Best Topwater Baits For River Smallmouth

Buzz baits for smallmouth bass.

Best topwater baits for river smallmouth. Topwater lures are the most effective when the bass are aggressive. Buzzbaits are the ultimate river reaction bait for smallmouth. Rig them on a 1 16 to 1 8 ounce round jighead or carolina style on a size 4 8 hook 18 to 24 inches behind a split shot and swivel. Other popular top water baits include the popper baits and the exciting to fish buzz bait.

They will usually hit topwater baits in the warmer weather and spring is usually the best time to throw them. When aggressive tactics fail to produce slow down and present finesse style baits to finicky bass. Summertime smallmouth fishing makes having a drop shot or two on the deck pretty essential and the top pros in the tackle warehouse title presented by toyota on sturgeon bay basically all relied on the versatile finesse rig to get the job done. Some varieties include hollow body frogs walkers poppers spooks and pencil poppers.

Again there are many different topwater lures to choose from. Grubs work best of all. Crayfish imitations like zoom s speed craw ned rig type profiles like z man s trd and trd tubez and senko style soft stickbaits all are good options to slowly crawl jig across or near the bottom. There are a variety of topwaters and greatly varying fishing conditions so offering the fish the right lure the right way is essential for consistent success.

I can cite my own experience as an example. When smallmouth are hovering on or near the river bed few lures can top a soft plastics rigged with enough weight to crawl over the rocks and ledges. The 7 best lures for smallmouth bass in rivers. Silver blades and a 2 white green rootbeer or black grub work well in most rivers.

1 4 ounce is a good all round size though anglers can drop down to 1 8 ounce if the water is low and clear. Worm jigs in the 1 8 to 3 16 ounce range couple well with the craw tube and. My personal best smallie was caught on a large walking style lure and when i landed her i found an 8 inch. It is 7 on the list of the best 7 river smallmouth fishing lures.

Let s get one thing straight right off the bat smallmouth bass can be caught on big topwater plugs. If you re hitting the water for bronzebacks this summer you ll want to fill your tacklebox with these go to baits. Topwater smallmouth fishing isn t just exciting but early summer smallmouth bass are suckers for surface baits.