Freedom Tackle Corp manager Tom Chopin posted a new video the other day. Watch the minnow spoon take down the smallmouth bass of Lake Erie. Tom shows us how the slow horizontal fall was key for getting bit. Fish were hitting it as it fluttered down instead of picking it up off bottom like a…

Topwaters and surface baits, longtime bass fishing staples, are popular for smallmouths. They are hard to beat when surface activity is prevalent, the lakes are heating up from the sunlight above, and insect hatches take place. When either of these conditions are in play, topwaters often get eaten quickly, and generate vicious strikes. One particular…

Tube jigs are a match made in heaven for smallmouths. Perfectly representing the preferred choice of crayfish and other bottom dwelling prey, the tube jig has been catching smallmouth bass for a number of years. Finally, after learning the hard way, tubes have made their way into my arsenal for successful early season smallmouth fishing.…

The smallmouth bass spawn period is weeks away, at this writing, and for those of us in the north country this does not mean we should wait to get ready. When fish proliferate the shallows, begin their annual dance, and do nothing more than cover their beds, a technique I focus on lots is the…

The ideal smallmouth bass crankbait is a smaller, compact, realistic, and noisy representation of bottom-scurrying prey. In this case, it’s their favorite, the crayfish. In early spring as smallmouths prepare for their spawn, power cranking with a shallow diving crankbait will score big numbers of feisty, prespawn fish that are cruising the shallows for feeding,…

Freedom Tackle’s live action hybrid jigs have been modeled by a universal angling concept: to give anglers the freedom of choice to use preferred hooks and baits at any time. The minute the Zodiac jig and plastic hits the water, it will land upright in a perfect strike position, ready for smallmouths to gobble it…

Oh hell no, not another spring themed article about catching big smallmouth bass with suspending jerkbaits! Fortunately for you, hell yes it is, but more focus is on fish behavior and location. This is a special piece detailing the the spring transition from pre-spawn to spawn, so you can further understand locations and how to…

When smallmouth bass are staging for the spawn, I consider a suspending jerkbait the ultimate lure. It’s the first thing I turn to before anything else. Smallmouths aren’t on top and they aren’t on the bottom. They want to eat as they prepare for the spawn, but the water is still pretty cold so they…

In the realm of fishing suspending jerkbaits, there comes a period when smallmouth bass grow conditioned to the baits being presented before them. If lucky enough to enjoy 100 fish days with a hardbait, there is a high probability many will grow wary of it. The solution to trigger more strikes from conditioned fish is…