“ Black always triggers smallmouth , especially in clear water .”
— MLF pro Luke Clausen
Some true giants lurk in the shallows ; don ’ t overlook the skinny bite when hunting for big smallmouth bass .
PHOTO BY GARRICK DIXON or tube . For my drop-shot baits , I like smaller profile baits like a Strike King Half Shell or Baby Z-Too .”
Stefan also mixes in the power fishing and finesse approach and will alter his approach based on the conditions and the fish ’ s activity .
“ Topwater is always a killer for shallow smallmouth and not just for low light conditions – they work all day long throughout the summer and into fall ,” Stefan said . “ For finesse , it ’ s hard to beat a Ned rig or hover-strolling with a variety of soft plastics rigs on a Core Tackle The Hover Rig in the 3 / 64- ounce size . With each rod movement , that rig gives the bait a stuttering sideto-side motion and looks much different than a standard drop-shot-rigged soft plastic . I ’ ll fish a Berkley Flat Worm , Keitech Shad Impact , or small fluke-style bait on The Hover Rig and go with a standard Z-Man Finesse TRD on my Ned rig .”
For topwaters , Stefan likes walking baits like the Berkley J-Walker or a Heddon One Knocker Spook . Clausen also loves walking topwaters for shallow smallmouth but employs a spinnerbait , a hair jig , flick shake , and glide baits , depending on the situation .
“ Burning a 3 / 4-ounce Z-Man Sling BladeZ spinnerbait is a great way to trigger a reaction bite and you can cover a lot of water with them ,” Clausen said . “ I change the color based on how sunny it is . I like red perch for low light conditions because it has some chartreuse in the skirt . Greenback shad is my favorite color when the sun is shining bright because it ’ s very natural .”
When faced with calm conditions , Clausen is more likely to go finesse .
“ I ’ ll swim a black marabou hair jig or use a 1 / 10-ounce flick shake jig head with Z-Man Big TRD in yoga pants , which is solid black ,” he said . “ Black always triggers smallmouth , especially in clear water . I ’ ll also throw a big glide bait around , it ’ s great to locate groups of fish and if they follow it , you can throw the flick shake in and catch them most of the time .”
Three highly accomplished smallmouth anglers agree that stalking shallow smallmouth is a blast . When most anglers are finesse fishing in deep water , there ’ s always another bite to be had in shallow water . You may get fewer bites , but the quality is there and there are countless ways to catch them .
38 MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM | JUNE-JULY 2023