I have been fortunate enough to fish many different parts of the country and catch many different spieces of fish. I will have to say that one fish really stands out in a crowd and that is the smallmouth bass. Pound for pound it may be the toughest fish swimming! Let’s discuss some smallmouth bass fishing tips.

I first started catching smallmouth bass in small streams and rivers. These fish were extremely hard fighters and would absolutely crush a lure. Most of the streams we would fish were very clear and you could witness your lures being annihilated. This really turned me on to smallmouth bass fishing. I really liked being able to use light line and a small spinning outfit to catch such a strong fish. Here are some of my all-time favorite smallmouth bass fishing tips.

When they seem to be very aggressive and willing to eat almost anything I love to throw an in-line spinner on 6lb. test line with a good spinning combo. I would recommend a Pinnacle Extant EX 30. With a good medium action rod to handle explosive strikes. My lure of choice would have to be a Panther Martin in-line spinner with a gold blade and brown body. This has been one of my best smallmouth bass busters! I also like a common old favorite the Rooster Tail. This lure has been around for many years and is still slamming fish all over the country. I like the rooster tail in black or brown with a gold or silver blade depending on the baitfish or water color. I try to stay with the smaller sizes to really imitate small baitfish profiles. Another good reaction bait for smallies is a crawfish colored crankbait. This really can produce in spring. Also try a Rebel crickhopper for active smallmouth bass.

When the bite dies down you can still get in on some hot action with plastic baits. My all-time favorite plastic bait for smallmouth would have to be a weightless tube. O.K. I know this sounds hard to use especially in the wind but give it a try in shallow water or around rocks. A smallmouth bass cannot stand a tube fluttering by his face. He will eat it! Try this in a Pumpkinseed with a chartreuse tail. This really imitates a dying crawfish. If you need to add weight it’s perfectly fine. A weighted tube is also very deadly on smallmouth. My second go to plastic lure for smallmouth bass would be a 4 inch stick-worm such as a Senko or Kinami Flash. This is a great finesse bait when smallies are inactive. The dying action of the stick-worm should get you some bites.

There are a couple other great smallmouth catchers I would like to mention. You will always want to have a few good jerkbaits in your smallmouth bass arsenal. I recommend a suspending Rapala in a shad pattern. The size you will need to experiment with to find the right one. Another great smallmouth bass bait is a small finesse jig such as a Booyah. Tip this jig with a small plastic chunk and hang on! The smallmouth love it.

Give these smallmouth bass fishing tips a try next time you go fishing for bronzebacks and I guarantee you a good time! Remember to fish safe and always share the outdoors!

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This entry was posted on Monday, September 24th, 2007 at 3:34 pm and is filed under Fishing Techniques. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.