Something I noticed after my first year fishing for smallies

[Buzzbaiter]

I was reflecting on the summer and all of the things I learned fishing for smallmouth in creeks and rivers. One of the things that just occurred to me was that some presentations did very well in some bodies of water, but wouldn’t get touched in another. Does anybody have a similar experience? Maybe I just need more time to figure out these creeks, but the fish seemed pretty selective about what they wanted. 

[cyclops2]

Great observation about eating out.   They are like people that way.  They eat what is always available  from a infant to adult hood.  I have the same setup in my local bay. Go to a different area. Different  types catch more.

[Finessegenics]

I’ve noticed something different but your post made me think of it. It seems like every season there is a bait which is “hot” for a specific lake/river but wasn’t a producer for me the prior season and the “hot” baits of the prior season sort of fade off. 
 

Example, last year a weightless stick worm in 5” or 6” was incredible for me. This year, not so much, I don’t think I caught more than 3-4 on a weightless stick bait, in the exact same spots. 
 

Same spots as the stick worms, I tried and tried with spinnerbaits last year and nada. This year, the spinnerbait was my hottest bait of course all in these same spots. 
 

So I do believe that bass can be selective but after all they are opportunistic. They don’t think like us so it’s hard to say what makes them prefer one thing over another. I think angling pressure contributes to this but the river I fish does not have a lot of bass anglers, most just casual fisherman soaking night crawlers. Sorry if that was a little off topic but I thought it related to smallmouth being picky. 

 

[cyclops2]

Spot on.

 

Lures HURT MY MOUTH !!!!!!!!!!!

 

I remember what they look like & how they sound.

 

Why when bait guys complain?  There is a real severe food problem.   Starving to death will bite ANYTHING.  Remember that fact.   Lures are designed to catch fishermen.

[Spankey]

There is a creek not far from that house that has smallie. I’m not on it much for smallies because I primarily fish a bit deeper water for them. 
 

Fishing my fly rod and fishing live minnows are only things productive to me. I’ve tried countless times with small and ultralite Rapala crankbaits, lookers but no takers. 
 

Sometime I might go up there with a few topwaters only and give it heck. 

[TOXIC]

Their diet changes at different times of the year so different baits, multiple baits, will work at different times on the same water.  Chances are the forage changed and you matched it.

[cyclops2]

I have found that great for some time then not great is a sign of a SCHOOL of fish feeding in the area. Most land & water animals have set paths to feeding stations . Why some times you get a long time catching them at a  fast rate .

[bowhunter63]

I know they move alot. In the spring i go with light colors in the summer and fall i use dark colors. Spring i use flukes swimbaits and spinner baits. As it warms up wacky worms and craws. But in the fall a big lively chub will get some really good bites. Thats why there my favorite you never know one day to the next 

[Sphynx]

In my experience, there is a much stronger correlation to WHERE you are fishing, than WHAT you are fishing, if the actively feeding fish are up shallow,  there are probably dozens of presentations and individual lure combinations that will get you bit, but looking out deep probably won't be as productive, my general philosophy has been if you can figure out what sort of cover they are on, how deep they are, and whether they are feeding on baitfish or something crawling on the bottom (craws, helgrammite's, gobies etc) then you can experiment to your hearts content with specific lures and it mostly won't matter...mostly.

[cyclops2]

Scuba divers can & have taught me the most about my areas. 1 guy went LOOKING for fish with me. His survey of the  vegetation and animal life was not good. I thanked him. But will never ask again.  Knowing how bad the findings will be.