Micro-baits for BIG Bass

One of my favourite ways to catch finicky smallmouth bass is to toss what many would consider smaller baits at them. These baits are borderline panfish-sized baits in comparison to many conventional bass baits. Micro-baits excel when fishing a variety of situations throughout the year including the following scenarios: -Flat and sunny conditions when fish are shallow and easily spooked - Pressured fish -Post-spawn fish -Fishing a specific, isolated boulder or other piece of cover -Follow-up baits for following bass or fish that missed a topwater Some of my favourite micro-baits include the new 2.5" Berkley PowerBait Tube, the 4" Berkley PowerBait Power Worm (trimmed down to 3"), and the new Berkley PowerBait Pro Jig worm. I like to run all of these baits on jigs that are appropriately-sized and weighted for the bait, ranging from 1/16 oz to 1/8 oz. Ensuring you have a hook that isn't oversized for the bait is important. Smaller hooks pick up less debris and result in fewer snags with these micro-baits. The Northland Lipstick Jig and Z-Man Finesse ShroomZ jig are available in some great sizes and colours for fishing these finesse baits. I like to toss these micro-baits on longer, light to medium-light action spinning rods like Abu Garcia's 7' ML Villain 2.0, the 7' ML Abu Garcia Venerate or the 7'6" ML Fenwick HMG. These rods matched with a light-weight reel like a size 20 Revo reel spooled up with 10lb-test Spiderwire Ultracast Ultimate-Braid Line and a 3' leader of 6 or 8lb-test fluorocarbon are great for pitching these light baits to hungry bass, even in slightly windy conditions. Don't underestimate the size of these micro-baits when considering alternative presentations for smallies. Match them up with the right rod, reel and line and you'll be surprised to see the effectiveness of micro-baits for BIG bass!