Blade baits can be very effective, however, they definitely aren’t the go to bait for most anglers. Most anglers will vertical jig them, however, a steady retrieve also can be effective.

Steady Retrieve

This is one of the most realistic looking blade baits on the market.

Heddon Sonar Flash Blade Bait

This has been a popular blade bait for years.

Crankbaits are a versatile and effective lure choice for targeting smallmouth bass.  They mimic the movement of baitfish and can cover a lot of water, making them ideal for finding active bass.

Lipless Crankbaits

Shallow Divers

Medium Divers

Deep Divers

Berkley hit a home run with this lipless crankbait.  They have a huge variety of colors as well.

LUCKY CRAFT LV-500 Max ~Lucky Vibration Lipless Crank

This is a higher end crankbait, but worth the money if you’re looking for a quality bait that catches fish.

Dr.Fish 3 Pack Lipless Crankbait VIB Hard Bait

These baits are awesome and priced so low that every angler can carry these in their tackle box.

Smallmouth bass will eat swimbaits, but it’s best to downsize to 4 to 5 inches to match their smaller mouths. You can still catch nice smallmouth with 6 or 7-inch swimbaits, but you will get a lot less bites when throwing them.

Swim Them Slow & Steady

They have plenty of action, so keep it steady and you’ll get bit.

Jerkbait Retrieve

Sometimes, the bass don’t want to eat the bait with a steady retrieve.  Use a jerkbait retrieve and see what happens.

This bait looks so realistic in the water.

Real Fish 4″ Spring Shad Multi Jointed Swimbait

This is one of the best looking hard swimbaits on the market.

Real Fish 8″ Spring Shad Multi Jointed Swimbait

This is a big swimbait that was made to target big fish and it does just that.

Jerkbaits are excellent for catching smallmouth bass. They work well for targeting suspended bass in deeper water and for attracting bass in shallows feeding on baitfish. Regardless of the method, jerkbaits are effective for catching quality bass.

This jerkbait is one of best jerkbaits if you’re looking for action with an occasional bigger bass too.

Rapala X-Rap Jerkbait XR10 Fishing Lure

This has been one of the best jerkbaits for so many years and it still holds its spot near the top with all the awesome new baits on the market.

Berkley Stunna Fishing Hard Bait

Wow!  This jerkbait is awesome.

This is one of most awesome-looking glide baits on the market and it catches bass.

Berkley PowerBait Nessie Fishing Soft Bait

The Nessie is gaining popularity quickly.  This bait can catch good numbers of bass with big bass too.

Bassdash Swim Shad Glide Bait

This is a cool glide bait that won’t break the bank.

Strike King makes some awesome wake baits.  Just like their crankbait line, you have many different options for their wake baits too.

Strike King (HCWS2-568) Wake Shad

Another awesome wake bait from Strike King.

Bass Jigs work great for smallmouth bass, although, most bass anglers prefer to use these types of jigs for largemouth bass.  The smaller, finesse bass jigs tend to yield better results for numbers, but the regular bass jigs will catch some impressive smallmouth bass.

Flippin’ Jigs

Your all-around jig that works for many different situations.

Football Jigs

Football jigs are a favorite among anglers who enjoy using the crawling technique.

Skipping Jigs

These jigs skip easier so you can get these jigs further under docks, trees, boat houses and other tough spots to fish.

Swim Jigs

Sometimes, you just need a jig to swim for bass that are chasing bait fish.

The Hack Attack is an awesome flipping jig.

Strike King (TDJ34-46) Tour Grade Football Jig Fishing Lure 3/4 oz

This is an awesome football jig.

Strike King Tour Grade Swim Jigs Bait

Strike King makes on of the best swim jigs on the market.  Add a swimming trailer and get ready to set the hook.

Strike King Strike King Tour Grade Skipping Jig Oz

This jigs skips like a boss and has a high quality hook.

Bladed swim jigs are effective for smallmouth bass, offering a blend of a jig and spinnerbait. Simply cast and retrieve them with a slow, steady retrieve.  The vibration combines with their action is an awesome combination for attracting smallmouth bass.

Curly Tail Grubs as Trailers

Ringworms as Trailers

Swimbaits as Trailers

The Chatterbait is the original and still one of the best bladed swim jigs on the market today.

Reaction Tackle Tungsten Bladed Jig Heads

Reaction Tackle makes some really good bladed swim jigs.

Goture Bladed Jighead

Goture has a 5 pack kit with some nice bladed swim jigs.

These are some really nice bucktail jigs for a good price.

Dr.Fish 5 Pack Bucktail Jigs

They have a nice 5 pack for a reasonable price.  These jigs look great.

Blue Fox has been one of the classic brands for inline spinners.  They make some great spinners that catch good numbers and big fish too.

Wordens Original Rooster Tail

The Original Rooster Tail has been catching bass and other fish for many, many years and it still produces today.

Most spinnerbaits can benefit greatly by adding a trailer with a swimming tail.

Curly Tail Grubs

There are so many curly tail grubs on the market, which makes this an easy bait to match with colors and sizing with your favorite spinnerbait.

Ringworms

These are one of the most under-rated trailers for spinnerbaits.  Try them.  You’ll be happy you did.

Swimbaits

Swimbaits are great trailer for spinnerbaits.  This is one of the better big bass search tandems on the market.

Booyah makes some of the best spinnerbaits on the market.  This is just one of them.

USA BASS Tackle Apache Attack Spinnerbait

This spinnerbait is super sharp and looks great in the water.

Strike King KVD Finesse Spinnerbait

The KVD spinnerbaits are flat out awesome.  This is just one of many awesome Strike King Spinnerbaits.

Strike King Tour Grade Spinnerbait

This is another awesome spinnerbait by Strike King.

Curly Tail Grubs

These baits look great on an underspin and bass love the combination.

Swimbaits

Smaller to medium-sized swimbaits look great on most of the better underspins on the market.

They hit a home run with these.  They hold soft plastics well and look great.

Owner 5164 Willowleaf Flashy Swimmer with TwistLock Centering Pin

This might be the best underspin on the market.  Owner did an awesome job with this one.

Use a casting spoon that is similar to the baitfish smallmouth bass will be feeding on.  If you can match the colors somewhat closely, you will catch more smallmouth bass.

Try to avoid all of the big, bulky spoons that so many anglers use for salmon, big trout and northern pike.

This is one of the coolest spoons on the market and it performs better for bass than the traditional spoons.

Crocodile Spoons Fishing Lures 1oz

A nice spoon for targeting quality bass and other fish too.

A nice spoon that gets a lot of action when the water gets cold and the bass go deep.

Cotton Cordell C.C. Spoon

Cotton Cordell makes a good jigging spoon that just catches fish.

Buzzbaits are one of the most exciting topwater lures to use because the explosions can be absolutely incredible.  This is a lure that attracts aggressive bass and it works very well during the early morning and evening hours.

Booyah makes some of the best buzzbaits on the market.  They swim great, make tons of noise and catch quality bass.

Strike King Tour Grade Buzz Bait

Strike King knocked this one out of the park.

Chuggers (poppers) are popular among topwater bass anglers.  Use a quick twitch-and-stop retrieve when bass are aggressive, or a stop-and-go technique with longer pauses when they’re less active to entice them to the surface.

This is one of the cooler-looking poppers on the market.

Yo-Zuri Yo Zuri 3 D Inshore Popper

This was made for saltwater, but it’s one of the better poppers for bass fishing.

Floating minnows mimic the natural movement and appearance of baitfish, making them appealing to bass, particularly during their feeding times.  Use a twitch-and-pause technique to imitate an injured baitfish, triggering strikes during pauses.

This size is perfect for lots of action.

Rapala Original Floater 11

Upsize a bit to target quality bass.

Propbaits are thrilling topwater lures for bass fishing.  You can use a steady retrieve or a twitch-and-pause technique, with the latter often being more effective since most bass strike during the pause.

The Heddon Torpedo is a classic topwater lure.  It works so well with a twitch, twitch, pause technique.

Berkley Spin Rocket

This is a really cool propbait by Berkley.

The rotating tail creates commotion on the water’s surface, mimicking fleeing baitfish or other prey, which can attract bass.  The spinning action and splash draw attention from a distance, making it ideal for targeting bass in both clear and stained water.

The original rotating tail bait is still the best one on the market.  Once you use a whopper plopper, it is hard to go back to other topwater lures because the strikes can be unbelievable on these lures.

ODS Plopper Topwater Lure

This is a really nice rotating tail topwater lure for the price.

Crawlers are highly effective during the day but excel as topwater lures for night fishing. Bass can easily track the steady, slow retrieve of this lure at night, often leading to bites right next to the boat or along the shoreline.

This is one of the classic topwater lures of all time.  It doesn’t always perform well, however, in certain situations, this can be your best lure in your tackle box.

Heddon Crazy Crawler

This is a really neat topwater bait.  Fish it slowly along the surface and hang on.

Stickbaits create an exciting walk-the-dog action on the water’s surface.  This retrieve, combined with pauses, can attract aggressive bass from a distance, often leading to powerful strikes.

One of the all time great walk the dog baits and it still performs great today.

Heddon Super Spook

Upsize a little and this is one of the better topwater lures for targeting quality bass.

Soft Crayfish Baits

Soft plastic crayfish are great baits for smallmouth bass.  These baits are awesome baits for catching good numbers of bass and very large smallmouth bass too.

Crawl a Crayfish Along the Bottom

Hop a Crayfish Along the Bottom

Use as a Trailer

Tubes

This is an outstanding trailer for bass jigs.

Strike King Rage Tail Chunk Bait

Strike King makes some awesome trailers for bass jigs and this is one of them.

Berkley PowerBait Craw Fatty Fishing Soft Bait

This bait is big enough to attract bigger bass, but not too big for the action-sized bass too, so you can get good numbers plus big bass.

Yum Lures YCW321 Christie Craw Soft Bait

YUM made an awesome crayfish bait and it is very inexpensive, yet will catch plenty of bass and big bass too.

YUM Tube

Good tubes at a good price.

Strike King Tube

Strike King has a great selection of tubes and they are reasonably priced.

YUM Vibra King Tube

This tube is unique.  The rings creature a little more of a disturbance in the water, which helps draw bass to this bait.

Creature baits are popular for largemouth bass fishing, however, some of them work very well for smallmouth bass as well.  Their unique designs, with legs dangling in various positions, create enticing action that excites bass.

Crawl a Creature Along the Bottom

Hop a Creature Along the Bottom

Use as a Trailer

The YUM Wooly Bug is a classic creature bait.  The larger size works great by itself and the smaller size is awesome as a trailer on a bass jig.

Strike King Rage Magnum Bug 4.5

This is an awesome creature bait and it catches quality bass too.

Strike King Rage Bug 4 Inch

The Rage Bug is the perfect size for action and quality bass.

Grubs are one of the most popular lures for catching smallmouth bass.  Whether you choose to vertically jig them, hop them along or swim them, you have several options for catching bass.

Hop Them

Swim Them

Kalin’s has some of the best curly tail grubs on the market.

Yamamoto Gary 4″ Fishing Single Tail Grub

Yamamoto makes some very good curly tail grubs as well.

Soft plastic lizards can be very effective for smallmouth bass at times.

The spawning time is the most popular time of year to fish these lizards as smallmouth bass are very protective over their beds and they do not like lizards coming anywhere near their bedding areas.

During the rest of the year, you can still catch them with lizards.  Hop them along rocky bottoms and you’ll get some bites.

Crawling a Lizard

Hopping a Lizard Along Bottom

Swimming a Lizard

Big Lizards Catch Big Bass

Zoom makes some awesome lizards.  Bass love them and they are reasonably-priced.

Berkley PowerBait Power Lizard

The PowerBait Lizards looks great and has their special scent, which makes bass bite and hold on for just a little longer than most other lizards.

Strike King Rage Tail Lizard Bait

This is a nice lizard bait by Strike King.

Skirted twin tail grubs, also known as spider jigs, are excellent baits for targeting smallmouth bass.  They are one of the best baits for smallmouth bass fishing.

The Hula Grub is one of the best skirted twin tail grubs on the market.

Chompers Twin Tail Skirted Grubs

Chompers has a nice skirted twin tail grub as well.

Soft plastic minnows are highly effective for smallmouth bass.  With numerous options available in various sizes, shapes, and colors, anglers have plenty of choices for effective presentations.

Smaller, Finesse Minnows

Slowly Through Water Column

Hop Along the Bottom

Jerkbait Minnows

Slowly Through Water Column

Work Along the Bottom

This minnow is super realistic-looking and perfect for lots of action.

Berkley PowerBait Minnow

This is one of the best smaller minnow baits on the market.

Dr.Fish Soft Jerkbait Minnow

This minnow looks awesome and is easy on the budget.

Z-Man Scented Jerk ShadZ Bait

Z-Man makes a nice jerkbait minnow and the added scent helps keep the bait in their mouth for just a little bit longer so you can get a good hook set.

Soft plastic leeches are effective for smallmouth bass and can be fished on various rigs, including jigheads, drop shot rigs, shaky head jigs, and weightless rigs.

This is an awesome leech bait to use.  Fish it on a drop shot rig and make it dance.

Berkley Gulp! Alive! Leech

One of the best leeches on the market.

Soft swimbaits are effective for smallmouth bass.  With many options available, you can choose pre-rigged swimbaits or soft swimbaits that separate from a jighead.  Simply pair your favorite swimbait with the right size jighead or swimbait hook for successful catches.

Swim Them

Pre-Rigged Swimbaits

Good action and comes in a variety of sizes.  Reasonably priced as well.

Z-Man TRD

This is an awesome swimbait.

TRUSCEND Pre-Rigged Swimbait

This is a good-looking bait and it comes in a variety pack.

Chunk worms have gotten very popular for smallmouth bass.  These baits have become an awesome action bait that will also catch big bass too.

Perfect size for lots of action.

Yum Lures YDG

Awesome baits and priced to sell.

Curly Tail Worms are one of the best soft plastic baits for bass fishing.

Bass Love Curly Tail Worms

Hope Them Along Bottom

Slowly Through Water Column

Swim Them

Finesse Sized 4-6″

Average Size 6-8″

Bigger Worms 8-12″

YUM Ribbontail Worms have tremendous action and are very affordable.

Berkley PowerBait Power Worms

These curly tail worms are some of the best on the market.  Bass bite and hang on for longer than other worms.

Zoom Curly Tail Worms

Zoom makes a nice curly tail worm as well.

Finesse worms are extremely popular for smallmouth bass.  A drop shot rig and a finesse worm is the most common way to fish these baits, but you do have lots of options since finesse worms are very versatile.

Hope Them Along Bottom

Wacky Rig Them

Zoom makes an awesome finesse worm that looks great on a drop shot rig.  They are reasonably priced as well.

Strike King KVD Filler Worm

This is an awesome finesse worm.

Floating worms are unique because they lift up off the bottom.  Fish them slowly and allow the soft plastic baits to float up.  This elevated position makes them more visible and appealing to hungry smallmouth bass.

This is a great worm.  Many people buy it to fish for trout, but it catches plenty of bass as well.

Z-MAN Floating WormZ 7 inch Trout Worm

This is another good floating worm that appeals to bass.

Paddle Tail Worms are great baits for smallmouth bass.  Hop them along the bottom or fish them like a jerkbait and you can do really well with them.

Use a Jerkbait Retrieve

This is a really good paddle tail worm.

Ringworms are one of the better action baits you can use for smallmouth bass.  These smaller worms will catch lots of small bass, but they will also catch some bigger smallmouth bass too.

Ringworms are one of the most popular types of curly tail worms you can use for smallmouth bass.

Swim Them

Hop Them Along Bottom

Use as Trailers

Zoom makes an awesome ringworm.

Swimming Worms are becoming more popular as newer worms have made their way to the market recently.  These worms are a nice option for anglers who enjoy swimming curly grubs and ringworms for smallmouth bass.

These swimming worms are a little thicker and longer, which make them a similar bait, but it does appeal to larger smallmouth bass more consistently than the other baits.

4″
Awesome Action Baits

5″
Good Size for Action & Quality Bass

Bigger Swimming Worms Target Big Bass

This is an awesome search bait.  The only knock on it is that the bait is so soft that the tail can rip off easily.  When it does, turn the bait into a ned worm and keep fishing it.

Yum Lures Yum Swim ‘ N Dinger

This bait is awesome.  It has the same problem as the swim senko as the tail can rip off easily, however, you can turn this bait into a wacky worm or ned worm once the tail gets ripped off.  Bass love it either way you fish it.

Wacky worms have become one of the best baits to use for targeting bass.  This is the easiest bait to use as you can literally just cast it out and do nothing as it falls down through the water column.

Add some small twitches and pauses and you can fish the bait well can catch some very large smallmouth bass to go along with good numbers of them.

Fish Them Weightless

This is the most popular way to fish these baits.

Add a Light Weight

For many situations, a light weight weedless jighead is actually a better way to fish these baits.

Texas Rig Them

The action isn’t as good, but so many anglers swear by this techique.

4″ Wacky Worms

Perfect for action.  Expect to catch lots of smaller bass with some bigger bass mixed in.

5″ Wacky Worms

This is the standard size for most anglers.  Catch good numbers of bass with plenty of bigger bass too.

Even Larger Wacky Worms

Some manufacturers do make some very large wacky worms.  Anglers target big largemouth bass with the 6 and 7 inch wacky worms.

This bait is the original wacky worm.  They have excellent action and are a favorite for so many anglers today.

YUM Dinger

The YUM Dinger is one of the lowest priced wacky worms on the market that also works excellent.

Kalin’s Wac-O Worm

Kalin’s makes a very good wacky worm and the price isn’t bad either.

Search Wacky Worm Kits on Amazon

Shop Wacky Worm Hooks

Shop O-Ring Tools

Shop O-Rings