I am by no means an expert, nor do I claim to be, but I do manage to catch a few fish. I have been fishing for 40+ years and would like to think that I have learned something.
Below, I'll go over some of the tactics I use. I'm sure some will be old hat, but if you can pick something up here that you haven't tried and it works for you, then send money. Just kidding, glad I could contribute.
Where to start. A creature of habit and somewhat predictable as to where to find them on a lake. But as far as what they're going to hit, now there's the rub.
You're going to find that I sort of lean toward jigs and natural baits, but do not fear, I have just as much junk as the next guy.
Locally, here in N E Pennsylvania, Smallies are more in the minority in lakes as opposed to Largemouth, but we do have our share of good Smallie waters.
Most are fished in the classic manner, rocky shoreline, shoals and submerged timber. For me, I'll use a jig tipped with a minnow or a crawler 8 times out of 10. If fish are finicky,I'll sometimes slow drift a crawler or crayfish on a single hook, with the smallest shot possible on, over the area. This will usually produce a strike. If this don't work, head back to the cabin and kick back awhile, the fish aren't biting.
Trolling, I favor, Hot-n-Tots, Brokenback Rapalas, Wally Divers and Ripplin' Redfins, with blue or black over silver on all four types.
On the lake I fish in Quebec, the Smallies tend to behave a little different. They will still hold on the shoals and rock, but they love the sandbars. Even at mid-day with full sun, no cover, not a minnow or a crayfish or a leech in sight. Just sand. You'll find them cruising the bars. Good set of polaroids and a good pair of eyes an your in sight fishing heaven. Now the water there is gin clear and 15'-20' of water is not a problem for seeing fish. My favorites on the bars are a crayfish crankbait(orange belly, back color doesn't seem to matter),1/8 oz.white hair jig with a #1 hook(friend ties them up) tipped with a crawler, or a crawler rigged carolina style.
Don't troll for smallies much in Canada, don't have to.
Along the ledges, if I find Smallies holding at 20' in 25'-30' water, I'll find them holding at 20' in 50' of water. I'll toss the same jig set up, of all the colors, they like white the best, or I'll go to a crawler, light shot, with a double snell hook setup and work that 20' depth in and out of the shore.
You cannot use live minnows or live crayfish in Quebec,of course, the few I will keep for the pan are full of crayfish. Rarely will you get one with a minnow in it. Yet if you put a dead crayfish on, I don't care how you work it, if you listen real close, you can hear the Smallies laughing. They will NOT take the offering. You tell me. Either I don't have the finesse or they just know.
In New York, on Black Lake or Lake Ontario, I'll fish pretty much the same as my home lakes. Same type water, same structure types.
Topwater, by far the most fun way to fish these guys.
I like a Pop-R, Spook, Jitterbug, Torpedos, spinnerbaits and Buzzbaits.
Pads and grass at early morning and last light is most likely where you'll find me running these.
Later in the day, time to switch to rubber worms or twister tails on a jig. Little deeper water, windward side on deadfalls or deep weed beds.
Yes, I'll use livebait on these guys too. The 2 biggest Largemouths we have ever gotten in Black Lake were on back to back casts with a 5" DEAD chub, right in the middle of Lonesome Bay in 8'- 9' of water. A friend, Dave, caught both these guys. We were bustin on him for dragging this ugly chub around and in a matter of 20 minutes, he had 13 lbs of bass in the boat and his brother and me were skunked. We couldn't get a dead bait on fast enough. All I got was a Channel Cat, but at a respectable 9 lbs. All his brother got was a dandy sunburn.
With bait, I'll rig a small (1") bobber with the bait 24" below and work the shorelines along weed beds. Sometimes you'll hit them running the shore side of the beds in the morning. Deeper water, just keep moving the bait down or change to a slip bobber for casting reasons, plus, with means of a graph you can pretty much stick it right in their face, how can they resist.
With spinner and buzz baits, I prefer to use the smaller size ones. I think they are easier to place on a cast. They run easier through tighter spots and high grass and as far as I can tell, the bass don't seem to mind.
For Northern, I am partial to using live bait. Suckers are first choice if available, next being creek chubs and third, shinners. Size wise, I prefer them 5"-8".
Depending on locale, on a calm day, if I'm over water 15' or better, I'll free drift them with just enough weight to keep them in the bottom third of the column. Any shallower and I lean toward using a float 2"-3" dia. and still keep the bait in the bottom third. Hook location is just behind dorsal but I will sometimes move closer to the tail.
If there is a breeze, I'll move my hook-up to the head. Straight up through the top of the head. Offset enough to not kill the bait. Sometimes I might rig the bait on a large walleye type spinner rig which I tie up myself.
In shallow weedy bays, Bait, ran shallow under a float, is still my first option.
Early morning, a large buzz or spook is a favorite of mine. Large sluggos, I found some 9" or 10" that work pretty well. As the day moves on so do I. This is when I'll switch to bait and move gradually out to deeper water.
Evenings, before the Northerns shut down for the night, it's time to move back to the shallows. Surface plugs are the preference again now. Worked throught the weeds and pads, they can produce some explosive strikes. When you start raking your plug through the weeds and they miss it, like they usually do, keep it moving, don't let up on the retrieve. It really drives them crazy. They will continue to smack that baby till they finally hook-up.
Big Bucktail spinners are a winner as well. I like to use these on the St. Lawrence. I twist my own up. I like a Indiana style blade (#6), mostly with a red body and a little white. I will tip these with a Bass strip (4"0). Seems to trigger a faster strike.
Spoons, not a stand-by but I will use them. Favorites, red & white Daredevil, yellow 5 of Diamonds, Doctor's, Speedy Shiners, William's and Red Eyes. Tip these with a strip too.
