Our team of avid anglers travels all over the country to not only fish but also work with other industry professionals — from manufacturers to local guides — to get more insight into gear, fishing locations, and useful tips for our audience.
We use those experiences to provide good usable accurate information when it comes to topics like best lures for this or that. And smallmouth bass is something we are passionate about, so you can trust us when we tell you some of the best smallmouth bass lures right now are old staple lures as well as new several new lures that we’re sure will become staples for avid anglers.
The Lure Categories
Smallmouth are as predictably unpredictable as any fish that swims. We generally know how to find them and how they’ll react on most days, but sometimes they completely flip the script on you —suddenly, they won’t touch the lure they were all over yesterday. It’s obviously what keeps us all coming back for more.
To help facilitate more consistent success, we ran down a list of our top smallmouth bass lures for this year, based on what’s been working around the country and the newer baits that have quickly proven themselves.
It’s all about imitating what smallmouth eat: crawfish, small baitfish, insects. So we’re sticking with baits that cover the water top to bottom and match the moods of fish season to season.
Our Picks for Best Smallmouth Lures
- Best Drop Shot Bait: Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Flat Worm [Buy from Bass Pro]
- Best Tube: Great Lakes Finesse Juvy Craw [Buy from Bass Pro]
- Best Spy Bait: DUO Realis Spinbait80 [Buy from Tackle Warehouse]
- Best Ned Rig: Z-Man Finesse TRD on a Finesse ShroomZ [Buy from Bass Pro]
- Best Jerkbait: Megabass Ito Vision 110 [Buy from Bass Pro]
- Best Hair Jig: Outkast Feider Fly [Buy from Tackle Warehouse]
- Best Swimbait: Keitech FAT Swing Impact [Buy from Bass Pro]
- Best Craw: Savage Gear Ned Craw [Buy from Bass Pro]
Sponsored
Panther Martin Deluxe Holographic
The inline spinner has its roots in 1930s France and trout fishing. Introduced to the U.S. in 1958, Panther Martin’s design featured a blade that mounted directly on the shaft rather than on a clevis. This allowed it to spin at much slower speeds. The inline spinner remains a numbers bait today, particularly favored by river and pond anglers.
I cast a Panther Martin Deluxe Holographic Single Hook inline spinner as a prospecting bait when fishing the edges of ponds. I don’t have trout or pike where I fish, so this is a bass lure I use for searching. What sticks out to me about the spinner is its vibration, plus its ability to handle current in creeks and ditches. This is one of the best baits to just cast and slowly retrieve, and a surprising number of species will bite it.
Best Drop Shot Bait
Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Flat Worm
It’s hard to argue with this lure’s immediate and lasting success in smallmouth fishing. The year it was introduced, anglers traded packs of Flat Worms for rods and reels — that’s how in-demand this bait was.
Now that it’s more readily available, the Flat Worm has become a staple in smallmouth fishing all over the country. It’s a dynamite shape, action, and scent for a drop shot, and for teasing big smallmouths into biting. It comes in good colors, although the scented material does limit the ability to make baits translucent.
Another of our favorite drop shot baits: Yamamoto Shad Shape Worm
Best Tubes
Great Lakes Finesse Juvy Craw
One of the cooler takes on tubes we’ve seen are the Great Lakes Finesse Juvy Craws. These miniature craws are perfect for smallmouth and, when paired with their Mini Pro Tube Head, it’s a bite-size morsel that fools smallmouth in crystal-clear waters when other tubes won’t. It’s compact, but it fishes like a bigger bait. I threw it on baitcasting gear and spinning gear alike, and found that it has a ton of appeal. This has quickly become my go-to craw and combo for fishing creeks and rivers for big smallmouths off the beaten path.
At 2 1/2 inches with two claws and two antennae, it hides your hook well. It also makes a realistic looking juvenile craw, a prime forage base for big smallmouths. The colors are awesome on these and the material is so durable that it doesn’t tear easily. I was able to catch a bunch of smallmouth on just one bait.
Strike King Coffee Tube
Micro tubes have gained a lot of favor with smallmouth anglers, and the Fat Coffee Tube is a great option. But day in and day out, the 3 1/2 inch Coffee Tube is our dominant tube for smallmouth. We’ve caught a ton on Kentucky Lake, Minnesota lakes, the Great Lakes, and more using this tube, and it’s our staple for wading small creeks. Slide a Strike King Bitsy Tube Crackin’ Tube head in it or if you need a more weedless rig, try the Jenko Trick Tube head.
Drag it, hop it, shake it, crack it. The Coffee Tube fishes well all over the country, and it’s great at mimicking crawfish, gobies, and small baitfish.
Other good smallmouth tube options: NetBait STH BaitFuel Finesse Tubes, X-Zone Lures X-Tubes
Best Spy Bait
Duo Realis Spinbait80
The Duo Realis Spinbait80 is the bait that put spy baiting on the map. It’s also one of the best options that consistently fishes perfectly to land lots of big smallmouths in a variety of conditions.
When I’m around smallmouth, I always have a rod with one rigged up because they produce so well in clear water when bass are feeding up on baitfish. I’ve caught them around stumps on Kentucky Lake and when fishing open water up north. They cast extremely well, have the best body roll in my opinion, and that subtle spin and flash make it the total package.
The bait is slightly less than 3 1/4 inches, weighs 3/8 ounce, and fishes well in that eight-17 feet range on light line. And it comes in so many great colors that you’re sure to find the perfect one for your fishing conditions.
Best Ned Rig
Z-Man Finesse TRD
The original is still one of the all-time best in sheer numbers alone. A lot of the top pros still throw the original Finesse TRD from Z-Man; it’s in our regular rotation because it just catches fish so well, from the bank out to 25 feet of water. It’s deadly in small streams, when fish are spawning, and out deep when they’re foraging on crawfish and small baitfish. It’s hard to not have a Ned-rigged Z-Man Finesse TRD up on a rod. We pair it with the Z-Man Finesse ShroomZ head and just go to work.
These Finesse TRD baits are 2 3/4 inches long, come in great colors, and for $4 you can catch an absolute pile of smallmouth bass on a single pack.
Other good Ned options: Yamamoto Yamatanuki 2.5, Rapala Crush City Ned BLT, Duo Realis Wriggle ND Slim 3″
Best Hair Jig
Outkast Feider Fly
Seth Feider will tell you he’s a largemouth guy, but he’s had so much success with smallmouth that he definitely gets your attention when he talks about his favorite smallmouth lures.
The Outkast Feider Fly was built to chase smallmouth shallow, and has been a dominant producer since it entered the market. When they are on a hair jig bite, you better have these on the line.
These are hand-tied with high-quality marabou to produce a lifelike plume in the water. They work very well in cold water where synthetic hair jigs struggle. They come in three sizes from 1/16 to 1/8, and come two to a pack in great natural color options.
Best Jerkbaits
Megabass Ito Vision 110
The Megabass Ito Vision 110 has been a staple for years when it comes to trophy smallmouth and sheer numbers of fish, and it’s hard to argue that it has lost any luster with fish. These baits still produce amazingly well for smallmouth, so we almost never fish without them in our boats.
With their sheer range of colors and perfect action, these baits have withstood the test of time. The Ito Vision 110 is 4 1/3 inches long, weighs half an ounce, and has a weight transfer system that makes casting these incredibly precise without detracting from its fish-catching action. And they come with the most beautiful details you will find on a jerkbait.
Rapala PXR Mavrik
Did you see the lead image for this guide? That’s the Rapala PXR Mavrik 110, which is shaping up to be among the best jerkbait the company has ever produced — and they have a storied history of great jerkbaits that have caught our team thousands of smallmouths over the years.
We were excited when the Mavrik jerkbaits were new, and we’re still excited about them years later. The PXR Mavrik 110 is 4 3/8 inches long, weighs 1/2 ounce and features No. 5 VMC RedLine hooks, which are the sticky sharp type of hooks we want on a jerkbait. And its unique internal weight system helps it cast like a bullet.
Best Swimbait
Keitech Swing Impact FAT 2.8 or 3.8
This is another staple that simply can’t be left off of a list of the best smallmouth-producing baits on the market. Again and again on a tough bite, the Keitech just produces quality fish.
It comes in a wide range of colors and sizes, but the beauty is in its perfect swim. It has a unique shape that makes it keel perfectly while body rolling and tail kicking in a way few smallmouth bass can resist. We’re always amazed how far these baits draw smallmouth — and how well the fish react to their subtle swim. Super slow or ripping fast, these swimbaits catch fish.
Our favorite sizes for smallmouth would have to be the 2.8 and 3.8 sizes on 1/8- to 1/4- ounce heads. Personally, I like to fish it on a screw-lock ball head like the VMC Hybrid Swimbait Head. You can check out our full Keitech Fat Swing Impact Review for more reasons why we love this bait.
Other Reliable Smallmouth Lures
Ark Topwater Blower Twitch
A good-sized walking bait such as the Ark Topwater Blower Twitch Pencil Popper flat-out generates big bites. It casts a mile, which is a plus when covering lots of distance and maintaining offset in clear water. This bait also draws in fish with the right blend of internal rattles and surface disturbance, and sticks and holds them with its three-hook design.
One of our team members had this to add: “I’m also a fan of the rear feathered treble, which seems to convert a few extra bites over a naked treble, especially when the bait is at rest. Excellent color options — I’d had this bait tied on and at the ready all summer and into fall. Catches smallmouth very well in rough waters and cloudy days, as well as sunny and calm water days.”
Savage Gear Ned Craw
This has become a Ned-rigging go-to for one of our Wired2fish teammates. Rig it on your favorite Ned head, and fish it on the bottom or through the water column.
He has the following insight and advice to offer: “I can put this setup in newbies’ hands, and they’ll consistently catch smallmouth. There are fisheries and specific times on many lakes where ultra-realistic crawfish imitating plastics outproduce conventional Ned rigs (stick baits) — when they get on the crawfish chew. The small 2 1/2-inch bait seems to be an optimal size that consistently gets bites. Fish hold on to it well, too. They’re super durable, being made from PTFE, which SG calls Duratech. Lots of natural colors so you can match your crawfish or experiment in general.”
Other smallmouth craws we love: Great Lakes Finesse Snack Craw, Berkley PowerBait The Champ Craw.
Great Lakes Finesse Drop Minnow
As bass-fishing circles continue to gravitate toward throwing jig and minnow combos while using forward facing sonar, one bait that remains popular for smallmouth bass is the Great Lakes Finesse Drop Minnow. Rigged on a simple ball head and just straight reeled, this has been a dynamite bait for summer fishing.
It’s also accounted for some big wins and finishes, and this plastic is equally as deadly on a drop shot. The small size, matte finishes, and subtle action gets bites from even the smartest and most leery of smallmouths. It’s 2 3/4 inches long, is available in a ton of natural and good-looking colors, and comes eight to a pack. And thus far, they have proven pretty durable when they come up against mean smallmouths.
Lure Companies
There are a lot of great companies making lures that will catch smallmouth bass. Some even make baits specifically designed for them: Great Lakes Finesse and even Rapala have made baits that focus on smallmouths.
Other bigger brands like Berkley, Strike King, Duo Realis, and Megabass have created offerings specifically geared toward smallmouth in their lineup of bass fishing baits. A lot of the northern companies — Rapala, Megabass, Outkast, and Great Lakes, for example — have an extensive background in testing baits on smallmouth waters, and offer a lot of solid options as a result.
Best Lures for Rivers and Creeks
For us, a small popper, a tube, a Ned rig, and something like a curly-tail grub or a small swimbait are hard to beat for smallmouth streams and rivers. You can pack everything into a small pack, grab one rod, and just go exploring. You really don’t need to make it harder than that.
We’ve had a lot of fun this year playing with bait finesse gear in rivers and streams for smallmouth bass. But all you need are a simple spinning rod with four-pound mono, a handful of 2 1/2 to 3 1/2-inch plastics, some 1/8-ounce jigheads, and a few hard baits, and you’re good to go.
