smallmouth bass tips please.

[canoeist]

Smallmouth bass don't have the teeth to leave bitemarks on bombers but any lure with hanging trebles will get the hook rash.
Its very easy to to repaint bombers. Sand, prime and spray. For saltwater I'll usually change out the hooks.
If you fish a lure more than others, its got mojo, and your likely to use it more and catch more fish.

[Dispy]

Smallmouth bass don't have the teeth to leave bitemarks on bombers but any lure with hanging trebles will get the hook rash.
Its very easy to to repaint bombers. Sand, prime and spray. For saltwater I'll usually change out the hooks.
If you fish a lure more than others, its got mojo, and your likely to use it more and catch more fish.

Let me re-phrase the term teeth, Bass Biology 101-caniform pads will leave marks and tarnish paint finishes. Ever look at your thumb after fishing bass for 6 months? Hmmm..lure rash,a plausable explanation,however, I am not quite sure that is fitting since I change out stock hooks for smaller ones and the radius of those smaller hooks do not even come close in arc swing to make such a rash. I do this to enhance the lure action. Inanimate objects have Mojo I think it is more of what has been proven to work and an effective tool. Did you look at the picture, it was a large mouth not a smallie. Every one has a 'goto' bait or confidence bait, some have more than others. It is the wise fisherman that recognizes where and when to employ those tools

Thanks for the paint, refinish tip, they are appreciated.

[canoeist]

Yes. Mojo  look it up  . Pick one versatile lure and fish it till you are blue in the face in all conditions, you will gain a knack for that one lure, catch a lot of fish, and its your go to lure. In fact its a great way to learn a lure and force yourself into new things.

I used to be strictly into big bass fishing and never once heard of bitemarks on bombers and that is why I respectfully disagree. Bass thumb, yes, I would not lip a bass with my fingers if they could leave bite marks in hard plastic baits. You'll have it after a good day of fishing but its because your skin is much softer than plastic and its repeated trauma. Now a big brook trout will rip your finger off and if you've caught a big blue they will thrash your lures (and of course pike, muskies, pickerel etc...) I looked at the picture and I'm not convinced but I do see two semi arcs around the hooks (very suspicious!). Happy to say if I am wrong but I'm not seeing it. I guess we will have to call in Mythbusters. 

My smallmouth tip would be about structure. Rockpiles and shoals are favorites of smallies. My other tip is never believe everything you read and every rule is made to be broken. 

PS: The paint tip is also about custom colors, a lot of lures don't come in the color you want, the world is your canvas.

[Fat Boy]

I used to be strictly into big bass fishing and never once heard of bitemarks on bombers and that is why I respectfully disagree. Bass thumb, yes, I would not lip a bass with my fingers if they could leave bite marks in hard plastic baits. You'll have it after a good day of fishing but its because your skin is much softer than plastic and its repeated trauma.

I'm still into bass fishing and have been "into it" for 25 years.  Sorry canoiest, but you don't need to call mythbusters, because your myth is busted.  I have several Rapala Rattlin' Raps that I've used on Lake Erie for smallies, and that's all that I've caught on them, where the paint is scratched from their teeth.  I also have Husky Jerks and Rattlin Rogues that are scratched up from bass.  And they do have teeth, although not like pike or walleye, they are still considered teeth biologically.

Now, perhaps because the smallies in Erie average 3 pounds, and you'll catch fish up to 4 to 6 pounds almost each trip out, and if you catch 40-60 per day, that might have something to do with it.

[Fat Boy]

Oh yeah, if you go to Erie and the bite is on, don't lip them all because your bass thumb will be way too sore at the end of the day, because if you do I guarantee you'll be belly landing them by then.   Teeth on bass?  Yep.

[Fat Boy]

OK, after re-reading, I can't bust your myth entirely, because I don't have bombers with that much wear...but the finish on Rattlin' Raps is similar...

[canoeist]

Not saying you can't get some scratches but a rattln rap should be bounced off structure. Pretty hard to say what causes each and every scratch.

To say a 14" largemouth will cause bite marks that are very noticeable on a new lure seems like a stretch. I'm not arguing the teeth part but its nothing like any other number of species including trout. You fish a lure long enough its going to get scratched just taking it in and out of a tacklebox. 

I guess I'm a skeptic but if someone shows me the combination of those two pictures as proof I can't buy into it. I do more damage to my finger casting braid then lipping bass.

But if you do get into some vampire bass, my other finish tip would be to coat the lure in thinned out E-tex (epoxy) that you can find at any craft store. Its used to seal bartops and restaurant tables etc. Very durable.

[Dispy]

A pessimist in every crowd My tip would be to possibly go back to the top of thread and re-read all posts before offering conjecture. Ebour, I must apologize for the lengthiness of this particular topic within your thread. Time to move on to carry forward your intended subject matter.

Cheers & Tight Lines!!!

[canoeist]

A pessimist in every crowd My tip would be to possibly go back to the top of thread and re-read all posts before offering conjecture. Ebour, I must apologize for the lengthiness of this particular topic within your thread. Time to move on to carry forward your intended subject matter.

Cheers & Tight Lines!!!

Dipsy, I think Ebour knows that I am not a pessismist when it comes to bass teeth  I love me some bombers. You posted a picture of a largemouth and stated look at teeth marks, guys say hook rash, and you say no, and I'm scratchin my head thinking that looks exactly like hook rash--seen it many times. Nothing wrong with disagreeing with someone if you think its wrong. Honesty is honesty. 

[BoutTime]

Yeah the arcs of those scratches sure look like hook rash to me.

[Fat Boy]

Bass anglers who consistently catch good numbers of large bass on a crankbait or jerkbait, know what a bass can do to a crankbait or a jerkbait.  They know that their teeth can scuff a crankbait.  

Here's an example from the January 2009 issue of Bassmaster Magazine, page 36, in an article titled, "Identifying the Money Bait" by Pete Robbins.  In the beginning of the article, he quotes Oklahoma pro Jeff Kreit in the following way (excerpt from the article):

Oklahoma pro Jeff Kreit admitted that he has a group of extra-effective crankbaits, but he doesn't know why they outfish their comparable brethren:  "I just keep throwing the ones with the most teeth marks on them", he said.

OK, who ya gonna believe?  I don't really care, you can have your opinion.  But people learning to bass fish will learn from experience what the vast majority of experience bass anglers, including pros, already know, that bass teeth, especially large ones, are like sandpaper.  They will abrade your thumb and your crankbaits if you catch enough of them on the same lure and the fish are big enough to put pressure on the lure.  Do trebles tangle and scratch a lure?  Yeah, sure they do, but they can't abrade both sides of the lure like smallmouth teeth can.  I can't speak for the picture above, it's not all that clear, and some of that could be caused by trebles.  As far as structure goes, if that were true that other damage could be only caused by the structure, then all of the cranks that I have used would look identically the same.  Usually, structure damage to my lipless crankbaits results in chipped paint, especially on the nose of the lure, and that's from fishing very shallow water.  

Now, why are bass teeth capable of doing this?  Their teeth are raspy, and if you've ever really taken a close look at them, they point towards the gullet of the fish.  These teeth hold their prey and help bass position their meal prior to swallowing.  These teeth clamp down on the fish...or your crankbait, and during the struggle...or the fight to get free, they scuff the lure.  And also it takes more than a few fish to really show a lot of wear.  In my example, one crankbait caught 66 smallmouth between 3 and 5 pounds on Lake Erie in one day, and it was new out of the box unmarked when I started that day, and was totally scuffed by days end.  I have several more examples on both cranks and jerkbaits.

From this post, my tip is as Jeff Kreit states, the"money lures" that catch the most fish are the ones with the fish marks.  

[BoutTime]

Oh Ive had fish rip up lures before, because they do a number on the finish.

The picture of the lure with the scratches has distinct arcs near the trebles though.

[Fat Boy]

The picture of the lure with the scratches has distinct arcs near the trebles though.

Point taken!

[Fat Boy]

Also, I think that I need to clarify with some bit of agreement with you and canoeist on the hook rash argument...small fish incapable of ingesting the lure probably won't leave many teeth marks at all.  More than likely, hook rash would result from the fish fighting and the treble scratching.  I guess it's possible that some of the teeth could be pressing on the bait too, but I'm not sure that without much pressure on the body of the lure it's probably unlikely that would result in teeth marks to any great extent.  I'm just making the case that bass "can" leave teeth marks on crankbaits, jerkbaits and even topwater plugs...and agree that not all marks are necessarily due to teeth.  

That said, it's still indicative of fish activity, so the tip of using the beat up lures is still valid.  

[Fishing Fuhrer]

Smallies love crawdads over rocks.  The Yum brand stuff works really well.