Creek Smallmouth

[McNasty]

I am trying to get a general idea of what other members find to be the best soft plastic bait to use for smallmouth in creeks.  We do alot of wade fishing and would like to try new things.

Thanks

[Bob Kavanaugh]

The only lure I take to the creek with me is the Zoom Trick worm. I fish it weightless as a topwater and twitch it across the surface. Man, they really hit it hard! I hate to give away my primo color, but pumpkinseed with the chartreuse tail is killer.  

[McNasty]

I saw those the other day, but had never heard anything about them.  We mainly use Zoom 4'' Lizards in Junebug, watermellon red flake and pumpkin.  Have you ever had much luck on the Zoom tiny brush hogs?

[5bass]

If I could only take one worm to the creek it would be a ZOOM finesse worm in green pumpkin.....attached to a Spot Remover head.

[Bob Kavanaugh]

Baby brush hogs in blackberry or watermelon are my go-to texas rig lures for largemouths, and the Zoom 5" finesse worm texas rigged is my fave on the river for smallies. I may try the smaller worm next tome down the creek, and maybe I'll pick up some 4" lizards too.

[KevO]

Rebel wee-craw crankbait

[TnSmallieFshmn]

I fish streams for smallmouth wading about twice a week, and I started off throwing small baits such as 4in. senko's, 4in lizards, 2.35" bitsy tubes and all of these brought good results for fish in the 1lb. range but that made me think of the old saying "bigger bait bigger fish" so last time I went out I tied on a 6" in green pumpkin senko and landed my PB of 4lbs. since then I have been throwing 1/4oz. jigs with the back half of a baby brush hog as a trailer and my average size fish has jumped to closer to 2lbs. with several in the 3lb. neighborhood, I guess what I am saying is don't be scared to throw bigger baits, those smallie are mean and will hit alot of things, I am sure if you fish streams you already know to target eddy's and current breaks, but anyways good luck to you hope that helps

Tyler

[earthworm77]

All of the baits mentioned should work well. I personally pour my own baits and I prefer a 3 or 4" Roadkill Camo colored Senko style bait wacky rigged on a Gammie splitshot size 1 hook. On my favorite smallmouth creeks, I could fish this bait every day for a year straight and just kill on it.

[Mobydick]

I fish small cricks all the time. Usually they will hit just about anything. This year it was the yum wooly hawgtail. Creature baits are always on the top of my list, as is 4 inch senkos, 7 inch worms, 4 inch lizards, and jerkbaits and crankbaits in the winter. Most people probably use light gear. I don't cause there is some huge smallies in those little cricks. I use a 6 and a half foot med/hvy spinning rod with 12 or 15 pound test.

[Davis]

7" Berkley power worms black/char tail

7" Gulp Shakey worm watermeleon on a 3/16th giggy head

5" Black/blue flake senko worked as well, but not as good as the two above.

I'm sure like others have said........a trick worm would work wonders. But at the time I only had the bubblegum color and so I didn't think to try it in the creek. But just like a shakey worm so I think it would do well.

[BrnzeBckStalker]

Have had luck with trailered spinners, poppers early morning, pumpkinseed and green pumpkins 4in power grubs. And then four in power tubes on a jig head. Don't forget finding crawdads for those deep holes!

[auburn bass man]

There has been some great advice given here and I plan to use some of it myself.  However, on the creeks I fish you cant beat the YUM Craw Bug.  If fishing meant surviving it is the one lure I would tie on. Hope this helps.

[tnbassfisher]

Zoom Mini 4" Lizards are always a go to soft bait for me.

[NewAngler]

I've had a TON of bites on a GYCB 4" double tail grub.

I don't think I had a great hook selection. Had it t-rigged on a shakey head hook, and couldn't set the hooks that well.

Ton of bites though, and a ton of chewed up grubs..

[Crestliner2008]

In order of my own personal preferences, I'd go with a 3" curly tailed grub on a 1/8 oz. plain ball head jig to start with.

Then maybe a 5" wacky rigged Senko, followed closely by a 4" reverse Texas rigged Fat Ika.

Finally, top water chuggers have produced a lot for me here on the CT River. Good Luck.....lots of choices. Know this, if a smallie sees something edible, in a stream or river, it will eat it!

[Captain Rhino]

I like using any sort of craw on a light jighead (I find you can drop these into position a lot easier than weightless). You could also put a bullet weight on the end in exchange for the jighead. I also like to use small black worms and grubs.

That's what I have success using in my creeks. Depending on the depth and size of the creek, the bait size could be larger or smaller.