creek fishing for smallies

UnlistMe
Inventry
Tennessee Deer Sporting & Deer Hunting Community Forum

Help Support TNDeer | Tennessee Deer:

B

buckdead

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 2, 2008
Messages
2,266
City & State/Province
southern middle tn
Whats a good bait to use creek fishing for smallmouth? I did really well the first trip with a rooster tail, but the past two trips havent been as productive for me.
 
Soft plastic grubs, tubes, 4" worms, craws, hellgramites, flukes, senkos, and creatures. The only hard baits I carry when river smallie fishing are small crawdad pattern crankbaits, small spinnerbaits, and small top water baits. Use a light to medium action spinning rod with 6-8 lb test.
 
Charlie Brewer's 4" slider worm on a slider head. You will also catch plenty of red eye on this little set up.
 
Everything said above. Also used the small zoom lizards. But the best would have to be either live crawfish or spring lizards. The first is easy, just start lifting up rocks. We'd start the morning off using an empty gallon milk jug and put as many crawfish in it as we could catch. The lizards are a little more difficult if you don't have a good area for them. I do remember when I was at TTU, there was a store that sold them. I used them onec ($$$), and they were crazy good as bait.
 
Weber Hickory Wood Chunks Outdoor Cooking Fuel, 4 lb – Premium BBQ Smoking & Grilling Chips for Rich, Subtly Sweet Flavor – Ideal for Beef, Lamb, Poultry & Pork – Long Lasting
See price on Amazon
Weber Hickory Wood Chunks Outdoor Cooking Fuel, 4 lb – Premium BBQ Smoking & Grilling Chips for Rich, Subtly Sweet Flavor – Ideal for Beef, Lamb, Poultry & Pork – Long Lasting
Old Potters Smoker Wood Chunks 13-16 lbs for Grilling, Smoking, and Wood Fire Cooking ~ 2 x 3 Inches, (Hickory, 790 Cu in.)
See price on Amazon
Old Potters Smoker Wood Chunks 13-16 lbs for Grilling, Smoking, and Wood Fire Cooking ~ 2 x 3 Inches, (Hickory, 790 Cu in.)
Hickory Pizza Oven Wood 6 Inch, 15 lbs Box – Kiln Dried & Bark-Free Firewood for Pizza Ovens, BBQ Smoking & Grilling – Premium Hickory Wood Logs for Ooni, Gozney, Solo Stove, Bertello
See price on Amazon
Hickory Pizza Oven Wood 6 Inch, 15 lbs Box – Kiln Dried & Bark-Free Firewood for Pizza Ovens, BBQ Smoking & Grilling – Premium Hickory Wood Logs for Ooni, Gozney, Solo Stove, Bertello
Firewood Central Kiln-Dried PA Hickory – 8” Splits (Approx 39.5 lb) – Bold Smoking Wood for Pizza Ovens, BBQ & Fire Pits – Easy Light, Low Smoke, USA Sourced
See price on Amazon
Firewood Central Kiln-Dried PA Hickory – 8” Splits (Approx 39.5 lb) – Bold Smoking Wood for Pizza Ovens, BBQ & Fire Pits – Easy Light, Low Smoke, USA Sourced
Firewood Central Kiln-Dried PA Hickory – 6” Splits (Approx. 42 lb) – Bold Smoking Wood for Pizza Ovens, BBQ & Fire Pits – Easy Light, Low Smoke, USA Sourced
See price on Amazon
Firewood Central Kiln-Dried PA Hickory – 6” Splits (Approx. 42 lb) – Bold Smoking Wood for Pizza Ovens, BBQ & Fire Pits – Easy Light, Low Smoke, USA Sourced
Greenworks 24V 6in BL Pruning Saw w/Auto Oiler, Tool Only
See price on Amazon
Greenworks 24V 6in BL Pruning Saw w/Auto Oiler, Tool Only
Old Potters Kiln Dried Firewood - Cherry, 1100 Cu. in, 16-18 Logs ~ 8" x 2.5" Logs. Solo Stove and Cooking Wood for Grilling, Smoking, and Firepits, Cherry.
See price on Amazon
Old Potters Kiln Dried Firewood - Cherry, 1100 Cu. in, 16-18 Logs ~ 8" x 2.5" Logs. Solo Stove and Cooking Wood for Grilling, Smoking, and Firepits, Cherry.
Heritage Smoke Wood Hickory Pizza Oven Wood with Fire Starter - Kiln Dried Firewood 6" Hardwood Logs for Brick Fire Pizza Ovens & Grills, 6 lb, Low Smoke, High Heat, Competition-Grade Clean Burn
See price on Amazon
Heritage Smoke Wood Hickory Pizza Oven Wood with Fire Starter - Kiln Dried Firewood 6" Hardwood Logs for Brick Fire Pizza Ovens & Grills, 6 lb, Low Smoke, High Heat, Competition-Grade Clean Burn
Quanaoo Chain Brake Clutch Cover Assembly for Husqvarna 445 450 Chainsaw replace 544097902 544097901 Clutch Sprocket Cover
See price on Amazon
Quanaoo Chain Brake Clutch Cover Assembly for Husqvarna 445 450 Chainsaw replace 544097902 544097901 Clutch Sprocket Cover
39" Fire Pits with Wood Storage for Outside, Large Wood Burning Outdoor Fireplace with Chimney, Mesh Spark Screen & Fire Poker, Idea for Backyard, Patio, Party, Camping, Picnic
See price on Amazon
39" Fire Pits with Wood Storage for Outside, Large Wood Burning Outdoor Fireplace with Chimney, Mesh Spark Screen & Fire Poker, Idea for Backyard, Patio, Party, Camping, Picnic
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change.
Right now I would be throwing a fluke jr and a zara spook puppy. A 1/8 oz bitsy bug and a 4 in worm will catch them anytime of the year. My favorite time of the year to creek fish is about the middle of June. You will have a blast watching them blow up on small buzzbaits.
 
Rooster tail is what I always use, I always have better luck with Gold Spinners as Silver ones although I have caught em on Silver, also a small grub works well too!
 
number 5 silver & black floating Rapala... 1/16 oz brown Rooster Tail with a gold blade... and the smallest Rebel crawfish, brown.

I do about ninety percent of my creek fishing with those three, and most of the other ten percent is different color Rooster Tails.
 
Thanks for the good info guys. Im gonna wait for it to rain before I go again, but Ill have some diffrent baits to throw at them for sure. If I had known fishing for smallies in small creeks was this fun I woulda been doing it a long time ago :)
 
I 2nd the zoom lizards . They work great in the creeks. try pumpkin seed. Texas rig your 4,5,6 inch lizards. We use to catch the fire out of them with the zoom lizards, smallies and red eye. Also live shiners rigged with nothing but a hook works great also for smallies and red eye, brings back old memories.
 
Live hellgramites. Without a doubt, the best bait for creek
smallmouths that I have ever seen. The hellgramites are a little
hard to catch, but it's worth it.
 
RKenney said:
Live hellgramites. Without a doubt, the best bait for creek
smallmouths that I have ever seen. The hellgramites are a little
hard to catch, but it's worth it.
Click to expand...

and that's a fact!!
 
Bitsy Bug,Slider Whirly Bee,Mepps or Blue Fox spinner,Rebel Craw,Grubs,Soft Craws,Flukes and Buzz Baits.That's my tackle box.Have caught some big brown fish on a fluke around those eddys.Creek fishing/floating the river is my favorite type of fishing.Usually catch lots of fish and don't have to worry about the traffic.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top