Smallmouth

crayfish...or poppers

ORIGINAL: RIZ
for fly fishing use streamers. bright flashy olors will work when they are ative, when things are slow use darker colors and fish them deep on the bottom. sometimes dead drifting works sometimes a fast strip or sometimes swinging works. you got to try it all and let the fish tell you what they want.

Great advice here.

Pattern-wise, head to your favorite smallie spot with a fly box full of woolly buggers, clousers, zonkers, and some sort of crayfish pattern. Tie the baitfish patterns with a variety of weights, colors, and amount of flash.

I'm sure you know that when they are hungry and active, it's usually not a problem to catch a lot of them, the trick is convincing them when they really aren't too active or hungry.

I do really well with jerk baits in the spring. I usually start off with a reflective blue 4" one from Rapala. It seems to work particulary well in streams.

For fly fishing, I have also done well with poppers, as someone suggested. Smallmouth on a 5 weight is a lot of fun.

I use a 6wt and float shinners with it. It is a blast catching smallies on it. This year I hope to try some minnow patterns and crawfish patterns.

ill also add that i like using rebel craws

i also like using 1/4 oz panther martins

X-rap 6 or 8, Rebel stickbaits, Rebel craws, super flukes, x-rap subwalks, husky jerks, etc.

When the temps go up into the 80's, I slam them on an 1/8 oz. white rooster tail with a silver blade.

When the water gets really warm, they seem to turn on. Flyrod, clouser minnows in different colors is really all you need (make sure there is some flash in them). Clouser crayfish or other crayfish patterns will work too, if they are keyed in on crayfish, but when they are really active, they are chasing river shiners. Matching that in live bait will slam them too (shiners or minnows). If you have a smaller diameter net (crabbing net), find some overhanging grass along the shore, and drag the net through it going up stream. I used to get a ton of baitfish like that as a kid, and they loved those native shiners (not sure if they are technically shiners, about 2"-3" long rather slender with shiney sides). Also, just about any spinner that size or smaller thin spoon will match them too.

When the water isn't warm, I'm not really sure how to catch them. I know large tube jigs were the rage 15+ years ago, but might be a warm water thing too. I'm guessing they stay a bit deeper in the cooler water, and when those would work? You'll probably be staying busy with the trout during that time though.

Regardless, if the suggestions people are saying don't seem to work, don't be discouraged. If you try any of these during the right water temp, you will likely catch fish nonstop.

I have had success with weedless frogs close to weedlines in various streams in Washington Co.

ORIGINAL: ridgehunter

Consensus here tells me that the smallies on the Yough will hit any darn thing that you throw at them!

I'm not surprised! lol

hahaha there is a 'if' next to alot of those statements of smallie success. IF you have conditions, then smallies are largemouth--extremely aggressive and therefore kinda easy. I havent been skunked on the yough, but I have had days where the 12"er was the biggest fish too...
Bottom line, they dont jump in your boat on that river.