smallmouth sPECTACULAR
TributarY TACKLE
Berkley PowerBait The General
Berkley PowerBait The Deal
Dirty Jigs Luke Clausen Finesse Jig
Because so many tributaries are shallow ( and often narrow ), Stefan fishes them like he ’ s fishing for largemouth elsewhere — a swim jig being his favorite weapon . He adjusts his bait selection by the season , but it ’ s always power fishing with casting gear and heavy line .
In the spring , Stefan slows down and tends to drag baits through likely spawning areas .
“ Northern smallmouth in the rivers set up just like largemouth , so I ’ ll use a lot of slow-moving stuff early in the year ,” he says . “ A 3 / 8-ounce green pumpkin Dirty Jigs Luke Clausen Finesse Jig or a 5-inch Berkley PowerBait The General with a 1 / 4-ounce weight are two of my favorites .”
Stefan picks up the pace with lipless crankbaits , swim jigs and spinnerbaits for summer and fall fishing . He ’ ll also mix in some flipping and pitching presentations to isolated cover .
“ The 3 / 8-ounce Dirty Jigs Swim Jig with a Berkley PowerBait The Deal as a trailer is my absolute favorite bait for river smallmouth ,” Stefan says . “ In my opinion , the only color jig you need is white-and-chartreuse , and I ’ ll add a white trailer .”
Stefan likes to cast the swim jig to isolated targets and not retrieve the bait all the way back to the boat .
“ I ’ ll only reel it about a quarter of the way back to me ,” Stefan adds . “ You ’ re going to do better with it by just casting to the isolated logs , laydowns and rocks . It ’ s the same thing with a spinnerbait where you ’ re trying to pull fish from their home .” Stefan also likes using a Texas rig with a Berkley PowerBait Pit Boss with a 1 / 2-ounce to 1-ounce weight to pitch to thick wooden cover .
“ It depends how thick to the logjams are ,” he says . “ I ’ ll target the cover with a swim jig , spinnerbait or pitching and then throw a Berkley Warpig lipless between targets . I ’ ll use the lipless on the shallow ripples of water and small rocks as I go from one piece of cover to the next .”
Fishing for tributary smallmouth up North is much like shallow-water largemouth fishing just about anywhere else . Stefan knows how fun it can be to catch them this way and get a chance to target bass that many anglers overlook . Next time you ’ re up north chasing smallies , you ’ d do well to not be one of those anglers . n
Berkley Warpig
Berkley PowerBait Pit Boss
JUNE-JULY 2021 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM 43