Smallmouth Crush Fishing Seminar Notes
Travis Manson “Smallmouth Crush” Seminar 2020
Finesse Fishing for Smallmouth
Finesse excels in negative weather patterns.
All finesse fishing is done on a spinning rod Medium-Medium Light. 4-6 pound fluorocarbon line, 6-8-10 pound braid to fluorocarbon leader.
Types of finesse baits and lures:
Small jigs 1/16-1/4oz.
Finesse tubes use a Medium rod. If there is a rocky bottom go with heavier line.
Variety of small soft plastics such as the hula grub.
Drop shots.
Smaller hard baits like cranks, jerks and topwater.
Finesse 2.8” swimbait fished on a swimming, ball or even on a Ned rig head. When dragging a swimbait on bottom try using a swimbait that will float. This will mimic a baitfish pecking off the bottom.
When fishing in heavy current such as on the St. Lawrence River, maintaining bottom contact is crucial.
Hair jigs in black, purple and olive 1/8-3/32oz. Slow reel in the middle of the water column like you would a finesse swimbait. Light hair jigs are best when fished in 12'.
A twist on the Ned rig is the TRD Bugz. Instead of the standard TRD use a creature style bait to show the fish something different.
When fishing deep usually use drop shots. When fishing shallow inland lakes use more small jigs.
