Smallmouth Fish Finders
Nothing is simpler on the water than slinging a search lure and catching whatever bites. My fish-finding strategy is all about getting paddletails to wiggle, shimmy, and swim lively throughout the entire water column on a medium to steady retrieve.
In recent years, no other segment of fishing lures and bait styles has grown exponentially and diversely as paddletails and swimbaits. Many brands feature different designs and variations, models, colorways, and styles. For catching smallmouths quickly, the lineup of soft swimbaits offered by Z-Man Fishing Products accomplishes this task.
“From the beginning, Z-Man has endeavored to create a comprehensive lineup of paddletail swimbaits, each offering its own set of advantages and swimming actions,” says Cory Schmidt.
Schmidt, a veteran in the multi-species game, and of the public relations and marketing and digital media fields, currently serves as Z-Man’s marketing director. You might have seen him all over the place these past 30-years throughout Central Minnesota as a guide, fisheries technician, writer for several publications and books, and even on television. He absolutely loves working and collaborating with other writers and outdoor media personnel on developing story ideas and content like this story – lucky me.
Z-Man’s top-selling baits worldwide, the 4-inch DieZel MinnowZ, 3-inch MinnowZ and 2.5-inch SlimSwimZ replicate the look, action and strike-evoking attraction of a live minnow better than any other soft baits manufactured. These bite sized paddletails became the most productive baits for my boat in recent fishing seasons, quickly catching smallmouths anywhere and anytime.
Their ElaZtech formulation creates a lifelike swimming action and durability. Schmidt suggests for anglers to first pay attention to the prey inhabiting your waters.
“If you study baitfish in the water and watch how they swim, you’ll especially notice the tail and its constant churning, pumping motion, while the body of the baitfish mostly tracks straight ahead; only the back one-third of the fish’s body exhibits much movement—the exception is when they’re fleeing a predator and kicking on the afterburners, engaging upper body muscles to generate additional speed.”
Schmidt and I are most interested in swimbaits offering those similar movements – minimal body roll, but lots of flexibility in the tail to churn and pump under any retrieve speed. In this capacity, ElaZtech formulation is a modern marvel.
“I prefer a bait whose tail continues kicking even as you stop the retrieve and let the bait freefall. It’s one minor detail that can make a huge difference, and very few soft plastic paddletails can pull this off because they’re mostly composed of PVC plastics rather than ultrasoft ElaZtech, which offers more freedom to move in the tail,” confirms Schmidt.
Also benefitting Z-Man’s swimbaits is ElaZtech’s buoyancy, allowing for slower retrieves than other swimbaits. This characteristic is a necessity in my search for smallmouths that could be anywhere in the water column.
Fish Finders
Schmidt mostly swims with smallmouths in the summer months, where he brings the strategy over to the river systems.
“Summer smallmouth wading on small rivers is a simple pleasure, providing exercise while teaching you much about current and bass position relative to it. These are things that just can’t be learned until you’re in the water with the fish. For this style of fishing, my favorite paddletail combo is a 4-inch Scented PaddlerZ threaded onto a Power Finesse ShroomZ jig head or 3/32-ounce OG Mushroom jig head. In the stained to murky waters of these rivers, patterns such as New Penny, Sexy Penny, Pro Yellow Perch and Rootbeer Gold all produce. The beauty of ElaZtech is its durability, which means you can tote just a pack or two of baits and a small box of jig heads into a pocket for a sweet little smallmouth survival kit.”
Over on my inland lakes of Wisconsin, I apply the 4-inch and 5-inch DieZel Minnows to my open water pursuits on the deep and clear cisco and smelt fisheries. Bomb-casting a single swimmer over the basins, or running a 3-hook Alabama Rig system in Smelt and Disco Cisco. If seeking quick numbers, don’t overlook working the 3-inch MinnowZ high through the water column during the bug hatches and pelagic baitfish migrations of June.
During the summer to fall transition, we turn to the expansive shallow sand flats where we love to control drift. Depths can vary anywhere from 4 to 8 feet. The fishing improves with each passing cooling day, and gets really good by late September into early October before turnover. Windy or windless, it doesn’t matter. Bomb-casting them is enjoyable with an assortment of 4-inch DieZel MinnowZ. Always be moving and searching with long casts. Once you catch a fish or two and bites are replicated, spend some extra time in that vicinity. Keep re-drifting until the entire flat gets burnt out. During most guide trips this time of year, 20 to 40 fish afternoons can become possible on the best waters, mixed in with several 3-to-5-pound specimens, while solely drifting through these areas for several hours. Strikes will happen at any moment.
“I might also throw a 5-inch Scented PaddlerZ with a 3/8 or even ½ ounce head,” in this same situation, adds Schmidt.
Then when the cold-water season approaches again in late-season, we bomb-cast and slow-roll through wintering areas. Fished on heavier 1/2-ounce heads, or deployed on a bottom-bouncing Tokyo rig, the 4-inch DieZel MinnowZ was a top artificial producer for the boat in late-October.
Consider Schmidt’s presentational suggestions. “In spring through early summer (mid-June) and again in fall, smallmouths seem to respond best to a slow to medium retrieve, often just fast enough to keep the tail kicking, always followed by a 1 to 2 second pause—maybe every 5 to 10 seconds. The pause gives bass a good crack at the bait, which is often when you’ll feel a tick or the rod starts to load.”
A loaded-up rod is the most fun aspect about it. Bomb cast, and cover water. The smallmouths will find you.
