smallmouth bass

Bass pro shops Tender Tubes, White Terminator Spinnerbait, and any color curly tail grub

X-raps, nightcrawlers (live or fake, fished appropriately), and big rabbit streamers, in a variety of colors, especially red & white, and orange & brown.

The answer is the same whether the quarry is bass,trout,gills,eyes etc.: carry 1 that you know that works, 1 that you heard that works ,& 1 that you hope that works. Actually carry 2 of each, since almost always, as soon as you start to catch fish on 1 you will lose it.Lures are made to catch fishermen & to give you something to spend money on. Watch a few fishing tournaments & you will notice that there is a wide variety of lures being used, If there was a miracle bait they would all be using it wouldn't they? Try experimenting with different lures. Something like the (1 fly) contest with a couple of your friends.All of you use the same lure for a agreed period of time. Such as top water for a while ,then jigs, then spinners,etc. let us know how it works out.  sam

Lucky Craft Staysee 90 in 3 different colors. 

Hard to beat a crab (softshell preferred) or minnow (sucker-preferred) but try Big "O" or red & white spoon or plug!

early spring, thats easy, one lure - lucky craft staysee in american shad

rest of year
1.) roadkill camo finesse tube texas rigged with a lindy insert
2.) 1/2oz brown/green football head jig with a green pumpkin paca craw trailer
3.) (tie) Case Salty sinking shad or 4' oxblood roboworm on a drop shot rig

1. Yo-Zuri suspending Crystal Minnow
2. K&E worm rival or bass stopper
3. Rebel Craw

Case Jack's Worm, Rebel Craw, Woolhead Sculpin.

(Had to edit 'cause I forgot that the topic was Smallmouth bass specifically)

tubes, more tubes, and a yo-zuri 3d minnow jerkbait.  anyone carrying more than 3 things for smallies hasn't done enouth smallmouth fishing.  no bait or tacklebox required. 

if you're not catching smallmouths on tubes and a simple jerkbait in any water you probably won't catch them with anything else.  pick a smally water and ill meet you there with some tubes and a jerkbait against your entire tackle box.  dont take that the wrong way, just saying i'll prove to you that that's pretty much all you really need.  you named a bunch of lures that are different ways of covering the same water.  tubes take care of their primary feeding on the bottom for crayfish, minnow bait takes care of the surface to halfway down when they are tearing up baitfish.  no need for more unless you just want to see what you can catch them on.  the rest will all work, but why carry more than you have to. 
 
hey i love catching them on steelhead jigs tied in minnow and crawfish patterns....but if im after seriously big river smallies i'm going with what will work every time.  no matter what fish you're after you should be able to break it down to 2-3 lures that will always work within normal conditions. 
 
smallmouth eat 2 ways, on the bottom for crayfish and hellgrammites, or suspended in the water column to the surface for baitfish.  imitate those forage options and find a way to cover the entire water column and you still come back to 2-3 basic lures. 
 
same rules apply on lake erie, jig a grub, sonar, or tube and its all you need.  in fact even on the creeks where you have been fishing for them just take a 25 pack of tubes.  clear or stained you don't need another option.  cant remember one time in 20 years of fishing for smallies seeing one refuse a tube in a normal crayfish color. 

you started a thread about 3 lures for smallmouths, i stated my 3, or really just two, and now you are questioning me for only carrying 3 for smallmouth? think the thread is officiall over. your question didnt incluse 8 other fish. i have a garage full of lures....but if im going for smallmouth i have a vest and a plastic box that goes in my vest. and a 50 pack of tubes.

Black Jitterbug,Mann's baby minus(crawdad),Mizmo green pumpkin 3.5" salty tube.I have landed at least 50-20 inchers on these ovr the years,just got a 7 pounder at Raystown on the j-bug.