Smallmouth are attracted to a wide range of natural and artificial baits, flies, or lures. Spinners, crankbaits, plastic grubs, crawfish, and tubes in natural colors fished with a weight are popular among spinning or baitcasting fishermen. Smallmouth are taken on plastic lizzards without weights or sinkers. Smallmouth can also be taken on a fly rod using a dry or wet fly, nymphs, streamers, or imitations of larger aquatic creatures such as crawfish or leeches (see Fly lure). Floating topwater popper fly patterns are also popular for smallmouth fishing.^[9][10]

Smallmouth bass are more susceptible to mortality resulting from fishing tournaments than are largemouth bass. Smallmouth bass require cool, highly-oxygenated water which is difficult to reproduce in the holding wells of boats without specially aerated live wells and oxygenating chemicals. Poor water conditions and long periods of confinement result in significant stress that can result in high levels of post-release mortality, up to six days after the confinement.