However, it can resemble tadpoles and other river creatures. The single tail grub mainly imitates baitfish. I prefer using a 1/8- or ¼-oz darter-style jig head. This bait can be rigged in many different configurations. The single-tail grub is one of the oldest and most versatile of all the soft plastic lures.

Spinning Rod 6’-7’ (Fast/Medium Action).

The best colors for springtime are green pumpkin, pumpkin pepper, watermelon seed or shad colors such as pearlescent and silver-n-black sparkle. If you’re in a canoe or kayak, hover your boat near cover (such as a boulder or log) and vertically jig the tube around the submerged object. Retrieve the tube with a gentle lift of the rod tip, reel up some line slack, and let the lure flutter down to the river bottom again. Cast tubes into eddies or around boulders and sunken trees.

Foraging smallmouths cannot resist a baitfish in distress. This rigging allows for a more erratic behavior as it flutters to the bottom. I prefer to use an internal tube jig head which puts the weight inside the tube itself. They can be rigged in several configurations. A tube in the 3” to 4” size is ideal for river smallmouth. By their description, tube baits sound a bit complicated, however, they are almost as simple in design as a plastic worm. They actually kind of resemble a squid without a pointed head. The tube bait is a cylindrical, hollow soft plastic tube with a closed rounded head and a tentacle-covered open end. Tube BaitsĪ tube, sometimes called a “Gitzit,” is a soft, plastic lure that mimics a dying or injured baitfish. So, now that you’re armed with some of the “who/what/why,” let’s talk about some of my favorite lures that will help you take advantage of spring smallmouth behaviors. Tony’s Top Smallmouth Lures for Spring Fishing That is why smallmouth bass are aggressive and feed so voraciously in spring, as doing so builds up their strength and stamina for the long haul. Once they have spawned, the male cannot leave the nest in order to feed or risk losing the eggs to predators or other basses. However, that is just the beginning: next comes roaming in search of a female to bring back to the nest. The entire process of spawning takes a huge physical toll on the fish.īuilding the nest, for example, is extremely physically tasking. I have caught pre-spawn smallmouths that regurgitated baitfish when I was releasing them. This forces smallmouths to focus almost totally on baitfish as their main source of food. Crawfish spend the winter months burrowed in muddy banks and do not emerge until late spring. When smallmouth bass begin their pre-spawn feeding cycle in early spring, crawdads are still in hibernation. If you catch a bass with a bloody tail, please release it immediately where you caught it so it can return to the nest and continue guarding the eggs. Building the nest damages the bottom of the male’s tailfin leaving it bloody and sometimes partially worn off. After spawning takes place, the female departs the nest and the male remains to guard the eggs until they hatch. The spawning beds can range in size from 14” to 30” in diameter. This is why bass choose the fine gravel as it is easier for them to manipulate. The male builds the nest by fanning the gravel with the bottom of the tail fin creating a large depression or “bowl” shape in the river bottom.

Smallmouth and largemouth bass make their nests in sheltered eddies off the main channel where the bottom consists of fine pea-sized gravel.

I have seen smallmouths on their nests as early as the first week of April. This typically occurs from late April to early June, depending upon whether or not we are having a cooler or warmer than average spring. This is just about the same time as largemouth bass. Smallmouth bass normally spawn when the water temperature reaches 60 to 70 degrees. Knowing this helps you better understand why these lures work, which enhances your ability to reel in fish. Spring is definitely in the air around Ponca, which means IT’S TIME FOR THE SMALLMOUTH BASS SPAWN and my “ Top Ten Spring Smallmouth Fishing Lures” for the Buffalo National River!īut first, let’s talk just a little bit about what’s going on beneath the river’s surface and in the minds of the smallmouth. Whitetail deer and elk have shed their antlers and are already growing new ones for the coming year. Native wildflowers are gracing the Buffalo’s hiking trails and waterfall areas with their beautiful blooms. Spring has once again returned to the Buffalo National River and Ozark Mountains.

Bass fish lures