Let's Talk Smallmouth Lures...

[rps]

What color Sammy 100s are favorite for medium sized streams like the Big Piney, Big Sugar, Elk or Illinois River (in ok)?

Do many people use spooks or are sammies so superior that everyone uses the sammies?

I always favored the Spook over the the Sammy even though it is harder to walk. I also doctored it - red gill slash and feathered tail. Size was something I let the fish tell me. Some days they seemed to prefer Original, others the Junior. I did find the Spro Dawg and the Bomber/Excalibur Jimmy to be excellent baits - very similar to the Sammy and much less expensive.

Two years ago I started fishing the Top Dollar by Norman. It is the bottom bait shown in my previous post in this thread. I can fish it as a popper or walk it. I confess I have rarely fished the Spook since.

[Al Agnew]

Why do you hate orange bellies? I don't think I own a bait with an orange belly, but I am just curious.

Also, the colors of the flakes don't matter? I try to get baits that do not have flakes or have natural colored flakes like black or maybe white. Maybe the black craws I saw yesterday with red flakes are worth the buy...

It's just a confidence thing. Orange bellies seem so garish and unnatural to me that I just don't like them. And since just about every crawdad colored crankbait has an orange belly, I also like to use something different from what the fish see all the time. Does it really make a difference? Who knows?

I'd rather have black flakes than the metallic red or green or blue or whatever, but I don't think it matters. I'm choosing colors of things like tubes on the overall effect, not the details.

[drew03cmc]

Not a bad school of thought on the matter. I have seen some crazy colored crawdads in the wild. I have seen them in blue, purple, BRIGHT orange, brown, green and almost white. It is insane that these colors are found in something so ugly. I agree, I prefer black flakes over the red or blue stuff, and my purchases show this.

[Al Agnew]

I always favored the Spook over the the Sammy even though it is harder to walk. I also doctored it - red gill slash and feathered tail. Size was something I let the fish tell me. Some days they seemed to prefer Original, others the Junior. I did find the Spro Dawg and the Bomber/Excalibur Jimmy to be excellent baits - very similar to the Sammy and much less expensive.

Two years ago I started fishing the Top Dollar by Norman. It is the bottom bait shown in my previous post in this thread. I can fish it as a popper or walk it. I confess I have rarely fished the Spook since.

I like the looks of that Top Dollar.

The only thing I don't like about the new Spooks, or at least the Super Spook Jr., is that loud, knocking rattle. I prefer the swishing rattles in the Sammy. But I do carry a couple Spooks and use them on occasion. As for colors, if the water is clear, I use light, minnow imitating or translucent colors in topwaters, if it's murky I'll use patterns with chrome or metallic sides. If it's really murky I have even used that really ugly black with big yellow spots pattern that Sammies come in.

[ColdWaterFshr]

The only thing i would add is a 4" to 6" worm Zoom, Chompers or Power Bait Finnesse or needle worm Texas rigged on a light wire wide gap red worm hook with a 1/32oz to 1/8oz worm sinker and a 3" Gulp Alive Chartruse Shad minnow on a 1/16 or 1/32oz jig on a size 1 or 2 Matzuo red cycle hook that I get from a guy in Florida. The Gulp alive minnow was my most productive bait last summer and fall on the James river. I've got to agree the teeny craw is the best crank bait next to the pre Norman Bass Magnet the ones made by Norman are pretty good but nothing is as good as the old ones that were made, I think, in Indiana. I also believe that stream smallmouth are the easiest to catch game fish there are if you know how to read the water and make the right presentation that is why they should be released immeadiatley unharmed to the water.

I used to fished the Zoom worms all the time, and other plastics all the time. I guess I just got bored with bumping the bottom and not seeing the vicious strike. One day I settled on a compromise and I ripped off the top third of a zoom worm and tipped my B-2 buzz-bait with it. It slows the buzz bait down a little and gives it more character. Instead of the smallies just chasing a clean, chopped off skirt, there is a froggy looking appendage dangling out the back. I can't throw a buzzbait without that curly tail trailer. Confidence falls in half or more.

[Gavin]

Some good LC colors.

Translucent minnow colors. Any of the other ghost colors, and some of the pearl colors will work..Ghost Minnow is the easiest to find, but have several in Ghost Minnow, Aurora Ghost Wakasagi, MJ Japanese Minnow, Pearl Shad and a few others..They are all effective and I dont notice much difference between them.

In opaque but not too flashy...Chartruse Shad, Aurora Dace Shad, Pearl Ayu, Misty Shad..

For a Flashy Minnow color..Aurora Black, Aurora Gold, or MS American Shad..

For a dark color..I have a Gunfish & a Sammy in MS Black, and it sounds like Al is tossing one in Archer Bee...Black with yellow spots. Havent tried any of the bluegill colors.

As for worms...Mr. Bigs turned me on to the V&M Pork pin last year...I like them better than the Zoom Finesse worms. Cheers.

[Smalliebigs]

I remember going on a float in 1990 and putting in at huzzah valley and fishing where the spring comes in.

fishing from our canoe while waiting for the others with the the tiny rebel craw in the natural green color and in less then 5 mins caught a nice rainbow, and 2 smallies, one was about 12 and the second over 15, in the process of holding it up to show off being a 16yr old it jumped out of my hand with my lure still attached and broke the line. all i had left was 2 brown ones. they did not produce as many that the other does from all my other floats before. its been the old go to when other things are slow. i love using it as a topwater in the side pools just shaking it and not bring it under.

as for other lures.

tiny torpedo has landed me the second most along with my biggest

4" worms in drop shot especially in natural colors

all soft plastic craw baits work great

at night time all black 1/2oz. - 3/4oz. spinnerbait, hang on tight though your rod will get taken out of your hand

if not ready

Two things, one, Aftershock I totally agree with you on the Black Spinner bait thing at night. I use that that method on the lower Big an Meramec at night in the summer and your right hold on.I also use the black spinner bait @ Kentucky Lake, pre spawn, in the first 4 hours of darkness and only for about two weeks out of the year.You have to be on the LBL side of the lake in the first five bays from the darn.Slow roll a Black spinnerbait as close to the bank as you can and hold on!!!!! the smallies average 3 to 4 pounds and a few 5's every night...lots of fun. Mitch, if you are out there I am making you go with me to chase the pig smallies @ Kentucky pre spawn this year.

Two, Al, I tried your removal of the larger bearing in a Sammy 85 and wow what a difference!!!!! The bait walks like a dawg!!!! I used it this sunday on the lower Meramec and actually caught three fish. It is abundantly clear it makes this bait walk way better, thanks for the tip Al !!!

With out sounding like a biotch, I use whatever I have the most confidence in at the time, which varies a great deal.I deffinitely don't limit myself with what I will throw at a smallie. It seems like I always have two rods all the times, one with a bait that will get the most agressive fish in the water column, like a Sammy or a LC G splash or even a twitching,popping thang called a Chug Bug. The other rod will always have a soft plastic on it for the fish that follow and won't hit the topwater. The baits I use on the bottom are not your typical river baits like crawdads or trick worms, I use a lot of goofy creature baits some of you on here would find stupid but they seem to produce huge smallies.I always use a soft plastic bait that is extremely soft and long that has no real action, something that you can't swim.I always let the river dictate the motion of my soft plastics, the current is your motion.I virtually never carolina and almost always Texas rig on the river.

[Chief Grey Bear]

The baits I use on the bottom are not your typical river baits like crawdads or trick worms, I use a lot of goofy creature baits some of you on here would find stupid but they seem to produce huge smallies.

Who cares. You can't laugh at results!

Anytime you can produce fish with an uncommon bait, it makes others take notice.

[Andy & JoAnne]

Great topic. I love the "smash" on a topwater and my favorite is the Rebel Pop-R. However, for numbers and usually size, I prefer the Jig-N-Craw made by a buddy of mine from Harrison. Next to dynamite its the most productive smallmouth lure I have ever used Just kidding. All caught smallies go right back where they belong...in the creek.

[Smalliebigs]

Who cares. You can't laugh at results!

Anytime you can produce fish with an uncommon bait, it makes others take notice.

It's sooo true brother.....my buddies just give me grief about some of the soft plastic creature baits I use. Personally I think the two most important things to river fishing are observation and patience.Both are very broad terms and cover a huge area of fishing when it comes to rivers. Chief have you had the young one out yet or do you wait until school is out???