The Best Lures for Smallmouth Bass: Definitive Guide
The largemouth bass tends to get the most attention from the bass fishing community on a global scale. From Texas to Japan, they’re the dominant game fish. However, that doesn’t mean they’re the only targets that a bass angler needs to go after.
Smallmouth bass, or Smallies as we’ll refer to them sometimes, are just as valid as largemouth bass, and they can even be preferable for some anglers.
Specifically in states where the largemouth population is fairly small, but smallmouth tend to be more common and achieve more impressive weights. They also have a different way of fighting on the line while still being highly aggressive.
Today, we’re going to go over the best lures for smallmouth bass so you can get started hooking into these feisty fish.
1: The Whopper Plopper 75
The Whopper Plopper is a commonly used bait for both largemouth and smallmouth, but when it comes to Smallies, we specifically prefer the 75 variants. This is a shorter Whopper Plopper design that tends to engage the tail a lot faster when you start retrieving, and it’ll fit into smaller mouths a bit easier.
One key point about the “Whopper Plopper” is that it’s a name-brand product. It fluctuates in price from about $8 to $14, and our partner Tackle Warehouse usually has the best deal.
However, if you want to look around at different patterns or various takes on the famous bait with slightly different features, it’s called “prop bait”.
A Whopper Plopper, or any type of prop bait, floats on top of the water, and you retrieve it quickly. This causes its free-spinning tail to spin like a propeller and take a ton of action.
Not only do Smallies love this lure, but since it’s fast to use and easy to fish, it tends to be a good one for beginners who aren’t great at presenting lures, yet.
We recommend casting it past ambush points and zipping it back at full speed.
2: Whopper Plopper
We’ll keep this one brief because it’s essentially the same thing as the Whopper Plopper 75 that we talked about, but the original is longer. That can be great for providing a bigger presentation, but it also comes with a downside.
While the original Whopper Plopper works the same way as its smaller sibling, we find that it takes a little longer for the tail to start spinning wildly. On shorter casts, or when you’re putting the lure right on top of the bass, that delay might waste your opportunity to land a big fish.
With that being said, it still deserves to be mentioned, and sometimes, you do need a larger presentation to pull in bigger Smallies.
3: Keitech Swing Impact Swimbait
The Keitech Swing Impact Swimbait is an advanced version of your typical paddle tail swimbait. It’s a soft-plastic lure, and the tail resembles a paddle that waves back and forth in the water as it drops or you retrieve it.
However, it stands out in a major way.
Most paddle-tail swimbaits have the rough silhouette of a fish. This Keitech uses a typical worm-shaped body and head with “ribs” along it. The ribs ripple as the bait moves through the water, and it creates a more erratic, yet controllable, action in the water compared to traditional swimbaits.
These come in a lot of lengths, but we recommend sticking to the 3.5” version. At least, for your first few casts with it. If you think you need to go up or down in size, you can pay attention to what the fish are doing and decide for yourself. The 3.5” is the medium size for this lure.
One cool feature of the Keitech is it’s not just a soft plastic. Keitech impregnates these lures with squid scent, and the Smallies go crazy for it.
Scenting soft plastics during manufacturing is starting to be commonplace after Berkley used it as a trademark strategy to stand out on the market, but Keitech does it better than a lot of the other companies out there.
When it comes to using this for Smallies, you can use it just like any other paddle tail. Cast it out around cover and ambush points, and hop it throughout the water column. If the fish are after a faster-moving presentation, you can swim it back quickly with a straight retrieval and occasional pauses.
This is more flexible than something like a Whopper Plopper you only fish one way, but keep in mind that the lure is supposed to mimic a bait fish, and you need to present it as such.
You can fish these weightless, Texas rig them, stick them on an appropriate jighead, or even use them as trailers, too.
4: Keitech Easy Shiner
The Keitech Easy Shiner is similar to the Swing Impact Swimbait we just talked about, but it’s a lot more traditional.
It features a kick tail with a sleek fish-shaped body, and you can fish it the same way you would the Swing Impact. It also has the same super-effective squid scent.
However, it has a soft body, and that means you’ll probably need to switch each bait out after a couple of bass hit them. It also lacks the ribs of the previous option. So, you get a more natural presentation instead of an erratic one.
In our experience, these work great when you throw them weightless and let them sink, but they can also be great options for straight retrievals. Just make sure you keep the tail moving.
5: Curly-Tail Grub
You won’t see it on too many lists trying to show off the latest and greatest baits, but the good old curly-tail grub absolutely must go in your tackle box. Smallies love it, and it’s one of those lures that can be used in nearly any situation.
If you’re not familiar with them, curly-tail grubs are smaller soft-plastic lures that have a small tubular body, and then a tail that looks like a “U” comes off the end of it.
They’re simple and cheap, and you can find them everywhere. The brand and exact model usually don’t make too much of a difference as long as the plastic isn’t too stiff.
Since they’re cheap, grab some in a variety of colors, and try to get them in sizes ranging from 2 inches to 4 inches. You’ll want to go up or down in size depending on the season and water conditions.
There are a ton of ways to fish these. Texas-rigging them is difficult unless you invest in some smaller-than-average EWG worm hooks, but it can be done. One of the most common ways is to thread one onto a basic jighead and bounce it through the column.
Another way you can use it is to Twitch retrieve it. Reel it in straight to lift it, twitch your rod tip and pause, reel in the slack, and start twitching again.
The way this one works is that the “U” shaped tail starts flopping around in different ways depending on the speed of your retrieval and how you’re presenting the lure. Despite being cheap, it generates plenty of action, and you can adjust it with simple retrieval pattern changes.
6: Zoom Ultra-Vibe Speed Craw
Craws are some of the best creature baits available, and while they’re usually seen as largemouth baits, they can be great options for Smallies. Especially in the fall when crawfish are naturally maturing and becoming a much bigger part of a Smally’s diet.
This Zoom Ultra-Vibe Speed Craw provides a few good features on top of that tried-and-true craw presentation.
First, Zoom is known for being budget-friendly. Almost any angler can go to any store or tackle shop, and they’ll be able to load up on several colors of these lures. Zoom is often one of the first soft-plastic brands anglers deal with, but that doesn’t mean they’re lower quality than the Googans and other baits at twice the price.
Beyond the attractive price, the Speed Craws do live up to their name. They vibrate a ton due to their extra-soft “antenna” and “claws”. You can fish them faster along the bottom and get just about any predatory fish’s attention. Smallies snap them up in a heartbeat.
Unfortunately, you’re only going to want to use them one of three ways.
You can Texas rig them and bounce them on the bottom, thread them onto a football jig and bounce them on the bottom, or even bounce them on the bottom “weightless” style. In short, you are only going to be bouncing them on the bottom.
They’re not great for presentations that float around or swim fast. Craws can also be harder for beginners to present properly.
7: Worm Dropshot
This one is super simple, and we don’t need to spend too long on it. You’ve probably used it a lot for largemouth during the spawn. Take your favorite stickbait or worm-lure variety, rig it up for a dropshot, and toss it around. “Worm” lures are some of the easiest ones to use, and you don’t have to be too picky about the brand.
Our favorite is a good old Senko, but this works with almost any worm-style bait.
8: Crankbait
“Crankbait” is a broad term, but they all work the same except for the depth they fish at and whether or not they suspend. However, the category is a prime option for Smallies. Options like the Strike King Square Bill, Strike King Hybrid Hunter, Berkley Warpig, and similar cranks are all perfectly fine for Smallies.
We’d recommend tossing a few cranks in your tackle box and starting your trip with them. Just cast them out and pull them in along the cover and structure, and you should quickly figure out if Smallies are willing to bite them in the area. This is a great all-around lure choice like the Whopper Plopper, but it isn’t restricted to top water.
Identifying Smallmouth in a Largemouth Sport
As we said earlier, most anglers think of largemouth when they think of bass fishing. In popular media, that’s what gets everyone’s attention. If you’re new, identifying your bass species might be a little difficult. Especially with variants that look similar such as smallmouth and largemouth bass.
The key to telling you’re getting the right fish on the line with these lures is to look at the jaw’s pivot point. With a smallmouth, the jaw hinge is in front of the eye socket. With a largemouth, it’s behind the eye socket.
Smallies also tend to be a darker green all around with a very dark green top, and largemouth tend to be pale toward their belly regions. This can be difficult to see when they’re young. So, it’s always best to use the jaw hinge first.
Where to Fish with the Best Lures for Smallmouth Bass
You can rush to Tackle Warehouse and start ordering everything we’ve listed, but unfortunately, you won’t be achieving much if you don’t have a smallmouth bass spot to go to. So, you should probably figure that out first.
Unfortunately, while still common around the US, Smallies aren’t quite as predominant as largemouth. Some of you might have a bunch of awesome spots near your home, and some of you might need to travel a few hours or even wait until vacation time to target them.
The eastern states have a great selection of smallmouth bass spots, and they tend to be the areas where largemouth aren’t as common. Then, you have some options in the northern states toward the middle of the country. They tend to be a more northern species.
With that being said, they are stocked throughout the Midwest, and some lakes even stock them as far out as Texas.
If you want to find a good spot to use these smallmouth bass lures, your best bet is to check the BassForecast app for detailed maps that include fish populations.
Of course, if you’re too far out from one, everything we listed here is also known to work well with largemouth, and they’re almost everywhere.