CTFishTalk.com: Help with Smallmouth - Connecticut Bass Fishing ( CT Bass Fishing ) - A Community Built for Connecticut Fisherman.

basspredator · Joined: 14 Jul 2009 Posts: 11 Location: Lebanon, CT

I really want to do some smallmouth fishing but I don't know what baits to use I went down to the park in Baltic on the shetucket river and saw quite a few off them and I was using a 7 inch power worm they were biting it but not taking the hook so if anybody could give me some pointers it would be greatly appreciated thanks

metalfish · Joined: 10 Nov 2008 Posts: 317

If they were biting but no hook up, down size. Smaller worm. Also just me me. Fish alot slower and let them take the bait. I aint no smallie expert but just my FYI. Hope this helps...
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PECo · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 2906 Location: Avon, CT

Smallies love movement. Today, we caught a couple of two pounders and a three pounder on small original Rapalas trolled deep over submerged weeds. A football jig with a craw-type trailer dragged over a rocky bottom always seems to work around structure like bridge piers.
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basspredator · Joined: 14 Jul 2009 Posts: 11 Location: Lebanon, CT

Ya I have a small sized jerk bait in clear/silver color so I think I will try that tomorrow

anointed130 · Joined: 28 Apr 2009 Posts: 156 Location: Hartford,Ct

Have you tried using rooster tails, I usually catch them non stop with the trout colored rooster tails that are pink and green with a yellow skirt. A lot of fun using light tackle.
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basspredator · Joined: 14 Jul 2009 Posts: 11 Location: Lebanon, CT

thanks for all the tips, i went to walmart today and picked up 2 original rapalas small sized for 3-5 fow and 2 rooster tails and when i got to the river it was really high so i found a little cove that wasint running to fast and i tyed on my rooster tail and on the first cast i hooked up with a nice 1 pound smallie, shotly after i got a pickerel, and that was it for the day.

damage inc · Joined: 12 Feb 2011 Posts: 98 Location: Danbury

Screw Walmart! they are destroying this country by putting mom and pop shops out of business!

Ok now I'll get off the ol soap box..... Go get some Keitech Spider Grubs! You gotta use their jig hooks. They hold the Grubs just right.
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Hookset7073 · Joined: 09 May 2011 Posts: 29 Location: Northern CT

Panther Martins 1/4 ounce weight. Anything Panther Martin that size with any yellow in it crushes them. Use a football head or spot remover with fake Craw fish, preferably a YUM Crawpappi. You'll destroy em.
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flippy · Joined: 25 May 2008 Posts: 984

TUBES!!

G.Parker · Joined: 18 Apr 2011 Posts: 13

Hands down the best lure for smallies for me is a spinner or rooster tail like someone else said. When im on candlewood or lilly i will throw that all day and have a limit within an hour. Of course there are off days but when they are biting, thats my go to lure

sevnseat · Site Admin Joined: 02 May 2007 Posts: 602

My smallie fishing is usually later in the season when the water is warm and the river is a little lower, but I've always had really good luck with Yum Tubes in a darkish color (it's like olive and black specked, but looks pretty brown in the water.) I bought some special hooks that let me run them weedless with a weight inside the head. This will cut down on losing them, because you need to make it look like a crayfish on the bottom.

Cast out and let it sink with no motion at all. Then start bouncing it off the bottom, with a pause in between bounces. You don't want to go too much, because crayfish don't really fly up to mid-river. Just let it bounce with a slow retrieve and let it sit a little each time. It's always worked REALLY well for me.

A similar approach using 4" or 6" plastic worms, with a slider weight at the top has also always worked pretty well for me.

A note on the YUM Tubes - This happened last year to me, I bought a few bags of different colors. One of the bags smelled *really* plasticy/chemically when I opened it. I'm not sure what happened, but I'll tell you I didn't catch a single fish with tubes from that bag. The others were fine.

I've also found sometimes if you end up with a decent current, rig a plastic worm with no weight on it. Cast it midstream and then backreel so the lure is going away from you. Get it going a little slower than the current, and every once in a while, reel it back in a few cranks. I think it's just so bizarre looking that the smallies like it.

Anything with treble hooks, I've usually found in a river, just results in lost lures. You're going to lose them, plastics are cheaper!
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anointed130 · Joined: 28 Apr 2009 Posts: 156 Location: Hartford,Ct

I definitely agree with losing a whole lot of rooster tails and other treble hook products, sometimes on the first cast. Just have to break the line and retie. Plastics are definitely the cheaper way in the rivers usually in the form of a jig, but my sure way to catch smallies for me is the rooster tails.
_________________
"Come after Me, and i will make you to become fishers of men"

Can i be a fisher of fish too?