Hey guys. This is probably my first post in this section. I'm a crappie guy but try not to hold that against me.

We're going up to Utah - leaving Saturday for a week and will be camping on the shore line about a mile south of the Wyoming border. Going to mostly go after Smallmouth. I've never been but have heard they eat a whole lot of crawfish.

I've never fished the plastic crawfish but bought a bunch to take. Zoom ultravibe speed craw, Zoom Super salt Z craw Jr., Yum Christie Craw, and NetBait Baby Paca Craw. These are all around 3-4" baits. Some are hollow body and some are solid. I'm going to be using spinning rod and 4 or 6 lb line based on recommendations of other guys going who have fished there before just not with the plastic crawfish. I have some 6 lb fluoro, power pro 10, and 4 and 6 lb mono. Most of my experience with different fluoro I've tried has left me less than happy with it's behaviour.

Anyway, How do you rig these plastic crawfish???

Also, any other tips or recommendations on what to use and how to catch these smallmouth please?

I hear the water is super clear which is why the light line is recommended. I've landed 9 lb Hybrids and my daughter brought in a 18 lb buffalo both on 4 lb line so not really worried about the lightweight line but I know a bunch of you 80 lb braid guys and drag all the way cinched down with channel locks will probably think that's crazy.
This is a fun trip - not tournament style fishing.

Here's a pic of a 10-6 I caught while bluegill fishing a few years back on either 4 or 6 lb Vicious mono with a live cricket so I think it should handle a smallmouth. That one did require some real careful attention to get her in.
I think most of the smallies we'll catch will probably be under 3 lbs.


Hope this isn't TLDR but thanks for any help guys!!

Hey Jon, welcome to the bass section.

The issue with the normal bass craw presentations is the usual use of heavier wire hooks requiring a stronger hook set than 4lb can take, as well as you are usually trying to get them out of heavier cover and you need to do it quickly.

With the clear water and your experience with light line you can definitely use that line, however you want to stick to light wire hook presentations. Some examples might be:

Light Ned rig head with a TRD craw


Drop shot with a zoom trick worm

Weightless Wacky rig


Good luck and have fun!

Thanks Wes!
I hadn't even thought about the hook set part. Most all my fishing lately has been done with small diameter wire hooks. I think that lake doesn't have much cover except for rocks so not like fishing around stumps and submerged timber and laydowns. But that hook set power is something I need to consider. I do like to keep all my hooks razor sharp with a little diamond rod. Some new ones fresh out of the package aren't sharp enough to suit me. If that gets to be a problem, I can use the 10 lb power pro braid and a fluoro leader if need be. I have a 7' medium action that can make enough power to get a good hard hook set with that braid.

Thanks for the ned rig and TRD craw info!

I fished a TBF western division championship tournament there back in 2009 I believe. Its a beautiful lake. We were there in the spring, and I was primarily sight fishing, so I won't be of a lot of help to you. There are plenty of smallmouth, but at that time, there weren't many over about 2lb. I did find a creek in the canyon that was running hard, and caught a bunch of big rainbows and browns on crankbaits.

I grew up in Utah and have fished Flaming Gorge many times. Here are my recommendations: Just about any finesse technique (drop shot, etc...) will work on the smallmouth there. You will also want to try small crawdad colored (brown) cranks around the rocky shoreline and green pumpkin tubes.

A few other thoughts: I heard that burbot have really hurt the smallmouth population there. Burbot were introduced to the lake illegally and are an invasive species. If all else fails you could target the burbot or head into the mountains or to the Green river for world class trout fishing. Many bass techniques work on trout, so you could fish for both species with the same set up.

Thanks Guys!
Trout are definitely on the to-do list if we can find some.
BrudBass I have a bunch of those rebel teeny craw crank baits and trout will flat tear them up every where I've ever fished them. Brown and green have always been really good for me.

I appreciate the info!!