger]

I still haven't done much with my spybait but I probably haven't given it a very fair shot either. 

Do it. I think you'll like it.

[Chris S]

Do it. I think you'll like it.

Ninja bait!! To bad you donated that one to Melvern a few weeks back!!  First time I looked at that bait I was like that's some Ninja looking shite right there and Adam went on a tear with it!  

[Bluebasser86]

Do it. I think you'll like it.

Tried it, they were much more interested in a squarebill. What setup are you fishing it on? I was using 5lb Maxima on a 7' 3" ML/F with just a steady retrieve. Caught a few but nothing outstanding. 

[*Hank]

Jerkbaits,spybaits,Crankbaits,Spinnerbaits all work for me.

[bigbill]

Joesfly 1/4oz bass spinfly size in firetiger apache. It's a blend of chartruese glo colors.

[RangerDanger]

Tried it, they were much more interested in a squarebill. What setup are you fishing it on? I was using 5lb Maxima on a 7' 3" ML/F with just a steady retrieve. Caught a few but nothing outstanding. 

6'10" ML/XF with 8lb Invisx.  I found the key to the bait is depth to run the bait.  I've been wondering if it would work this time of year, sounds like squarebill was a better option.

[BooyahMan]

Thanks again everyone for all your input. Just got back yesterday from a 2.5 day trip searching for Smallmouths and I'll be honest; even though I had a great time and the change of scenery was breathtaking, it was quite frustrating. Threw an assortment of stuff that included a bunch of crankbaits, spinnerbaits, texas rigged crawfish imitations and some jigs but the only thing that was consistently catching fish were the spinners that I had made, which was exactly the same as what I used last year. These spinners attract a lot of dinks so that's what we ended up catching most of the time. I was desperately looking for fish more than 12 inches long so I stuck to using the bigger lures while my girlfriend used my spinners. I struggled while she pulled in dinks left and right, although she was getting some action at least. On occasion she would see a much larger Smallie follow the spinner, and the real kicker was that she hooked the two biggest fish of our trip in spots I had just gone through with my other lures. The first one came on the first day when we were just scouting, but it shook the hook on a jump. Can't be certain but it looked to be in the 3lb range with a mouth and belly that looked more Largemouth-like than Smallie-like. She was pretty heart-broken when the spinner flew back at her after the fish went airborne, but she made up for it the next day by getting a slightly smaller one to the beach. We had never landed any Smallies over 12" up until this point so it was quite the achievement for us. On the last day I finished with my first fish EVER on a jig! Not a big at all (not even biggest of the trip) but I am ecstatic that I finally caught one. 

 

One thing I noticed that I should have noted last year was just how deep this lake is. Some of the spots dropped off into what seemed like 20 feet of water and I'm assuming a lot of my lures couldn't reach deep enough down to fish these locations effectively. All of the bigger fish we saw or hooked came shallow. I am also not used to fishing such deep water in lakes as my local bass lake is much shallower and weedier. As mentioned before I clued in after scouting it out and switched over to texas rigs and jigs but only got one fish from that. On one hand, I'm glad that a spinner that cost me maybe 20 cents to make was effective enough to get us some action, but on the other I was really hoping to find a more effective way to consistently find bigger fish. 

 

Anyways, here are a couple pics of the biggest fish of the trip that my girlfriend caught and a couple pics of my FIRST EVER jig fish!

 

She kept rubbing in the fact that she caught this behind me as well as losing an even bigger one in the same scenario!

 

Here's a good photo of the dink-slaying spinner!

 

First jig fish...EVER!

 

Close up of first jig fish...ever!

[Turkey sandwich]

Great color on those fish! And cheers on your first jig fish. Once you get better with it and start building confidence, you'll want to throw the, everywhere.

A tip on following fish, and a short story...

So, it's common to hear about throwing something different immediately after missing a fish - especially with topwater. Typically, it's something like a fluke, Sluggo, jerk bait, etc. When it comes to smallmouth, grubs just catch fish. Because of this, I'll keep a grub rigged on a light (no more than 1/8oz, but typically 1/16 oz-1/32) jighead tied on to an ultra light Rod with 6lb line (so I can cast the small jighead any distance I need to accurately). This is great for both, missed fish and follows that don't produce a bite. The way I rationalize it, if the fish is spending the energy chasing something (especially a reaction bait) and they come away with nothing, they're likely upset/missed opportunity/already in feeding mode and anything that presents itself immediately after (should be something that can subtly "die" or swim slowly "injured") is likely to immediately bcome the victim.

Flash back to last weekend on the river... My buddy and I are both throwing reaction baits (lipless cranks, I believe) and I'd noticed I had 3 fish following a retrieve. I let the lipless crank fall, set the hook and handed the Rod off to Dave, and then immediately dropped the grub on the other two trailing smallies, landing a 12"er. I went on to drop the grub after Dave's next two casts and boated 2 more smallies.

As it drops on light weight, it just looks like a bait fish that's not swimming worth a d**n and makes an easy target for a frustrated bass. Also, if you hook a decent smallmouth on an ultra light with 4-6lb line (especially in current), you've got a battle on your hands, and the art of playing the fish really comes into play.

[BooyahMan]

Thanks Turkey Sandwich for the tips and personal experience! What size grub do you use if you don't mind me asking? I did try a 2"-3" grub (can't remember which) on a 1/8oz jighead but just got sunfish nibbling at it. Looks like I'll have to be more diligent following up on followers...no pun intended.

I really wish I lived closer to a Smallmouth fishery as I truly enjoy hunting for them more than I enjoy hunting for their green cousins.

[Turkey sandwich]

Thanks Turkey Sandwich for the tips and personal experience! What size grub do you use if you don't mind me asking? I did try a 2"-3" grub (can't remember which) on a 1/8oz jighead but just got sunfish nibbling at it. Looks like I'll have to be more diligent following up on followers...no pun intended.

I really wish I lived closer to a Smallmouth fishery as I truly enjoy hunting for them more than I enjoy hunting for their green cousins.

They're a lot of fun, man!

As for size, I'll go from 2.5"-4" depending upon their activity and what they're feeding on. Worst case, a 3" grub in a color like pumpkin/chartreuse looks a lot like a wide variety of fry they'll be seeing all summer. It could look like everything from bluegill, to perch, to walleye, to smallmouth and a super easy meal after "striking out" on whatever they just missed. Colors to carry are just your standards: white, pumpkin, chartreuse, watermelon, etc. with follow up baits it really doesn't have to an exact match (the way it may be with matching crayfish colors) so long as it's right in front of hek and close enough. I suppose you could also fish them the same way with a drop shot, but the light jighead is much simpler and a lot of fun on a tiny rod with light line.

[Turkey sandwich]

This has been a really productive river technique for me for a long time (the light jig makes the grub look like it's struggling to even fight the current on the fall because 1/16 or 1/32 isn't going to be enough weight to get it down) and it looks like a weak baitfish "exposed" to current.

In a lake, I'd assume the same thing would have to work pretty well, too.

As for the panfish, if you follow up with it after the missed strike/follow, I would think the irritated bass would out out compete any bluegill or crappie for the grub. And remember - you're sight fishing with the follow up, so you decide what you're dropping it in front of. That's how it's always worked for me.

[BooyahMan]

Thanks again for the info! Already looking forward to getting an opportunity to chase Smallies again next year.

[SirSnookalot]

If you're like most people you want a strike on every cast, regardless of the lure tied on, I'd say you would be searching with any lure.   Search generally refers to covering a lot of water, spoon would be my first choice, my preference, a gold hammered redfish key spoon 1/4 oz.

[BooyahMan]

If you're like most people you want a strike on every cast, regardless of the lure tied on, I'd say you would be searching with any lure.   Search generally refers to covering a lot of water, spoon would be my first choice, my preference, a gold hammered redfish key spoon 1/4 oz.

 Interesting! I personally have had very little success with spoons for pretty much any type of gamefish although my friends do slay trout and salmon on them. There are a couple of Gibbs Croc spoons in 1/8 and 1/4 oz in my my tackle box so I will definitely add them to the list of things to flog the water with. Thanks!

[MidwestF1sh]

Earlier this summer I was catching 20" small mouth left and right on 3.5" tubes with a quarter ounce tube hook. You can fish those somewhat fast and you can really get em fired up.

[Neil McCauley]

Thanks again everyone for all your input. Just got back yesterday from a 2.5 day trip searching for Smallmouths and I'll be honest; even though I had a great time and the change of scenery was breathtaking, it was quite frustrating. Threw an assortment of stuff that included a bunch of crankbaits, spinnerbaits, texas rigged crawfish imitations and some jigs but the only thing that was consistently catching fish were the spinners that I had made, which was exactly the same as what I used last year. These spinners attract a lot of dinks so that's what we ended up catching most of the time. I was desperately looking for fish more than 12 inches long so I stuck to using the bigger lures while my girlfriend used my spinners. I struggled while she pulled in dinks left and right, although she was getting some action at least. On occasion she would see a much larger Smallie follow the spinner, and the real kicker was that she hooked the two biggest fish of our trip in spots I had just gone through with my other lures. The first one came on the first day when we were just scouting, but it shook the hook on a jump. Can't be certain but it looked to be in the 3lb range with a mouth and belly that looked more Largemouth-like than Smallie-like. She was pretty heart-broken when the spinner flew back at her after the fish went airborne, but she made up for it the next day by getting a slightly smaller one to the beach. We had never landed any Smallies over 12" up until this point so it was quite the achievement for us. On the last day I finished with my first fish EVER on a jig! Not a big at all (not even biggest of the trip) but I am ecstatic that I finally caught one. 

 

One thing I noticed that I should have noted last year was just how deep this lake is. Some of the spots dropped off into what seemed like 20 feet of water and I'm assuming a lot of my lures couldn't reach deep enough down to fish these locations effectively. All of the bigger fish we saw or hooked came shallow. I am also not used to fishing such deep water in lakes as my local bass lake is much shallower and weedier. As mentioned before I clued in after scouting it out and switched over to texas rigs and jigs but only got one fish from that. On one hand, I'm glad that a spinner that cost me maybe 20 cents to make was effective enough to get us some action, but on the other I was really hoping to find a more effective way to consistently find bigger fish. 

 

Anyways, here are a couple pics of the biggest fish of the trip that my girlfriend caught and a couple pics of my FIRST EVER jig fish!

 

She kept rubbing in the fact that she caught this behind me as well as losing an even bigger one in the same scenario!

 

Here's a good photo of the dink-slaying spinner!

 

First jig fish...EVER!

 

Close up of first jig fish...ever!

If you are catching dinks, you are too shallow. Not in depth of water per se but in your presentations. The adult SMB may be 30 feet below the surface in 35 fow, or 30 feet below the surface in 70 fow. Either way, they are 30' below the surface and your gear is only reaching 20'.

Were you casting, primarily? A problem with casting is the lure, whether a spinner or a crankbait, only spends a brief portion of the retrieve at the target depth. Maybe 25% of the cast distance at most, the rest is spent diving/sinking down to the target depth or being pulled back up to your rod. Jigs are an OK solution- they drop to depth quickly and then you can keep them at depth essentially until they're underneath you, 100% of the distance. LONG-casted (60+ yards) crank baits are another option but then you need soft low test monofilament line, while fluorocarbon is far better for detecting crankbait strikes. My preference is just trolling- lure stays at the target depth constantly, you don't need to cast far, can use FC, and you can cover a ton of area.

Crankbaits are still the ultimate search bait imo, but the caveat is that if the fish are beyond 15' deep you have to troll them to keep them in the target depth long enough.