In the early spring what do you think the best bait is for smallmouth in water temps from 46 to 55 degree water. Upper jaw: On a largemouth bass, their upper jaw extends above the eye. Crankbaits are another great way to catch smallmouth bass. They are extremely aggressive and can be targeted with almost any of the above lures and techniques. Crankbaits, plastic worms, spinnerbaits, and other artificial fishing lures work just fine if that’s your game! He uses a 7.4:1 or 8.5:1 Shimano Metanium , 12- to 14-pound-test Sunline Super FC Sniper Fluorocarbon (the heaviest he can get away with for battling tons of big … Best Baits for Smallmouth Bass Go-to baits for smallwater bass fishing includes: topwater buzz baits with some walk the dog action, floating minnows are versatile, Rebel Crawfish is used a lot and catches a ton of fish, Zoom Super Fluke Jr. with a nose hook, and the 3-inch Senko that's good for matching the hatch. One of the central facts of life in the … 10 Topwater Fishing Tips for Smallmouth Bass. Smallmouth bass live in many habitats ranging from cool waters of rivers and streams to deep reservoirs and crystal-clear natural lakes. NOTE: Crawfish that are between 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 inches in length and are soft shelled are one of the best bass baits there is, especially for smallmouth bass. Minnows are the best bait for shoreline-oriented fish. Fishing blade baits for smallmouth is an excellent cold water technique, but can also be very effective during the warmer months too. Craws are the best wintertime bait for smallmouth bass. The larger Crawbugs … Smallmouth are often nomadic and will follow baitfish schools a lot. There is nothing wrong with the other line choices, any one of them would serve you well, and these two just provide the best … The crank bait is one of the best smallmouth bass lures and you should know when its most useful. I often pitch the small baits to visible fish. Here are 3 characteristics to choose live bait for bass. Best Color Crankbait for Smallmouth Bass. Using live bait on smallmouth bass … In clear water, go for a darker red that has some transparency. See if your favorite smallie bait made the list. The 'best bait' is most certainly hard to determine, and is largely up to personal preference, but the baits listed in this article are among the best and most effective baits that can be used to catch smallmouth bass. For this scenario, I’m going with the 7’3” Medium Heavy Tactical Elite Bass spinning rod – TLE MBR S 735-1 and then a 3000 size spinning reel. Spinning/Baitcasting. Fishing With Live Bait. Here's a rundown on five of the best live bait offerings you can use for the country's most popular sportfish and tactics for presenting them. Size: Smallmouth bass max out at around 10 pounds. I hope this helps you start “Kraken” the code on smallmouth bass! Smallmouth bass were once considered just a northern relative of the black bass family. If you’re hitting the water for bronzebacks this summer, you’ll want to fill your tacklebox with these go … You can find both large and smallmouth bass in the same river or lake but where you find them exactly will differ significantly. Best Live & Artificial Bait for Smallmouth Bass. A largemouth can grow to over 20 pounds. Best Live Bait Rigs A well placed leech under a bobber or slip bobber is one of the better ways to target largemouth bass … Smallmouth bass will attack worms presented over either location if hungry. Red is the best wintertime color but match the red to the water clarity. In other words, small prey that the current can wash downstream. You can cover huge expanses of lakes with smallmouth by fan casting a crankbait and moving from spot to spot. Learn how to rig live bait for bass, catch bass with live bait… Without question the best way to catch bass as well as most freshwater fish is by fishing with live bait.Many die-hard bass fishermen feel this is sort of like "cheating" and that "real (fisher)men don't use live bait". The final decision as to the best bait for smallmouth bass is up to you, and the only way to find out for yourself … These are my best smallmouth bass baits. This one is the perfect example. They have proven to be an extremely versatile bait that can be utilized with a number of techniques and in almost any scenario—but there is one super simple technique, that has simply … Smallmouth bass really focus on crawfish in cold water. If I had to pick a live bait, I would go with night crawlers. This enables them to see and track a bait from a long distance, and a topwater walking bait is great for this situation. The best smallmouth bass lures are all the usual suspects that you probably already have in your tacklebox, some will need to be downsized however. Unfortunately, not all crawfish have a horn tough enough to facilitate this. For me, the two line families that have the best characteristics for smallmouth bass fishing are the copolymer lines and the super-lines. Best Tactics for Catching Winter Smallmouth Bass November 13, 2016 By David Paul Williams Everybody knows smallmouth bass are summer fish — that they just hunker down during the cold water of winter, barely surviving until spring heats up that water and thaws out the fish and the food they eat. Once the bait settles near the fish, pause for a few seconds and then slightly raise your rod tip. It’s a bait that does not get seen by fish too often … The baits for rivers and streams need to do … Best Live Bait for Bass Artificial lures have talked countless fish into taking a nibble, but there's nothing like the real thing; here's a countdown of top eight live baits for bass April 04, 2017 By Keith 'Catfish' Sutton, WorldFishingNetwork.com Crankbait can also be thrown when you see bass chasing a group of minnows, it’s a very good bait for smallmouth bass. Having the right topwater lures tied on can give you a huge advantage, but there are also some important things you should keep when target smallmouth bass on the surface. These little swimbaits flat out catch fish, and are particularly deadly on smallmouth bass no matter where you reside in the country. There is hardly a wrong way to fish this bait. Suggested Live Bait … Dobson has a very defined rod-and-reel system for fishing blade baits that is designed to allow him to fish the bait easily and hook and land bass at a high rate. Please feel free to leave any comments, or questions you have about how to fish with any of them. The 7 Best Lures for Smallmouth Bass in Rivers. Through the Horn - This is a good method in that it prevents the crawfish from scooting up under a rock. The pictures in this post are all fish caught on the associated bait. Seth Feider takes the guesswork out of choosing the best lures for smallmouth bass fishing from late summer through late fall. 6 of the Best Smallmouth Bass Lures 1. Final Thoughts . Or you can work an entire section of a stream without moving around much. Unless it is cloudy with a light chop on the water, then mid day can be very productive too. When it comes to live bait, the more lively, the better chance of getting a bite. In the spring, when smallmouth bass are shallow, a bobber and leech is a great way to catch some bass. When it comes to live bait, the more lively, the better chance of getting a bite. Although smallmouth do tend to go deep on most fisheries, they often live in places with clear water. Fishing With Live Minnows. 3 Fishing Methods for Targeting Smallmouth Bass 1. Live bait works in many situations but it isn’t always the better choice. The prime situations are during inclement weather as smallmouth will be more actively feeding and more apt to chase a swimbait. The best smallmouth bass fishing lures are generally suspended lures that aren’t surface or divers. Always match the color and size of the trailer to the forage that smallmouth bass are feeding on. In my opinion the best smallmouth bass crankbait colors are white, ghost patterns, red or orange and gold. To say that there is a best bait for smallmouth bass would be tough. The most common means of fishing for smallmouth bass is with live bait or artificial lures using either spinning or baitcasting rods. Keeping the ChatterBait in contact with the bottom usually works the best, but you can experiment with different retrieves depending on how the bass are feeding. Here’s our lineup for the best smallmouth bass fishing lures ever made. Some of the best topwater bait styles for smallmouth … They have the most positives and the least negatives wanted in my lines. It is awesome to watch bass suck in the bait. Smallmouth Bass Smallmouth Behavior in Rivers and Streams. To say that there is a best bait for smallmouth bass would be tough. Of course some crankbaits work better on others. Best Live & Artificial Bait for Smallmouth Bass. Blade Baits. The best time to fish topwater for smallmouth bass is in the early morning and late afternoon. Gear Used: The best live bait for bass is really subjective to the individual. A smallmouth bass still has a pretty big mouth, but the upper jaw ends even with … Thanks This huge mouth is what gives them their name. Door County is a special place and has a world class smallmouth bass fishery. Make sure to add this bait and technique to your bass fishing arsenal. The smallmouth feeds on aquatic insects, crayfish, and small minnows. Throwing swimbaits for smallmouth can be done all year long in various conditions, but there are some times when it is the best choice if you are after a monster smallmouth bass. Now smallmouth bass fishing is now an All-American gamefish pursuit. This is important since the fish will hang on the edges of the currents. Using bait properly can be a challenging and engaging sport. Meanwhile, go with bolder reds or oranges in muddier water. The 2 1/2-inch model in camo — a combination of blue, red and green hues — is deadly on smallmouth bass in rocky cover. Good or Bad? As Always, Stay Stoked! Crankbait is a good bait for rocky bottoms and should always be taken advantage of in that scenario. Wondering what is best live bait for bass? They are extremely aggressive and can be targeted with almost any of the above lures and techniques. Here’s a list of the best crankbaits for smallmouth bass that applies to basically anywhere … This comprehensive seasonal progression video breaks the fall period into distinct water temperature ranges; Feider then tells us what baits work best during each window based on years of hunting big bass … What's the best bait for bass? Just like most other lures there are a ton of different colors options and patterns to choose from. As I said above, make sure you get the line size right because if your line is too heavy, it will dramatically change the presentation of the lure. A lot of the smallmouth fishing I’m doing up here is in clear water, so I want to get that bait super far away from the boat.