Smallmouth crankbaits

[Dan L]

I have great success fishing for largemouth bass with crankbaits. However I have had poor results using crankbaits for smallmouth bass. I basically use the same crankbaits for both. Do you guys have success using crankbaits for smallies? If so what crankbaits do you use? Also do you downsize at all? I mostly fish the Mississippi river for smallmouth.

[goblueM]

oh man cranks are my go-to for smallies. ESPECIALLY on the river. DTs, wiggle warts, shad raps, hard to go wrong.

[Grant007]

For river fishing I specifically like the storm subwart series (1.5") length. This is a shallow running crankbait (< 1') which allows it to avoid hang ups.I have had great success fishing the mississippi with this lure. Give it a shot!

[TonkaBass]

Wiggle wart is king!

[Jim Hudson]

Flicker Shads have put a lot of smallies into my boat the past few years.. Good crankbait.. Also, I do a lot of damage on DT series and Sebile ACast Minnow M95 MLL

[RumRiverRat]

Rapala DT4's and 6's

Bomber Square A's

Rapala DT-3 Fat

Crankbaits are the go to bait for me on the Mississippi.

[river rat316]

The square a don't work

[RK]

Hiya -

Big difference in river vs. lake cranks for me, although the lakes I fish are REALLY clear so that is a factor. River cranks for me though are Bomber 5A and 6As, DT-4s and Salmo Hornets. Salmos run great in current for some reason.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[TonkaBass]

The FLW on Lake Kentucky was won on a series 5 with all smallmouths every fish came off the same bait I the same spot everyday! Insane!

[popriveter]

My mississippi go-to smallie cranks over the past couple of years have been Storm Thundercranks (white has been best) and Berkley Flick'r Shads (red crayfish pattern has been best.)

In my boat, if crankbaits aren't producing, I would assume I must be too deep, too shallow, too fast or too slow. They seem to always pull smallies from rip rap.

My favorite non-crank river baits for smallies= tailspinners and rattlebaits

[EBass]

Crankbaits and rocks (rivers) are like peanutbutter and jelly.

[fishdale]

Bombers, Frenzy's and DT's seem to work for me. I like bombers better as they are industructable and cast better then the Frenzy's. Citrus shad and Firetiger are my go to colors.

I have one old beat up Citrus shad bomber 4A that has both eyes fished off and repainted on. That is my Favorite. Not sure how it has never been lost yet as I have broken it off a few times in the rocks and it always seem to float up after I break it up same lure also seems to be tree proof.

[mainbutter]

Small, silver-grey jointed floating rapalas used to be my go-to for smallmouth. I'm able to work 'em as a crank, floating erratic jerk, or wake/topwater. I love swimming it up at the surface leaving some ripples, then stopping and letting it sit, and BAM a fish smashes it. If I know where they are this is a pretty effective tactic for me.

A few summers ago, I spent an entire week-long smallmouth fishing trip up north fishing the same small jointed rapala and never took it off my line.

I now use a lot of senkos when fishing smallmouth water and don't fish the floating rapalas as exclusively, but they do catch fish for me wonderfully.

[RumRiverRat]

The square a don't work

Forget what I said earlier then.

[Central Bassman]

I'm looking forward to using the new KVD 1.5 and 2.5 this year... As many above I like the DT4's and DT6's. Strike King gets no love up here huh?

[RK]

I love Strike Kings. Catch an awful lot of summer LMB on Series 5s, and I about peed myself when I saw them come out with silent Series 5s and the 5XD. Some of the best colors available to begin with, and the new bluegill color is just sick.

[Turbodog]

I was watching a fishing show the other day cant remeber the name but the guy was crushing smallies in deep water i think it was on lake erie he was using DT20 that seemd like a huge crank for smallies but those erie smallies are somethin !

[goblueM]

smallies will attack anything. I've caught some of my biggest bass using musky tackle...

they will not hesitate to hit a large crank or jerkbait, and LOVE large topwaters

[mainbutter]

Agreed goblueM! While it's not the biggest crank out there by far, I have caught numerous smallies on the biggest husky jerks (~6'' long?)

[RumRiverRat]

I'm looking forward to using the new KVD 1.5 and 2.5 this year... As many above I like the DT4's and DT6's. Strike King gets no love up here huh?

I use them.

The 1XS is one I use on the Rum River a lot.

I have purchased a few of the 1.5 and 2.5 and look forward to using them. The Sexy Sunfish and Bluegill patterns are amazing looking. Should be good for Green Bass.

[RumRiverRat]

Agreed goblueM! While it's not the biggest crank out there by far, I have caught numerous smallies on the biggest husky jerks (~6'' long?)

HJ12's and HJ14's are great in the spring and fall.

Smallies when aggressive will crush almost any size lure.

[Religion_Of_Fish]

I personally don't fish a lot of crank baits, but that's because I do most of my smallie fishing from shore (river), and for whatever reason always find myself catching plenty on plastics, which i enjoy more so don't mess with crank baits. Also I guess I'm just as likely to use a fly rod. Anyway I like the ease of not messing with treble hooks and not getting hung up as much as well when shore fishing. If I were covering water in a boat and drifting quicker I would likely move to something that covered more water and got that reaction bite to find where fish are then slow things down if I wanted to work the spot. That said Crank Baits are something I wish I were better at, on many species not just smallies.

[delmuts]

I'm anxious to try the new KVD 1.5 ( baby bass without rattles, and fire tiger with rattles) i just got on the Miss. I had been holding off on ordering, but the Mrs. said she needed some razor worms!

[bigstick56]

I can't beleive no one has mentioned X-raps. I have been absolutly crushing smallies on these things since they have come out. size 08 or 10 in hot steel, ill take that lure over anything for fishing smallies...

[corncob]

Don't forget the skitterprop!.....Most use the skitterpop, but the prop version is a great bait for smallies.I fish it for suspended fish with sharp jerks and pauses.....Vicious strikes!