Smallmouth Bass Lures: 7 Picks and When to Throw Each

The best smallmouth bass lures look like a crayfish or a small baitfish, and you fish them slowly near rock. Start with a Ned rig: a 2.75 in Z-Man Finesse TRD on a light mushroom head. Add a tube, a suspending jerkbait and a drop shot, and you’ve covered most of the year. These picks come from two state agencies, two magazines, a tackle shop’s guide and the makers’ own specs. We didn’t test them on the water.

“Probably the best artificial baits are those used on the surface.” That’s Wisconsin DNR on smallmouth, so keep one topwater for the weeks after the spawn.

What are the best lures for smallmouth bass?

Seven lures cover the year. If you only buy two, buy the Ned rig and a tube.

Why so small and so brown? Wisconsin DNR says the smallmouth lives in rocky water “where its favorite food, the crayfish, is abundant,” in streams and lakes alike. Crawl a Ned bait or a tube in green pumpkin over rock and you’ve got a crayfish. Most of the rest are baitfish, for days when they’re chasing.

Which smallmouth lure should you use in each season?

Let the calendar pick for you. Find the row you’re in and tie that on. The name in parentheses is who says it. The bass water temperature page has the full temperature chart.

All year at Dale Hollow, TWRA’s short list is crankbaits, jerkbaits and jigs that look like crayfish or shad.

The spawn temperature moves a little by state. TWRA puts Dale Hollow’s spawn at 59–60 °F. Wisconsin’s DNR says 62–64 °F, though it has found fish spawning at 53 °F. Check your state’s rules on bass season before you fish the beds.

Jerkbaits, the pre-spawn smallmouth lure. Photo: Danndorfer1914, Wikimedia Commons (CC0).

Free PDF · Water temperature chart When do bass bite?

One reading, and the 16-page chart shows which of 26 fish are spawning, feeding hard or slowing down; for bass, crappie, bluegill and walleye, where they sit and what to throw. Every number sourced.

Your email address

Yes, send me the free chart

No card, nothing to buy, and the PDF is yours to keep. Confirm with one click and it's on its way. Then a few short emails and one a week on what's biting. Unsubscribe anytime. Privacy.

What size lure is best for smallmouth?

Go smaller than you would for largemouth. FishUSA says soft plastics in the 2.5 to 4 in range work in most situations. In clear or heavily fished water, dropping to 2.5 to 3 in can make a big difference.

Pick the head weight by depth, not by fish size. For the Ned rig, 1/15 to 1/8 oz is the standard range. Use the lighter heads in 3 to 8 ft and the heavier ones in deep water or current. A tube is the same idea. Bassmaster says Matt Sphar uses the lightest weight that still keeps contact with the bottom. For him that’s 1/4 to 1/2 oz, depending on depth and wind.

Here are the seven picks side by side, with the numbers from each maker’s own page.

Prices are as the makers list them in November 2026 and change often.

What color lures work best for smallmouth?

Start natural. Outdoor Life says watermelon and green pumpkin are always good bets, because smallmouth feed by sight and natural baits win in clear water. Red, pink and chartreuse catch fish too, in the right conditions.

Change with the water. In stained water, FishUSA goes to chartreuse, white or shad patterns with some flash. On overcast days or in low light, dark colors like black and blue can work well. For the drop shot, Outdoor Life’s colors are goby, black and Smallmouth Secret.

Which lures work for river smallmouth?

Go small and light. Wisconsin DNR’s advice for smallmouth is short: “Light tackle is ideal. Fish quietly, casting toward rocks or logs, keeping the rod tip up and the line taut.”

Take three lures to a river:

1. A size #2 inline spinner. Mepps says its #2 is excellent for smallmouth bass. Cast it toward rocks and logs, and reel slowly, since the Aglia blade still spins.
2. A tube or a Ned rig. Work it along the current breaks and the rock. Outdoor Life lists current breaks among the Ned rig’s best spots.
3. A small topwater. Twitch a Tiny Torpedo across a pool, or reel it slowly, as Heddon says.

Hellgrammites live under rocks in the fast parts of the same rivers, and they’re a top natural bait. More on them under live bait, below.

Inside a rigged tube: the head slides into the hollow body and the eye pokes out. Drawing: fishing.info.

The picks in detail

Z-Man Finesse TRD

This is the one to buy first, the bait Z-Man calls “the original 2.75” Ned Rig stickworm” on its own page. Its plastic floats, so the tail stands up off the bottom while the head sits still. FishUSA says that upright bait mimics a crawfish or a goby. Outdoor Life names it the best Ned rig bait and lists bluff walls, rock piles and current breaks as its spots.

Rig it on Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ, a mushroom head on a light wire hook, made from 1/20 to 1/5 oz. A wire keeper holds the bait without glue. One warning from Outdoor Life: this plastic melts when it touches other soft plastics, so give it its own box.

The Ned rig at rest, the bait standing up off the bottom. Drawing: fishing.info.

Zoom Salty Super Tube

On gravel and rock, the tube is the smallmouth bait. Outdoor Life and FishUSA both have one on their lists. Zoom says to “try the smaller size on a jighead for smallmouth, pitched into a wary female’s bed.” The Salty Super Tube on Zoom’s site is 3.75 in. The salt inside helps a fish hold on longer.

Slide a tube head inside, as the drawing shows. Wisconsin guide Chris Konop’s setup in Bassmaster is a 3 1/2 in tube on a 1/8 oz head. He fishes it in 3 to 10 ft in spring and fall, on 8 lb line. Drag it, let it sit, and set the hook on any weight you feel. Outdoor Life and FishUSA both pick the Strike King Coffee Tube at 3.5 in, a fine second choice.

Rapala X-Rap

The X-Rap is a suspending jerkbait, so it hangs still when you stop reeling. Rapala lists the XR10 at 4 in and 7/16 oz, running 4 to 6 ft. For smaller water there’s the XR08, at 1/4 oz.

Outdoor Life’s jerkbait pick is the Megabass Ito Vision 110+1, a 1/2 oz bait at $24.99. The magazine calls it expensive but “worth every penny,” and warns it snags on rocks and fallen trees. Start with the X-Rap and move up later if you want to.

Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Flat Worm

The drop shot is the rig for smallmouth sitting deep, offshore. The weight sits on the bottom and the bait hangs above it. Outdoor Life puts it “a foot or more off the bottom.” Berkley built this slim worm to quiver with the smallest movement. FishUSA calls it a go-to for 10 to 30 ft when the bite gets tough.

SteelShad Original

A blade bait is a thin metal lure that buzzes when you lift it. Outdoor Life says a blade “shines in cold water when smallmouth bass are targeting baitfish,” and its pick is the SteelShad. Ours is the 3/8 oz Original, a stainless body with a molded lead head and two #6 VMC hooks. Let it hit bottom, lift until you feel it shake, and let it fall.

Heddon Tiny Torpedo

Heddon says this small prop bait “makes a big disturbance on the surface” for its size, 1 7/8 in. Twitch it to froth the water, or reel it slowly. After the spawn, TWRA says to shift to topwater lures and swimbaits. Outdoor Life’s bigger topwater pick is the River2Sea Whopper Plopper 110 Silent. The magazine says it caught more post-spawn smallmouth than its writer can count.

For a swimbait in the same weeks, Outdoor Life’s paddletail pick is the Keitech Swing Impact FAT. Its crankbait is the Strike King 3XD, a mid-diver for before the spawn that runs 10 to 12 ft.

Mepps Aglia #2

This is the river lure. Mepps says its #2 spinners are “excellent for smallmouth bass and walleye” in its own tips. The #2 weighs 1/6 oz, and Mepps’s 2026 catalog lists the squirrel-tail #2 at $7.55.

What is the best bait for smallmouth bass?

If you’d rather use live bait, use what they eat. Wisconsin DNR names hellgrammites, dragonfly larvae and crayfish, and says they’re “especially effective during early morning or late evening.”

• Hellgrammites are the river classic. You’ll find them under rocks in the swift parts of streams and rivers.
• Crayfish are the favorite food, but check the rules first. In Wisconsin it’s illegal to have live crayfish while fishing on any inland water except the Mississippi River.
• Live shad are TWRA’s winter pick at Dale Hollow. Fish them, or other minnows, on a circle hook. TWRA says circle hooks cut the chance of a fish dying from a swallowed hook.

A hellgrammite, the river smallmouth’s bait. Photo: DellaRay923, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

What tackle do you need for smallmouth lures?

You can start with one light spinning outfit. Wisconsin DNR calls light tackle ideal.

1. Rod. A spinning rod. Texas pro Alton Jones fishes his cold-water tube on spinning gear, in Bassmaster. The Ned rig and the drop shot are finesse rigs too: light baits on light line.
2. Line. For tubes, use 8 to 10 lb test. Konop uses 8 lb line, and Jones uses 8 to 10 lb. On braid, add a fluorocarbon leader. Bassmaster pro Brandon Lester ties 10 lb braid to a 6 ft leader of 10 lb fluorocarbon.
3. The box. A bag of Finesse TRDs and a few heads, a pack of tubes, one jerkbait, one blade and one topwater.

You don’t need a casting rod yet. Add one later if jerkbaits and crankbaits become your thing. Tie everything on with a Palomar knot.

How we chose

A lure class made the list when a state agency named it for smallmouth or a magazine picked it for them. TWRA looks after the fishing at Dale Hollow, the lake of the world record smallmouth. Wisconsin’s DNR has the fish in all three of its drainage basins. Agencies came first, because they have nothing to sell. The models came from Outdoor Life’s list and from FishUSA, a tackle retailer. Sizes, weights, hooks and prices came from the makers.

Outdoor Life’s writer picked lures that produced for him over the years. We didn’t test anything. Keep your box small and learn the Ned rig first. The bass hub has the rest of the fish, and the best bass lures page covers largemouth.

Free PDF · 16 pages

Stop guessing. Know what's biting before your first cast

A whole Saturday on the water with nothing to show for it. One reading tells you who's feeding.

The Water Temperature Fishing Chart. Take one water temperature reading, find it on the chart, and see which of 26 freshwater fish are spawning, feeding hard or slowing down.

• Where bass, crappie, bluegill and walleye sit, and what to throw. Trout: the reading where you stop.
• Why a 3 ft drop beats a cold front, and what to throw each day of the front
• The three thermometer mistakes that make a reading lie

The chart's numbers come from state fish and wildlife agencies and fisheries research: 61 sources, each listed on the site.

Your email address

Yes, send me the free chart

No card, nothing to buy. Confirm with one click and the PDF is on its way, one version for your phone and one to print, yours to keep. Then a few short emails and one a week on what's biting, with an unsubscribe link in every one. Privacy.