Jaxson's Top Lures for Smallmouth Bass!

Smallmouth bass are easily my favorite fresh water to target. The fight, the crystal clear waters where they live, and just the challenge it is to land them in the boat. On this post I’m going to discuss my favorite reaction baits and finesse fishing rigs for catching some lunker bronze backs!

Reaction baits

There is nothing more fun than catching smallmouths on reaction baits, They always hit them very aggressively and fight really hard. Here’s my top reaction baits for targeting these clear water brutes.

Crankbaits

Crankbait Styles

Like many anglers l am a huge crankbait fisherman, and l always have crankbaits in my line up for both largemouth and smallmouth bass. 

Deep diving, medium diving, lipless, and square bill crankbaits are all great choices for smallmouth bass throughout the year, and I’ve had success on all of them. Spring and fall are my favorite times of the year to crank for smallmouths, because that’s when they are in that shallow to mid depth range where there’s a lot of rocks, and that’s where many crankbaits shine. Summer is also a good year for cranking for smallmouths especially with deep diving crankbaits because those bronze backs are usually around deep rocky structures. 

Jerkbaits 

 Probably the most popular and effective reaction bait for smallmouths is the jerkbait. I love throwing these lures for smallies especially in spring and fall, with their erratic action the smallmouths can’t even resist! I always use a fast jerking action (usually a twitch and pause retrieve), and l let it suspend in the water column between my jerks. Fluorocarbon line is key with these lures as it sinks and gives that jerkbait the proper action. I like to use a 12 pound test line.

Topwaters

 Top water fishing is always a blast when fishing for smallmouths. The best topwater lures are top water walking baits where l use a walk the dog retrieve.   

My favorite times to use them is late spring, summer, and early fall. Specifically, the best times are usually during the post-spawn period in late spring, throughout the summer months, and into early fall as the water temperatures begin to cool. 

Bladed jigs and spinnerbaits

 Bladed jigs are one of my favorite smallmouth baits. They are often overlooked as a smallmouth lure and seen more as a largemouth lure, but that’s not the case. Bladed jigs excel for smallmouths in the prespawn period, where they are in shallow cover and you can imitate baitfish, with the jigs strong vibration. Spinnerbaits and swim baits are also top choices for catching big smallmouth bass wile imitating baitfish like shad and shiners.

Finesse rigs

Of course, you can’t fish for smallmouths without finesse fishing rigs in your lineup. They always get big smallmouth catches throughout the year. Here’s my top choices.

Drop shot rig

 The drop shot rig is a finesse fishing technique where a weight is attached to the end of the line, with a hook and bait suspended above it on a leader. This is my favorite finesse fishing rig for largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass. I use a 15-20 pound test braided line as a main line and a 8-10 pound fluorocarbon leader. This rig is excellent for smallmouth bass in all months of the year!

Tube rig

 This is another great smallmouth rig in all parts of the year. It can imitate several types of prey including crawfish, and small baitfish. What you do is get a tube jig head, stick it up the tube baits body through the bottom hole and gently pierce the eye through the baits head and tie a knot. It’s that simple, and it always gets big bites.

Ned rig

My final finesse rig for smallmouths is the Ned rig. It’s supper versatile and is really easy to rig. All you do is get a Ned rig jighead, take a small soft plastic, usually a soft stick bait or small creature bait and pierce the jighead through the bait. It’s an awesome rig, and I’ve had a lot of success with it during many parts of the year.

Well, those are all of my top lure choices for smallmouths bass both reaction lures and finesse fishing rigs. All of them are incredibly versatile in their own unique ways. If you’re into smallmouth bass fishing you need to try them out for your self and go after some pig smallmouth bass.

I hope this post was helpful and if you have questions message us for helpful feedback!