-
- Species
- Whitetails
- Rut Reporters
- Deer Camp
- Big Game
- Small Game
- Birds
- Special Methods
- Bow Hunting
- Conservation
- Heroes of Conservation
- Hero for a Day
- Outdoor Skills
- Total Outdoorsman Challenge
- Land for Sale
-
- Species
- Bass
- Trout
- More Freshwater
- Saltwater
- Catchbook
- Special Methods
- Fly Fishing
- Hook Shots
- Conservation
- Heroes of Conservation
- Hero for a Day
- Outdoor Skills
- Total Outdoorsman Challenge
- Land for Sale
-
- Health & Fitness
- F&S Adventurer
- Outdoor Skills
- Total Outdoorsman Challenge
-
- Rifles
- Shotguns
- 2nd Amendment
- SHOT Show
- Outdoor Skills
- Total Outdoorsman Challenge
Merwin: What Gets Your Smallies Going?
Recent Comments
Categories
- Ammunition (1)
- Animal Attacks (4)
- Bass Fishing (267)
- Big Game Hunting (1)
- Bird Hunting (1)
- Bow Hunting (2)
- Camping Gear (3)
- Close Calls (3)
- Deer Hunting (1)
- DIY (1)
- Fire (1)
- First-Aid (2)
- Fishing (721)
- Fishing Gear (52)
- Fly Fishing (237)
- Gear (43)
- Guns (2)
- Hook Shots (1)
- Hunting (7)
- Hunting Gear (3)
- More Freshwater (250)
- Other Survival (4)
- Rifles (1)
- Saltwater (226)
- Shelter (1)
- Shooting Gear (1)
- Shotguns (1)
- Small Game (1)
- Survival (11)
- Survival Gear (2)
- Trout Fishing (276)
- Trucks (3)
Recent Posts
- Vintage Tackle Contest: Soap-A-Lure
- Peeing Swimmers Kill 500 Fish in Germany
- 40-Pound Kamikaze Barracuda Launches Assault on Anglers
- Protect Your Skin: How to Use Sunscreen and Keep it Off Your Lures
- Killer Snakeheads: The Real and the Hollywood Varieties
- Vintage Tackle Contest: Whirlaway Rod & Reel Combo
- What Were Some of Your Milestone Rods?
- Smallmouth Jerkbait Tips from Bass Pro Bill Lowen
- How to Free-Line Live-Bait Minnows to Catch Shy Brown Trout
- Vintage Tackle Contest: Heddon Crazy Crawler
Archives
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
Syndicate
The Honest Angler
in your Inbox
February 25, 2009
Merwin: What Gets Your Smallies Going?
By John Merwin
Crooked Creek is one of those legendary smallmouth-bass rivers in the northern Arkansas Ozarks. A couple of years ago, Bob Perino and I had the pleasure of floating and fishing here with local expert "Crazy" Mike Neher. The river has lots of fishy-looking holes like this one, where Neher is briefly holding the jonboat on a log so Perino can fish.
We caught numerous bass, of course, and you can read my full report in our archives here. The rig that produced the most fish was a mustard-color soft- plastic tube on a one-eighth-ounce leadhead, fished on 6-pound-test mono and bounced on the bottom of deep, fast runs.
Photo by John Merwin
Over many seasons, soft tubes have become my go-to lure for smallies. In my local northern lakes, they seem to like green-pumpkin tubes best, with sparkle-flake white a close second. There are lots of ways to catch smallmouths, of course, from live crayfish or frogs to crankbaits to flyfishing with topwater bugs. But what's your favorite?
ADVERTISEMENT
Today on Field & Stream
Loading...
Visit Our Sister Sites at Bonnier Corporation
| Enthusiast | Kiteboarding | QUAD | SKI | Skiing | Scuba Diving | Sport Diver | TransWorld Ride BMX | TransWorld Business | TransWorld Motocross | TransWorld SKATEboarding, | TransWorld SNOWboarding | TransWorld SURF | WakeBoarding | WaterSki | Warren Miller Entertainment | WindSurfing |
|---|---|
| Travel | Caribbean Travel & Life | Destination Weddings & Honeymoon | Islands | Meeting Traveler | Resorts & Great Hotels |
| Lifestyle & Shelter | Florida Travel & Life | Garden Design | Home Ft. Lauderdale | Home Miami |
| Luxury | SNOW | Spa |
| Marine | Boating Life | Cruising World | Fly Fishing in Salt Waters | Power Cruising | Marlin | Motor Boating | Sailing World | Salt Water Sportsman | Sport Fishing | Yachting | NewBoats.com | UsedBoats.com | YachtBroker.com |
| Outdoor | Field & Stream | Outdoor Life | SHOT Business |
| Parenting | Babytalk | Parenting |
| Science | Popular Science | Science Illustrated |
| Saveur | Saveur |
| Working Mother Media | Working Mother |
| Entertainment / Events | World Entertainment Services | World Sports & Marketing |
Fieldandstream.com is part of the Field & Stream Network, a division of Bonnier Corporation.
Copyright © 2012 Bonnier Corp. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
Comments (12)
I have caught numerous smallmouth on a 1/8 oz jighead with a white or yellow twistertail. BUT my personal go to lure is the deep diving rebel craw. Its no bigger than my pinkie and i have hauled in more smallmouth that i can count with it.
Though I only fish it once or twice a year since moving to the coast I used to stalk the New River in Virginia several times a week. The place is absolutely stacked with smallies and tubes would fill the boat. But the river also has a pile of redeyes that will pester you all day. I found a longer bait targeted the 12inch plus smallies better and kept sunfish at bay. My last three years there from May to October I always had a 6inch finesse worm tied on with a 1/8 ounce unpegged bullet weight. Favorite color is watermelon with red flake. Fished mostly in swift water.
A close second would be a Mepps #3 or #4 Anglia spinner dressed in white. They have accounted for some of my biggest fish but they really only seem to have the magic in March and April.
I like seeing bass hit surface lures so my go to is the hula popper.
I've always resorted to using a small spinnerbait, usually a gold spoon on an offset wire, and a 1/16 oz lead jig head and chartuse tube. killer on smallmouth and largemouth, along with panfish and trout also.
We fish streams similar to that in the photo, and its usually during the spring. The fish are really aggressive so we usually throw topwater. The fish destroy topwater at this time of year. Out in the lakes my go to lure is watermelon/chartreuse tail senko rigged texas style.
Tubes for me and flys. Those strike king bleeding tubes slay 20 inchers all the time for me (My secret)
the good old daredevel for me always works
I've fished the White river but never heard of Crooked Creek, will have to check this out.
Tube in motor oil color on 1/8 oz. head. Same in chartreuse. Both colors work well on a curly tail.
I tie a skunk fly up with yellow chenille and it works very well. I fish it just below the surface jerking the retreive.
If they are not active on the top then I go to the red/yellow clouser or yellow bucktail.
Depends...
On slow rivers I love to rip a heddon teeny torpedo on the surface. I like to think that because river environments are relatively shallow the bass that inhabit them are more prone to look up n' hook up, and as a light sensitive fish, I've found this tactic to work especially well in low light conditions.
On bigger water like Rainy Lake or Superior's Chequamegon Bay, where you sometimes have to employ prospecting tactics to locate fish it's hard to beat a simple tube or grub that let's you cover the full depth of the water column. For cranks, the only two you'll ever need are the rebel craw and the jointed rap, original style or shad if the fish are holding a little deeper (okay, I guess that's actually three)
Now if it happens to be spring time and the fish are concentrated over spawning areas you just can't beat a surface plug in terms of fun factor. If I were limited to a single method to fish smallies that would, without hesitation, have to be it.
The few times I've opted to go the fly route I've found it hard to be a chart/white clouser.
The rebel Crickhopper or maybe an xrap would be my bet. I caught the biggest fish of my life on an X-rap
Post a Comment
I have caught numerous smallmouth on a 1/8 oz jighead with a white or yellow twistertail. BUT my personal go to lure is the deep diving rebel craw. Its no bigger than my pinkie and i have hauled in more smallmouth that i can count with it.
Though I only fish it once or twice a year since moving to the coast I used to stalk the New River in Virginia several times a week. The place is absolutely stacked with smallies and tubes would fill the boat. But the river also has a pile of redeyes that will pester you all day. I found a longer bait targeted the 12inch plus smallies better and kept sunfish at bay. My last three years there from May to October I always had a 6inch finesse worm tied on with a 1/8 ounce unpegged bullet weight. Favorite color is watermelon with red flake. Fished mostly in swift water.
A close second would be a Mepps #3 or #4 Anglia spinner dressed in white. They have accounted for some of my biggest fish but they really only seem to have the magic in March and April.
I like seeing bass hit surface lures so my go to is the hula popper.
I've always resorted to using a small spinnerbait, usually a gold spoon on an offset wire, and a 1/16 oz lead jig head and chartuse tube. killer on smallmouth and largemouth, along with panfish and trout also.
We fish streams similar to that in the photo, and its usually during the spring. The fish are really aggressive so we usually throw topwater. The fish destroy topwater at this time of year. Out in the lakes my go to lure is watermelon/chartreuse tail senko rigged texas style.
Tubes for me and flys. Those strike king bleeding tubes slay 20 inchers all the time for me (My secret)
the good old daredevel for me always works
I've fished the White river but never heard of Crooked Creek, will have to check this out.
Tube in motor oil color on 1/8 oz. head. Same in chartreuse. Both colors work well on a curly tail.
I tie a skunk fly up with yellow chenille and it works very well. I fish it just below the surface jerking the retreive.
If they are not active on the top then I go to the red/yellow clouser or yellow bucktail.
Depends...
On slow rivers I love to rip a heddon teeny torpedo on the surface. I like to think that because river environments are relatively shallow the bass that inhabit them are more prone to look up n' hook up, and as a light sensitive fish, I've found this tactic to work especially well in low light conditions.
On bigger water like Rainy Lake or Superior's Chequamegon Bay, where you sometimes have to employ prospecting tactics to locate fish it's hard to beat a simple tube or grub that let's you cover the full depth of the water column. For cranks, the only two you'll ever need are the rebel craw and the jointed rap, original style or shad if the fish are holding a little deeper (okay, I guess that's actually three)
Now if it happens to be spring time and the fish are concentrated over spawning areas you just can't beat a surface plug in terms of fun factor. If I were limited to a single method to fish smallies that would, without hesitation, have to be it.
The few times I've opted to go the fly route I've found it hard to be a chart/white clouser.
The rebel Crickhopper or maybe an xrap would be my bet. I caught the biggest fish of my life on an X-rap
Post a Comment