[deputycinnamonbear]

hi all was wondering if someone could give me the heads up on lure types for smallies. i've been an advided trout fisherman for years so my vest is full of trout lures. but iam having very limmited succes with the lures i have. i should proably add that i fish from the shore or my float tube. i have had some success using 1.5 inch twister tail grubs in peral white on a spinner about a 3/8 ounce jig head. thanks again really enjoying the site.
bear

 

[kirbydog]

IMHO soft plastics will almost always outfish hard baits when it comes to smallies. I like tubes and senkos. Grubs are good also but I don't fish them much. Senkos work great for shallow water down to 10 or 15 ft. Tubes with an 1/8 oz insert jighead work great for most any depth-go with a heavier weight if its real deep or its windy. Learn these two lures and you'll catch lots.

Practice catch and release.

Oh, and welcome to the board.

 

[roadkill]

ive had my best luck with 2-3"curl tail grubs on a jighead fished like a swim bait not "jigged"

smallies like baitfish and craws so any swimbait, soft or hard, and cranks or jigs in that line would have a good shot try to match the size of your lure to the size of the bait in your fishing hole

 

[epic]

Spinners white for clear water and chartruse for everything else.

 

[farmer ted]

I've caught smallmouth on all of the same lures that I use for largemouth. My faves are: Spinnerbaits, Crankbaits, inline spinners, daredevle type spoons. I always use a twister tail trailer on my spinnerbats and inline spinners. My fave crankbait is probably a shad-rap.
I dont really fish jigs or tubes so I can't really comment on those but I know a lot of other people catch tons of fish on them.

 

[roadkill]

do you know what bait fish are present in valliceto not shure if they have shad it would be good to pick a bait that resembles the local bait in shape and size

 

[deputycinnamonbear]

thanks for the help
just a quick up date for my area fished navajo monday crappies have moved out and the pike have moved in. caught two small pike 12 inch. pearch are still hitting pearl white jigs but not as many. switched to a larger pearl white twister and picked up several carppies a little deeper.

fished valcito wensday after noon just as a rain storm was rolling in caught a nice 24 inch pike he put up a nice fight. i'll post picks as soon as i get them developed.

 

[hammer]

Tubes are the best for smallies in this area in my opinion.
Strike King makes a Bitsy Tube which is 2 1/2 inches
and will hold either a 1/16 or 1/8 oz jig head. Natural colors work best green pumpkin, amber, crawdad, smoke.
I like to squirt into the tube cavity some Eagle Claw gravy
(formerly Crave) in the bass natural flavor. I've found that with this enchancement they will hit it again if they miss
and they will hit it even if you are not moving the tube.
You can get tubes and the gravy at Sportsmans Whse.
Also, when conditions are tough use the generic smaller tubes that Sportsmans sells in the bright green pack.
One day at Trinidad Res we used these on 4 lb test with ultralight gear and caught 35 fish, mostly smallies but some walleye and rainbows too.

 

[McFish]

I have had the best luck with a 3.5 in tube in darker colors. Next would be a bandit 300 or 200. Like Ted I have landed many smallies on the same bait I use for largemouths. My biggest smallie ever 6.5 liked the perch DD22.

 

[hammer]

McFish,
that's a huge smallie. I've found too that if there is perch in the lake, a Rapala countdown in perch will work too.

 

[McFish]

I caught that fish at lake Okiboji in NW Iowa. It puked out a 8" perch at the boat. Little piggy! The smallies in that lake keyed on perch first craws second. I have seen a couple fives (they went in a guys livewell) in colorado yet to catch one. I tend to have pretty good luck on green tubes here.

 

[hammer]

Wow, I figured the Great Lakes for a smallie that big.
Going to try my luck for a bruiser at Aurora Res. Saturday morning. So far this year they have been average but I know the big ones are in there. I'll be chuckin green tubes.

 

[scorpion_bsk]

IMHO soft plastics will almost always outfish hard baits when it comes to smallies.  I like tubes and senkos.  Grubs are good also but I don't fish them much.  Senkos work great for shallow water down to 10 or 15 ft.  Tubes with an 1/8 oz insert jighead work great for most any depth-go with a heavier weight if its real deep or its windy.  Learn these two lures and you'll catch lots.

Practice catch and release.

Oh, and welcome to the board.

What size of Senkos do you like to use for smallies?

 

[Zman]

Do you have luck wacky rigging them for smallies?

 

[deputycinnamonbear]

iam going back to valcetio tommarow and am going to hit the dam. i'll up date you on how it goes. thanks for the info all