KISHWAUKEE RIVER SMALLIES : Topwaters & Tubes

TOPWATER BAITS

BLAZE POPPERS

I'm cheap, and so are the Blaze Poppers. The Blaze Popper can be found in most any store such as

K-Mart, Wal-Mart, Menards and so on and so on. They can be picked up for about $1.50 a piece, or as the stores like to put it, 2 for $3.00.
Normally, when I first step foot in I water, I like to cover as much water as fast as I can by tossing my

Blaze Poppers

Blaze Popper. This helps me to locate the smallies and gage how active they are. If they hit the popper, great. I'll stick with the popper as long as it produces. Most times I wade to an area with a rocky shore line and toss the popper tight to the shore right up against the rocks. And for smallmouth, the cast HAS TO BE right up against the rocks. Let it drift, twitch the tip of the rod a couple times to make the popper pop, a couple cranks of the reel, twitch, twitch, pause (drift), crank, twitch, pause (drift). It'a pretty simple.
I have found during the summer months that a dead drift (long drift with no twitches) works well. I'm kind of a hyper person so I have a hard time just letting it drift like this, but it does work. The only beef I have with the Blaze Popper are the tail feathers. Once you purchase a Blaze Popper it is best to dabb a couple drops of super glue to the thread wrap at the butt end of the hook. If this is not done the feathers will slip from the wrap much sooner than they should. The feathers do matter to the smallies for whatever reason. Trust me.

Another good topwater bait is the Buzz Bait. This little noise maker seems to really piss the smallies off when they are in a nonchalant mood. Again, I go cheap on these things. The Buzz Bait that I prefer is a 1/8oz Gander Mountain Brand Buzz Bait. You can pick these up at Gander Mountain for $1.99 each. Buy them in two (2) different colors, black and white.

The Buzz Bait will piss 'em off and make 'em attack when the bite just won't go.

Any kind and all types of topwater baits will work. Your choice should be which ever one you build confidence in. Some topwater baits have to worked differently than others, but one thing is for certain.... Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, is more fun than a smallie on top.

Other types of topwater baits to consider. The lower three torpedo shaped plugs are for

a technique called Walking The Dog, which is a technique that seems to be killer for BIG smallmouth in the Fall. A technique that I need to work on.

Enjoy this video from Al Linder....

TUBES

When the topwater bite isn't happening, I tie on a tube bait and fish the bottom.

The tube bait, which resembles a crawdad or what ever else the smallmouth might be hungry for,

just plain ol' works.
Again, I stay on the cheap side, only with the tube rig I kind of go with what is available to me.
I'm not much for or ding stuff online so I buy from the local Gander Mountain store.
With the Texas Rig I buy 1/16oz bullet weights and size 3/0 Gamakatso offset worm hooks.
I only buy Gander Mountain (GM) tubes in a medium to dark green colors and also in black.
The GM Tubes are tough and can handle the tough environment within a river.
I catch many smallies on the same tube and can use the same tube over and over again.