Smallmouth HELP

[TLBassin]

Alrighty, I have never caught nore even fished for a smallmouth.  I am going off to college this fall and alot of the local lakes have smallmouth in them as well as some largemouth.  I have always fished for largemouth and am a big fan, but I am always up for a new species of bass! I know that smallies will hit some same things a largemouth will but not everything?  Can anyone give me some advice on what to us and lures or rigs to use to catch them, any help would be appreciated!   Thanks

[sneakyzeke]

I fish for smallmouths a lot. I fish for them in rivers mostly and mainly use tubes carolina style and grubtails on occasion. I catch them mainly by letting the lure float through current and keeping the slack out and waiting for hits. You might want to try your local rivers and streams for smallmouth.

[Max-in-Mn]

First tip-find rocks. Smallies relate to rocks more than any structure there is, they seem to like wood alot to. As for lures you can pretty much use what you do for largemouths, just downsize a bit. For spinnerbaits I drop down to a single colorado blade, rapalas down to 3-4 inches, etc. But my biggest and best smallies always come from jigs. I use a 1/8 ounce non painted jighead. I equip these with 3 inch twister tails and colors are mostly clear brown with black dots, brown, black, or clear blue with black dots. I caught mine without any live bait on the jig but you can tip them with anything from leeches to fatheads. A crawfish colored crankbait bounced on the rocks or fished near the rocks is also a good technique. Topwaters work excellent for smallies in low light.

[Nick_Barr]

I dont fish for smallies as much as largemouth, but here are some baits that have always worked for me:

Drop Shot

Leadhead jig with grub

jerkbait

[Marty]

Of course, you have to find them first, otherwise advice on lures and rigs won't matter too much. As a generality, smallies will be found in somewhat cooler, deeper water than largemouth and are not as cover-oriented, although they do like rocks and rocky bottoms, as was stated above.

They will take a full variety of lures. Often you can use exposed hooks, like on jigheads, because they're not in heavy cover like largemouth. And you can usually use lighter line because of the open water they're often found in.

Good luck. You will find out why someone once said of them, "inch for inch and pound for pound, the gamest fish that swims."

[roadwarrior]

For fishing: Gitzits, jigs, grubs, lizards, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, topwater and cranks.

For catching: Live minnows on a split shot.

Smallmouth fishing in a river is about current and structure. On lakes, structure in and near deeper water.

[playmaker47]

i just went smallmouth fishing for the first time about a week ago and caught most of the fish around steep rocky banks, and rocky points that stick way out into the lake, and rocky drop-offs. hit them with red or brown colored crankbaits, and swim brownish colored jigs around the rocks.

[Jeff_NHBA]

If you are fishing for smallies in a river, you can't go wrong with a plastic crawdad rigged weightless or a fluke rigged weightless.  Cast 45 degress from directly upstream so that the current can carry your bait towards rocks and eddies.  The smallies will camp out in these ambush points waiting for food.