by Juan Veruete, centralpafishing.com
Summer smallmouth fishing has arrived or is just around the corner for much of the country. Yes, it is time to think about patterning those smallmouth bass during the hot long days of summer. We also need to think of the baits we’ll be tossing at those aggressive summer smallmouth bass. I took a quick assessment of my lure choices and found that I could probably boil the vast majority of my summer arsenal down to five baits. These five baits can cover a lot of water conditions and all of the water column from top to bottom. Lets take a look!
1. Soft stickworm - fantastic bait down to about 8 feet depending on rigging. This bait though really shines in the shallow clear summer waters. Smallies love them!
2. Soft jerkbaits- Summer brings renewed baitfish activity and the young of the year. Smallies will actively and aggressively chase soft jerkbaits. These baits are available from a variety of companies and in a variety of sizes starting at about 3″. Match the size and coloration of your localbaitfish for best results in clear waters.
3. Prop baits - One of my favorite in this class of baits for smallmouth bass is the tiny torpedo. Prop baits are versatile baits. They can be “popped” on top with short jerks or even “dragged” to make abuzzbait like presentation. Aggressive summer smallmouth will annihilate the baits! Prop baits are great during the first hour or two of daylight in the summer but can be an “all day” bait if there is cloud cover.
4. Tube baits - Tube baits can be fished shallow or extremely deep depending on how you rig the bait. I like tube baits in the summer when presented with rising water conditions, cold front conditions, stained water, or when it just seems the bass are holding on deep current breaks. This is a great old standby. Try to match the color of local crayfish for best results. In stained water, go with something dark.
5. Crank Baits - Depending on design, crankbaits can cover water from 1 foot to 20 feet which is probably good for any smallie chaser! I like crankbaits in the summer when water conditions are rising on the rivers or when I encounter stained water. Some of my favorite color patterns incrankbaits contain crayfish colors such as reds, browns, oranges, black, chartrues. If your chasing smallmouth on lakes, you might want to match the baitfish colors and patterns.
June 2nd, 2010 at 10:15 pm
Do you prefer to rig the soft jerkbaits weightless or with a weighted hook?
June 3rd, 2010 at 3:45 am
Mike, it depends. I prefer weightless when possible. Most of these baits were designed to be fished weightless so I feel like I get better erratic darting action when I fish them weightless. If I need to go deep, I’ll sometimes add lead nail weights. More recently, I’ve been experimenting with Al Winco’s creek darter. Its a very heavy bait for the size and can get down deep without adding weight. It’s a great little bait.
June 20th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
I live in Tahlequah, OK. and do all my samllmouth or what I call them “brownies,” in the Baron Fork Creek or Illinois River. All I need to slay the Brownies is an 1/8 oz. jig head and a plastic grub. Preferably “yum” or “power bait.” Colors vary. The Brownies get bigger the closer you get to Lake Tenkiller. Baron Fork flows into Illinois and than into Tenkiller. 2-3lbs is big on the creek. Caught a monster yesterday. Smallmouth fight harder than any fish I have ever caught. I’m always in pursuit of the next monster brownie!
June 25th, 2010 at 4:23 pm
Juan, I am going fishing for smallmouth for the first time in a week. I will be fishing Stockton Lake in Missouri. It is a relatively large lake, where should I focus my attention to on these lakes to catch smallmouth and will they be shallow or will I have to fish deep?
June 25th, 2010 at 7:25 pm
Is there a certain color for the prop bait you prefer
July 1st, 2010 at 3:21 am
Sounds like you have those fished figured out! It would be great to see some of your trips posted on the forums.
July 1st, 2010 at 3:31 am
Every lake has it’s own personality and “hot” structure. When I”m on a lake for the first time, I’ll start shallow in the morning then start fishing deeper as the day progresses and the sun gets higher in the sky. Personally not knowing the water it’s tough to say what to do. If I was in you situation I’d keep it simple..smallmouth love being around rock. Smallmouth will always stay close to their primary forage. ..so Rock+Forage = smallmouth
Again, just playing the odds here. If its a man made lake, look to the feeder creeks. You’ll find rock, current, and forage.
July 1st, 2010 at 3:34 am
I like patterns with some red on the underside. That’s my only preference.
July 2nd, 2010 at 3:11 am
In WV scouting baseball games nice river out front of hotel. Fished today from 12:30 to 4 pm only had spinner baits. Caught 1 smallmouth and had few taps. what can I do or use for better results.
February 13th, 2011 at 5:18 am
I have never used anything that worked better than a soft plastic yellow Mr. Twister with a yellow jig head with black eyes. My confidence lays totally with this bait. I went to Basspro recently and bought 14 packs of them. It is pretty much the only bait I carry when I fish the New River here in WV. It always catches loads of fish…