In order to catch moody summer smallmouths, Dave Csanda has developed a list of techniques that includes a full arsenal of lures to prepare for any situation.

Many years ago, a buddy and I were fishing the shallows for pre-spawn smallmouths—and doing surprisingly poorly under which should have been prime conditions. Frustrated, we hooked live chubs on long, unweighted lines, tossed them out, and drifted sideways through the shallows. Suddenly, the minnows began rising and panicking to the surface, chased by smallmouths. We proceeded to catch fish after fish, in the same areas where we had previously had little to no success.

It was one of my earliest experiences with how moody and selective smallmouths can be, despite their reputation for being aggressive biters and fierce fighters. I have since learned to come prepared to do about 10 different things when pursuing them. Here are a few examples:

Topwaters – During summer, these are your most exciting lures to fish, and bass love them, smashing the surface to nail your baits. Prop lures create subtle whirs. Poppers, loud plunks. Walk-the-dog baits have loads of motion, but don’t move very far, very fast. Buzzbaits kick up a ruckus and do, indeed, cover water quickly. Weedless frogs are good around any type of vegetation if smallies are using it.

Jigs – It’s tough to beat jigs almost anytime, especially when the water is cooler. Hair or marabou jigs have subtle breathing motions at rest. Twister-tail 4-inch grubs are ideal for subtle, swimming presentations. Jigheads dressed with soft plastic splittail minnow bodies are deadly when aggressively snap jigged. Shad bodies are good for swimming.

Crankbaits – Modest-sized crankbaits of all sizes and shapes produce smallies, Cast, retrieve and bang them off rocks to trigger strikes. Long and thin, shad-shaped, round-bodied crayfish imitators—all are good options. Try the twitch-and-pause routine with neutral-buoyancy baits like Rapala X-Raps to infuriate bass into striking.

Straight-shaft spinners – Size 2 spinners like Mepps, Panther Martins and Blue Foxes are ideal for shallow rivers with rocks, shoals, boils, etc. Cast out and quarter them downcurrent, bouncing them off boulders to trigger strikes. Raise or lower your rod tip during retrieve to slightly adjust the depth the lure runs.

Soft plastics – Soft plastics of 4 inches or so pair very well with jigheads, not just for cast-and-swim tactics, but for vertical jigging.

Live bait rigs – These are just as deadly for smallies as they are for walleyes when the fish are relatively deep. I like using leeches during summer and large chubs hooked up through the upper lip in fall. When you pull a lively chub near a smallie, the chub starts to panic and send vibrations up the line to your jiggling rod tip.

Slip bobbers – Another walleye tactic that’s ideal for smallmouths. Anchor next to a reef top or boulder point, and cast a baited leech out to drift across the tops of the rocks.

Flies – I love fishing dry flies, nymphs and streamers for river and stream smallmouths. You can use the same length of line to repeatedly zip your fly out to shoreline rocks, fallen trees or other cover without wasting time as you drift downstream.

Jigging Rapala –While jigging spoons and tailspinners also work for vertically jigging in deep water, it’s tough to beat a #7 Jigging Rapala in depths of 20 feet and deeper, particularly in fall. Drop the heavy lure to bottom, engage your reel, and pop the rod tip to raise and scoot the bait. Follow it down with the rod tip as the lure plummets.

Even seasoned fishermen can learn a thing or two. Check out the latest issue of MidWest Outdoors, available now at the newsstand or by subscribing on our website.