FAVORITE RIGS AND SETUP FOR SMALLIES

[Slip Sinker]

Share your favorite riggings and how you you utilize them to target the Small mouth.

[jim cosgrove]

i have great luck with 4 inch senkos.either texas rigged or broken in half on a jig that is light enough to tumble with the current on lift drop retrieve.when they are in the main river a blade bait or on those special days a pop r type top water.

[John Sheehan]

Sounds great Jim ! my nephew got some fish  with 4 "  Yamomoto worms on the Delaware river . Sometimes he'd use just 1/2 worm . We all got smallies on the Keitech ribbed worms with paddle tails .I think they were 3,1/2 "

[John Sheehan]

Specifically ,Keitech 'Swing Impact',they are ribbed paddle tail worms around 4".We used 16th oz jig heads .

[Slip Sinker]

Before I finally settled on this rig I was using expensive rubber bass jigs sometimes at 4.00 bucks a pop. I have lost many of those jigs to the jaws of Muskie and pike... set the hook at nothing but air... i finally discovered very good success with this jig by accident. i bought a pack of 3" power minnows as well as these for dropshotting the small mouth out deeper. The power minnow worked well for drop shotting but these didn’t do as well so i attached the ripple shad in olive to a  1/8 oz jig head after running out of rubber jigs and discovered a very good bite with these. Very versatile ... swimming dragging on the bottom or dead sticking proved very successful where ever I went. ... I caught a master angler white bass plus a plethora of other fish including walleye and jumbo crappie.. I use the 20lb braid because of all the stickups, snags etc where i fish... a good steady pull straightens the hook and I’m free to fish again.

[John Sheehan]

Fishing mostly for Smallies from shore ,rarely in a boat . I still need to find the ideal rods and reels but with a four piece Wright McGill pack rod/Penn Reel/6 # test, mono  and 2 piece St.Croix light rod/ Pflueger Supreme Reel/4 # test, mono  , I've been going this way . : THE ONE-TWO PUNCH! ,rigged with a topwater search bait( Pop R or Tiny Torpedo) and another rod with a follow up Crankbait , worm or Twister Tail grub when fishing during the day from shore ,is a great plan. .I like to hike around the lake and look for big boulders ,ledges  or other cover. I watch the wind and look for ambush zones where the bait may be blown to . I try to  get the smallies to reveal themselves with the topwater  bait . I don't always hook them but the active fish is spotted and I follow up and usually catch one or two with the follow up bait  before moving on . Of course the ONE-TWO PUNCH is a good strategy in rivers too!

[John Sheehan]

This is becoming a favorite low water  river Rig for multi  Species. Got 5 Smallies on it last time out on the river.It tok 14 fish in an hour and a 1/2 ,including a 21 " Walleye.  The 2" 'Easy Shiner' (Electric shad color) with added Spinner/Bead , Nickle #6 Aberdeen hook  . Opting to keep extra weight away from the bait I added casting and sinking weight by using two rubber float stops a good sized bead and clevis/spinner .Short casts on 4# but 2# gives extra distance . The float stops block the spinner and bead at any distance you chose ahead of the bait . Gives the illusion of a small fish in a vulnerable attacking or feeding mode.Keeping the spinner/bead 6" above bait is having the most success.

[John Sheehan]

Always manage at least one Smallie on topwater from shore in late September .Had a tough time getting the hook out of the 16" smallmouths lip. Released and swimming .Wish I got a pic . This same lure caught a Pickerel earlier in the year .
Reel: DAIWA SS Whisker 1300,6# test mono Rod: Med action Berkeley Bionix  Lure: Heddon Baby Zara Spook STERLING LAKE NY 9/2515  That combo handled the Smallie beautifully!

[Slip Sinker]

got the same lure... and it works great. i had a thought on a modification i want to do to the paint scheme on it.... i got so many huge hits on my slip bobber as i was dragging thru the water i want to duplicate the slip bobber colors and pattern on this bait! ... lol

[John Sheehan]

I had this lure picked out before I hit the lake .1st creature I saw when I got there was a frog !

RED AND WHITE SLIP FLOAT ?

[Slip Sinker]

Black , orange and white.... hehe...  i had so many LMB and SMB strike the bobber and hold on for a short fight  ...

just for S*** n Giggles ... just for fun

[Mark Sleeper]

Hi two of my favorite flies are Hans Hans rabbit strip jig, and the other is the jawbreaker, both flies are on you tube, they are my go to flies

[John Sheehan]

show us some pics please Mark.