Soft Baits

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.

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.

Hope Them Along Bottom

Swim Them

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

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.

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.  These are big baits for smallmouth bass though, so plan on getting some bites from bigger bass.

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