Hey guys I think I found a pretty good smallie hole at a local creek. So far most of the fish have been small though. Also there are more crawdads in this creek than I have ever seen in any creek before in my life. I waded it and everytime you take a step it seemed 10-20 crawdads move. I guess that smallies eat alot of crawdads, is it good to fish live ones? I know some people just pull the meat out and use it. Any realistic lookin lures?

I Always had great luck using live crawdads when i had them- the s mouth & other fish went crazy from them.

The only problem I have run into using live crayfish is that they'll often crawl under rocks/other cover, and then if the water's too deep, you're hooped.

If you crush their claws and leave them to dangle they release extra scent that will drive them nuts. Also I don't know if you have them in your area but if you can find helgrammites I suggest giving them a try. Best place to look is under large rocks in ripple areas. If found then smallmouth eat them like candy.

use a crawdad jig or clown rapala

i second the idea of helgrammites my buddy and i use them exculsively fishing on the river for smallies. They eat em like candy and you can catch like 10fish on 1 helgrammite. We use a minnow net and waders and kick rocks up catch em in the minnow net.

A local fly shop guide near me designed his own helgrammite fly a few years ago and let me tell you I have caught more 3-5lb creek and river smallmouth on it than any other lure (A pearl colored fluke comes in a close second)

gary yamamoto kreature would work perfect for you

WhenI would fish for SM in the rivers back home in WV my two favorite lures were a zoom fluke and a rebel crawdad. They kill both lures. And as others have mentioned hellgramites were my live bait of choice. I know in WV you could buy hellgramites at local baitstores around the SM rivers. You might want to check into that.

use the whole thing