River Fishing Smallies

[crappiekid24]

This year I really want to try fishing rivers for smallies. I bought a pair of waders last year and want to get some use out of them this year. I have only used them probably 3 times. That was up in Wisconsin's Driftless Area. I was wondering what would you recommend for smallies. What kind of setup and what baits? Thanks!

[Mobydick]

I use a 6' 6" Med. Hvy. spinning and a 7' Med. Hvy baitcaster most of the time. I load the spinning reel with 12 pound Trilene Big Game for backing and 20 pound braid. The baitcaster usually have 12 or 17 pound mono on.

In the early of the year like in January and February I throw a tube and either a bucktail jig or a lipless crank. My favorite tubes are Mizmo Green Pumkin and BPS black blue flake. I use my bucktails in black, white, moss, or chartreuse. My favorite lipless is a Cotton Cordell Super Spot, im not sure of the color, but it has a bronze back and brown sides with an orange belly. I ocassinally throw a jerkbait also, Smithwick Rattlin Rogue.

Around spawn I will throw spinnerbaits, lipless, topwater, and jerkbaits. This time of year I work things a bit faster than most of the year.

When summer rolls around, I throw roughly everything, it depends on the conditions though. Sometimes you need to slow down. During the summer, conditions can change quickly, and so must your technique and style.

When fall comes around, im still throwin spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, lipless, topwater, but I tend to use grubs a lot this time of year.

When winter hits, slow down, then slow down some more. I will go back to throwing jigs, tubes, and lipless with the ocasional jerkbait.

Those are just my preferences, but most guys will tell you that jerkbaits and tubes especially, will work year round if you adjust your style accordingly.

I should add that you should try fishing at night. Use dark color spinnerbaits with colorado blades, rattles, and some scent, and use crankbaits with rattles. Be careful if you wadeing at night though. Get to know the area you want to fish before you fish it at night. As always tell someone where your going.

Good luck and tight lines!

                                                                  Ian

[roadwarrior]

My rig is a 7' Medium Power/ Fast Action spinning combination.

The reel is spooled with #6 Yo-Zuri Hybrid or Hybrid Ultra Soft

(.010" diameter, 11.9 lb test). It is very important to set your

drag properly, 25-30% of a lines breaking strength. For me that's

about 3 lbs.

My favorite lure class is jerkbaits: LC Pointer, Rapala Husky and X-Rap.

The soft plastics I throw are GYCB 5 1/2" grub and Hula Grub; 3 1/2"

Mizmo tubes; GYCB Laminated Lizards and in still water, GYCB Fat Ika.

Another option I like is a hair jig with a GYCB Fat Baby Craw trailer.

Good luck!

8-)

[Pitchinkid]

My rig is a 7' Medium Power/ Fast Action spinning combination.

The reel is spooled with #6 Yo-Zuri Hybrid or Hybrid Ultra Soft

(.010" diameter, 11.9 lb test). It is very important to set your

drag properly, 25-30% of a lines breaking strength. For me that's

about 3 lbs.

My favorite lure class is jerkbaits: LC Pointer, Rapala Husky and X-Rap.

The soft plastics I throw are GYCB 5 1/2" grub and Hula Grub; 3 1/2"

Mizmo tubes; GYCB Laminated Lizards and in still water, GYCB Fat Ika.

Another option I like is a hair jig with a GYCB Fat Baby Craw trailer.

Good luck!

8-)

i thought you were a gitzit man

[roadwarrior]

I am, but they closed down for awhile and the only place I could

find them was at Red's near Bull Shoals Dam. So, I started fishing

Mizmo and Micro Munch Tackle tubes.

Well, I just checked the Mizmo website and they discontinued my

color! "Kent's Classic", 3 1/2" Small jaw. Scratch that...The color

I most prefer is carried by BPS, "Puke". The guides I know at Bull

Shoals call it "Baby Diaper Yellow".

8-)

[gadetemple]

If you want a great fight i would go with a feather light rod w/ 2 or 4 lb test and a small rooster tail or pheobe...rapallas work well too.

[jhworley]

6' medium spinning rod with a 2000-2500 series spinning reel ( I like TD).

I use either Fluoro 8# or a copolymer (Yozuri Hybrid 8#).

The most productive, and easy to use (sort of) bait is a 3.75-4" flipping tube with a 1/8 oz insert jig head.  I catch em in cold water, warm water, spring/fall/summer...  Throw upstream in eddies, riffles and just let em bounce along the bottom.

i like all the other tactics as well (Susp Jerk baits, grubs, cranks, etc) but the tube is an all around great bait

good luck

jhw

[wisturkeyhunter]

Spinning or baitcasting depending on your preference. I like a baitcaster. M/h St. Croix Legend Elite with a daiwa zillion and pline cxx 15# is about perfect for me but would be to heavy for some guys. Its nice to have 12 or 15# line when you hook into a big pike or muskie it give you a good chance of landing them and I seriously doubt any smallie in a river in Wisconsin is going to spook from line.

A small tackle box w/ a supply a jigheads, grubs single, and double tail and also hula grubs. Some floating rapalas, husky jerks, and xraps or similiar baits just be sure to have a variety of both floating and suspending. Senkos, Fat Ikas, trickworms, powerworms, and most other plastics with the right hooks and weights. Superspooks, Sammys, devils horse, poppers, wakebaits and other top waters you like smaller isn't better for smallmouth like alot seem to believe. A variety of spinners both inline and spinnerbaits. Don't over look medium size swimbaits to like the mattlures baby bass. Jigs and tubes are also popular but I haven't used them much.

[justfishin]

Shallow water: A 6'-7' rod in med/fast action. I prefer a six on small streams but on the river in the boat I much prefer a 7' rod. If you are just starting out I would use tubes most of the time and 4" grubs.

Green Pumpkin/Red Flake

Dark Meleon/Purple Flake are good starters. Have fun.

"Puke" as the guys said is a very popular one here as well. I had a client whom threw nothing else!

[Paul Roberts]

On small rivers/creeks I've often used an UL spinning rig with 4lb line -great fun with 10 to 15inch fish. But, on larger rivers with larger fish (>17inch) a medium to MH would be better. Probably the best all around (IME) would be a fast ML or M spinning rig with 6lb line. That will cover a lot of river smallie fishing -fun with smaller fish and able to rope in those bigger dudes.

[Crestliner2008]

Get yourself a medium action spinning rig and load it with a quality 8# test fluorocarbon line on one spool and 8# test monofilament on the other spool (most reels today come with a spare spool). The mono spool will do you well for topwater fishing and the fluoro spool will take care of anything sub-surface. With more experience, you can down size to 6# test line on either spool.

This rig will handle tubes, hard jerks, fin-s fish jigs, curly tail jigs and/or any other presentation technique you will need.

[Blade-Runner]

Unfortunately, nothing will prove a more reliable 'overall' river-smallie catcher than a 2.75-3.5" tube jig. Get yourself an assortment of natural craw'ish colored tubes and some 1/16 - 1/4 oz. insert jigheads.

You may lose some rigs with the open hook, and hopefully you will recognize the pickup and not gut hook them, but I have yet to encounter anything (in my area) that can annually outfish these baits.

I stopped telling folks on my local rivers about them because the fish simply EAT them - as a result, many anglers are killing smallmouths because they have learned to just throw it out and leave it alone. I fish them like a normal bass jig and pay attention to what is happening at all times...

This may not be news, as I think most of the fishing world has known about tube jigs for some time now.

[retiredbosn]

I don't know what river you are talking about, but wading I am assuming a smaller river. As already suggested get some tubes and grubs, 1/8 to 1/4 ounce jig heads, for tubes I really like a pumpkin with a chartruse tip on the tentacles, something about a LITTLE bit of chartruse drives smallies wild, also don't forget jigs, hair jigs and regular skirted jigs, 1/4 to 3/8 ounce, early season black blue, later watermelon and browns.

As far as tactics look for eddies pools along side fast water, the backside of a large rock in a ripple, anywhere a smallie can lay in wait and slam disoriented bait after being pulled through the current. A little eddie in a ripple can be a gold mine, it is hard to believe how many fish you can pull out of one. Also smallies love wood, they want the shade wood provides, overcast day forget about the wood, a hair jig worked around wood can produce amazing results. IMHO smallies will be near current, wood or a good gravel bank. Smallies main diet is small minnows and crayfish, they absolutely love crafish. Find a good gravel bank where the crayfish breed and you can wear yourself out catching smallies. Have fun.

I forgot something important, inline spinners are deadly on smallies, try some. In fact if you go fishing and don't catch anything on the grubs, tubes, jigs, or spinners, there are no fish in the water. One of those four baits will catch fish.

[ldogg]

I use a BPS Extreme 7' Medium action rod with a Pinnacle spinning reel loaded with Yo-Zuri 8# Hybrid.  Favorite baits are tubes, grubs (3-5") and the Fat Ika.  As far as colors go i like the normal greens (watermelon seed, green pumpkin) and crawfish browns.