Start-up musts for smallmouth fishing 2025

birdy reply :

Hi all,

Don't get to smallmouth fish much, going on a canoe trip on the Little Miami river in southwestern Ohio later this month. Want to know the essential tackle needs for trip is possible. Have two spinning rods, need to know tackle preferences.

roadwarrior reply :

Soft baits: 3 1/2" tubes, GYCB Single Tail Grub and Single Tail Hula Grub.

Hard baits: Lucky Craft Pointer 100, Rapala X-Rap (XR8), Zara Spook

and/or LC Sammy.

Lots of guys fish the 4" & 5" Senko and small hair jigs. I have had

some luck with Silver Buddies, but you will lose too many in a canoe.

Good luck!

8-)

Sfritr reply :

4-6-8lb line no more

1/8oz curly tail grubs

small cranks or rebel crayfish cranks

flukes

tex rigged motor oil power worms

any inline or spinnerbait

Grew up in the Loveland area, some good fishing through downtown loveland. Good Luck

I miss me some SKYLINE CHILI.........................

birdy reply :

Thanks RW and Sfritr, should help a lot. I will be fishing just north of Loveland. As for the Skiline, I like my cheese coney's with everything, including the hot sauce.

Sfritr reply :

You are killing me. I would actually drive the 290 miles just for a couple of coneys and a three way. Good luck

birdy reply :

Thanks,

You have to be from Cincinnati to know that a three way is spaghetti with chili and cheese, for those of you wondering......

tnbassfisher reply :

4" Zoom Lizard

Thorsten reply :

Quote
Thanks,
You have to be from Cincinnati to know that a three way is spaghetti with chili and cheese, for those of you wondering......

Thanks for clearing that up...

Hinkle2891 reply :

carolina rigged finesse worms. i like roboworms or zoom finesse worms.

Teal101 reply :

DT-4's 8-)

lightsout reply :

bandit cranks in any "craw" color

sammy (95?) in american shad

rebel crawfish

I've fished many diffrent plastics for smallies, but the OG mister twister phenom worms are tough 2 beat, not to mention durable and inexspensive

Oh yeah Buzzbaits!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! dont be fooled into thinkin u gotta fish the little 1/8oz models only. a 1lbr smally will blast a 1/2oz buzzer all day

I like braided line on my rods that see river use.

birdy reply :

Thanks for the tips. Can't wait to get out....

D4u2s0t reply :

What it comes down to is try a few things and see what works. I catch smallies on the same stuff I use for largemouth. There's 10 posts here with 10 people telling you to use different things. what does that mean? There's no 1 magic bait out there. Comes down to preference. The most important thing is to make sure there's fish where you're throwing your line. From my experience, if there's bass, and you can find them, and you present your bait correctly (regardless of the bait) they will bite. You can talk to people on the lake, or river, and everyone will tell you "The only thing that works here is xxxxxx" or "You have to use xxxx color". All that is is people telling you what works for them, and what they prefer.

That being said, i've caught smallies on various stick baits, *** flukes, space monkeys, brush hogs, pretty much anything I throw for largemouths.

Sfritr reply :

Quote

Quote
Thanks,
You have to be from Cincinnati to know that a three way is spaghetti with chili and cheese, for those of you wondering......

Thanks for clearing that up...

YOU SICKOS ;D ;D I guess that did sound odd. Can't believe I didn't catch that when typing.

Yes the aroma of skyline coneys, finely shredded chedder cheese, oyster crackers and hot sauce. MMMMMMM can't wait to go home..

BTW Field and Stream or Outdoor Life just mentioned the little miami as one of the top smallie rivers in the mid west. Can't remember which I read it in.

The Yankee Fist reply :

As said before...tubes, grubs small and large (ck the Yam Hula when the water is ugly)

Whacky rigged 3-4"weightless Senkos...suprised me how well I can work these in a river let alone a lake.

Inline spinners...Mepps, Rooster tails, Panther Martins and the like. 0-3, copper, gold, black and yellow...don't forget these oldies..they produce well..

...there is another spinner company like "Uncle Joe's" or something like that that makes GREAT inline spinners in colors I would eat they look so good.

CRANKS: chartreuse, crawfish, traps in gold are killer. The odd Rapala as well.

SOFT PLASTIC JERK BAITS: Fin Nor...etc.... smaller, weightless, flats, shoreline areas.

If all else fails and you can carry live bait...the black leech is supreme.

Delaware Valley Tackle reply :

Live craws and hellgies if you mind getting pinched once in awhile.

ToledoEF reply :

I am lucky enough to have 2 great smallmouth fisheries within a 1/2 hour of my house, the first being the maumee river that feeds lake erie and then lake erie lol! I use a lot of rebel craws (color depends on the day) and zoom flukes, dt-4 rapalas, 3 1/2'' and 4'' tubes, 1/8oz and 1/16oz jig heads with gulp minnow grubs! Those are my go to baits,

riverfisher reply :

Wow noone's brought up Top Water!! Make sure you bring your favorit top water lures. I prefer Storm Chug Bugs or a Bill Dunce Spitting Image for SMB.

tnbassfisher reply :

Quote
I am lucky enough to have 2 great smallmouth fisheries within a 1/2 hour of my house, the first being the maumee river that feeds lake erie and then lake erie lol! I use a lot of rebel craws (color depends on the day) and zoom flukes, dt-4 rapalas, 3 1/2'' and 4'' tubes, 1/8oz and 1/16oz jig heads with gulp minnow grubs! Those are my go to baits,

What DT-4 colors do you recommend?

ToledoEF reply :

craw patterns/ gold/ silver/ chartruese/ and natural shad colors! I am going to try some manns -1's and some shallow diving strike kings, I am curious to see if sexy shad will work!

tnbassfisher reply :

I can also highly recommend Rebel Crawfish. I don't know if I have ever used them without having luck.

Scorpio reply :

Have had very good luck with the Wave Worm Tikki Stik (the big fat ones) in green pumpkin, rigged wacky with a jig head.

TrippyJai reply :

I don't know what happened to this thread, but it was suppose to be start-up musts. Lol... what RoadWarrior said was perfect.

birdy reply :

Caught my first smallmouth yesterday thanks in part to alot of the advice here. Thanks for the start-up tips. I tried the grubs and other plastics because I had them in the tackle box. I was in a kayak on the Little Miami in Southwestern OH. I did have the family in tow so I did not get to stop and fish the eddies, yet I had plenty of hits while I was moving.

Caught a 14 inch 2 lb smalley and I must admit, it was a hell of a fighter. I was using an Ultra-light with 4lb test. Caught it with an original Rapala, blue, 1.5in.

It was a blast, like I said thanks for the tips and I'll be hitting the same river in September and October for sure. Plenty of great spots if you have the time to stop and fish. Next trip will be without the family so I can take my time.

Sfritr reply :

Nice job Birdy

Good to see the LM is still producing. I hope you followed up the trip with that Skyline I was craving. Did you take any pics?

birdy reply :

No pics this time, had the kids in tow and was not even thinking of fishing, worried they were going to kill themselves in the rapids. That and the fish had given a good fight I wanted to release him quickly. Will be redoing the trip once school starts in a kayak with a friend. Pic will follow then. As for the skyline, one is right around the corner from the house. usually make it at home. could send you a can if your dying for it......

Teal101 reply :

Quote

Quote
I am lucky enough to have 2 great smallmouth fisheries within a 1/2 hour of my house, the first being the maumee river that feeds lake erie and then lake erie lol! I use a lot of rebel craws (color depends on the day) and zoom flukes, dt-4 rapalas, 3 1/2'' and 4'' tubes, 1/8oz and 1/16oz jig heads with gulp minnow grubs! Those are my go to baits,

What DT-4 colors do you recommend?

I've been catching smallies on hot mustard, baby bass, golden shiner, and craw patterns.

Sfritr reply :

Thanks for the offer.

my parents still live in Blue Ash. My wife and I get "care Packages" once in a while. Good luck fishing

MALTESE FALCON reply :

I haven't fished a river in a long time, but when I did fish for smallies in the Indian River, Mepps spinners were the ticket. Zoom Trick, or Finesse Worms, T-rigged with just enough weight to hit bottom were killer also. Cast up stream, and let the current bring them back.

Crawdad crankbaits are also good producers.

Falcon

CWeb Canada reply :

Quote
Hard baits: Lucky Craft Pointer 100, Rapala X-Rap (XR8), Zara Spook
and/or LC Sammy.

I was going to visit the Bait Monkey here in the next while, what sizes and colour patterns do you recommend. The lake that I will be fishing is clear and rocky.

Thanks in advance.

CWeb

roadwarrior reply :

The (100) and (XR8) are sizes. I suggest the Pointer in Baby Bass,

Pearl for the X-Rap. Spook = Frog pattern; Aurora Black (blue) for

the Sammy.

8-)

CWeb Canada reply :

Quote
I can also highly recommend Rebel Crawfish. I don't know if I have ever used them without having luck.

tnbassfisher, or others;

How do you work your Rebel Craw crankbaits? I know they have a wait in the lip to keep them on end like a real Craw so I'm curious.

Thanks.

CWeb

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