Our Top Baits for Smallmouth Bass

Like you, when we go out fishing, we want to catch fish. We will use baits that will produce fish in the conditions we are facing, whether we made them or not. Below is our list of baits which in our experience, produce the most consistent catches of good-sized Smallmouth Bass.

Wild Willy®- Overall, the best bait we have ever used for Smallies. Should be worked fast and erratically on the surface, in any conditions, to mimic a panicking baitfish. We have routinely had Smallmouth suspended at 20+ feet down, come up and smack the beejeezuz out of these baits on the surface!

If a Smallie smacks the bait and misses it altogether, just leave the bait where it is. It will suspend and then start to sink ever so slowly, slightly nose-down. Usually, the fish that hit the bait, will be sitting a few feet down watching it, intently. If you do not move it, he will think he stunned it and will come back and eat the bait. Sometimes, you might need to give the bait a couple of tiny twitches, to show the Bass it's still alive and could escape, then WHAMMMM! This could take up to a minute or more, but believe me, it's worth the wait! We usually catch numbers of 3 to 5lb+ Smallmouth using this exact method. These baits should get an Oscar!

Stop reeling for followers, so bait will turn 180º and promote a reaction strike. Swim subsurface on a darter jig or nail-weight to fish mid-depths. Hop off bottom on ballhead jig to mimic feeding baitfish.

Slick Willy®- Should be worked medium to fast on the surface in any conditions. Some fishermen think that this 5.5 inch long bait is far too big for Smallmouth. I can assure you that the fish wholeheartedly disagree. We have caught Smallmouth from 8 inches in size to over 6lbs, with these baits!

We would use the Slick Willy® when the Smallies show a preference for a slightly bigger meal or if the fish are aggressively attacking the bait but nipping at the back and we're not getting a hook into them.

If the fish doesn't get hold of the bait properly, it usually means that you need to change the presentation slightly. We usually throw the same bait back into the general area where the fish was and 'burn' it back to the boat as fast as we can reel and pop the rod as hard as we can. The bait will pop and skitter across the surface, creating a heck of a racket. This action is often met with a bronze bombshell hurtling out of the water to smash the bait!

If that doesn't work, it may be that the fish are in a neutral feeding mood. In this case, we simply push the hook further along the bait so that the hook point is positioned toward the rear of the bait. It doesn't affect the action much but will catch more of those short strikers.

Otherwise, the ability to call fish up from a great depth are as good and its suspending qualities are slightly better than the Wild Willy® and the bait tends to sink horizontally rather than nose-down. The Wild Willy® has a more pronounced turn-tail action.

If there are a number of fish in an area and the bite slows, we will change baits and/or change the hook position and line tension to make the bait react differently. A slightly different action or look will usually make the fish start biting again.

Ribbed Willy®- We would use the Ribbed Willy® when the water was murky or when fishing around cover. The extra vibration the Ribbed Willy® gives off, helps the fish to find them easier when visibility is reduced.

Atomic Wedgie®- The Atomic Wedgie's ability to promote reaction strikes from turned-off fish is uncanny. By popping it off bottom on a slack line, the Atomic Wedgie® will come up and then turn around and go back to its starting point. We have lots of underwater footage which shows that even fish in a negative feeding mood, will move toward the Atomic Wedgie® when it pops up. The bait then turns around, swims right into the fish's face and they will just open their mouths and eat it, without thinking.

Some top pro anglers find it works incredibly well as a dead stick bait. They cast it out and let it sit completely still for up to a couple of minutes to play a game of chicken with finnicky Smallies. The Smallies usually lose!

We use the Atomic Wedgie® in place of most of the finesse baits that you might use for Smallmouth; tubes, grubs, craws, worms, etc.

Tubes- Tubes usually work best with the lightest weight you can get away with for the conditions you are fishing. In shallow, clear water use a 1/8 oz jig head, for a slow seductive flutter. In windy conditions or deeper water, use a heavier head, perhaps up to 3/8 oz, to keep contact with the bottom. A good all round weight is
3/16 oz to 1/4 oz.

Because so many fishermen use tubes, they often have to be dragged, inch by inch for best results in clear water. Also, we have found that very natural colours are essential to success. Tubes should be fished a little more aggressively in murky water, so that the fish can find them easier.

Poppers- Work small poppers aggressively in lowlight conditions to draw explosive surface strikes.

Soft-Plastic Jerkbaits- I mention competitive soft-plastic jerkbaits baits only because they are very popular with many fishermen. And for very good reason, they certainly do catch fish.

However, the reason my partner, Bill Jones, invented the Black Mamba® baits was because all the other slug-type and shad-imitating jerkbaits just would not give him the actions or the fish-catching power he was looking for.

Most jerkbaits can only be used on light line, with light equipment. They only have a single hooking option and only one action. The Black Mamba® baits can be used on anything from light spinning gear to Muskie tackle with heavy line and steel leader, without destroying the action of the baits.

The Black Mamba® baits can be rigged pretty well any way you would rig any other competitive bait. You have several hooking options with the Black Mamba® baits, and all offer different fish-catching actions. The Black Mamba® baits will do everything the competitive baits will do , but a whole lot more besides. And all of those extras will catch you more fish.

I know that these are bold statements but I can assure you that they are all true. Anyone who has given the Black Mamba® baits an honest try, would agree with every word.

Spinnerbaits- In our experience, spinnerbaits either work great for Smallies or they fail dismally. There seems to be little middle ground. In clear water, use a colour closely resembling their forage. Most anglers tend to use white spinnerbaits with silver willow leaf blades. In order for spinnerbaits to work in clear water, you must fish them fast. Smallies will be out in open water with nothing to hinder their view of the bait and you can bet if they get a good look at it, they will not bite.

In off-colour water, I find that gold seems to work a little better and you can work the bait a little slower to give the fish a better chance of zeroing in on the bait.