Conversations at recent shows has led me to summarize on a single concise page our "guide wisdom" for basic terminal tackle.  This is the synthesis of eight serious fishermen with divergent opinions; in some cases I've tried to clarify disagreement by passing off my own opinion as consensus.

Spin Terminal Tackle

Tubes    The lure of choice, especially in the past two years, has been the tube.  Tube fishing is a tricky refinement of basic jig fishing, especially in low, clear, rocky, flowing water.  For smallies in rivers, a chunky, well-textured tube lure with salt seems to be the best.  That means the lures are not very durable.  My favorite is made by Mizmo; they can be found through a diligent search on the Web but not many other places in our area.  Our source for Mizmo tubes (and the jig-heads to fish them on)  is  John at Riverfront Campground (PO Box 64, Duncannon, PA 17020; (717) 834 - 5252 lcampriver@aol.com)   .  Fish them on the same head you use for grubs (see note below).  I plan to write on tube rigging and fishing later this month.

Grubs    The grub is a steady, standard producer, and smaller grubs in white or chartreuse have saved many a cold-front or picky-fish day.   My go-to grub is any of a dozen standard curly-tail grubs in a variety of colors from white and chartreuse through blue or purple.  Tones, sparkles, and other gimmicks don't seem to make much of a difference.  On tough days I go to the expensive but delicate Yamamoto product; it makes a difference. 

Grub and Tube Jigheads:  Fish them on ball-head collared lead-heads with a single coated wire weedguard--an uncommon item, but the wire is the perfect balance between rockguardability and hookability.  Get premium hooks--usually Owner or Gamakatsu--whenever possible; the extra cost is worth it by about a factor of five.  The main advantage of a premium hook isn't so much that it is sharp but that it will stay sharp even after contact with rock.  You will hang rocks, so tricks like the bail snap (explanatory article to come in March) are worth the price of admission.   John carries the unpainted heads at Riverfront; I sell them powderpainted in the best colors:  black, white, chartreuse, brown, yellow, and purple.

Senkos and Ikas   These Yamamoto products are all the rage.   They're expensive, delicate,  and tough to fish, but they get serious attention even in tough fishing conditions, which is why I carry them.  Ikas fish very well on a 1/16-ounce jighead--they're large and tasty and the density of the plastic makes a lighter head work well for a sexy presentation.  One serious drawback to these "finesse" applications in a flowing river is the proportion of gut-hooked fish.  "Do-nothing" lures often get taken deep because, to work best, they should be out of touch with the angler.  One solution is the evolving use of circle hooks; I took a nice fish this year on a circle-hook fished Senko.  Usual colors, though the red or green-flake smoke has performed very well.  In Ikas, which are a crayfish imitation, I did well on brown, black, and smoke.

Flukes    The Fluke has been a reliable and fun smallie lure for a decade or so, though fluke success was off last year in our troubled and turbid conditions.  They'll be back.  Find pearl Zoom Salty Super Flukes at Galyans or via web or mail order.  Try Snoozers--a terrific specialized plastic.  They're lighter than the Zoom product but have some excellent smallie colors.  Rig them on 5/0 Gamakatsu or Owner Finesse hooks, any of several varieties.

Jig and Pig:   A complex question.  Two variables:   jig and trailer.  For jigs I prefer a 1/4 ounce head--usually we're fishing in the early season; usually the water is fairly high.  Usually.  I have some on 1/8 ounce heads but generally speaking if you're going that small or fishing in water that light a tube will outperform a jig-and-pig.  A rare (at the moment elusive) jighead is best:  what we call the "Butch Ward" head, after the great guide and tacklecrafter who died suddenly a few years back.  It's a "minnow-head" shape with a fiber-guard or mono-guard, generally a cluster of strands of stiff 30# mono.   Head color in the finished product is usually black but I'd welcome a source of unpainted heads so I could paint some brown and purple.  In fact I hereby offer a bounty of a dozen finished jigs in sexy colors for the first person who e-mails me information leading to a successful acquisition of these.  Also go for the premium hook.  Materials:  interesting question.  Living rubber or other silicone-type skirts look sexy and are common, but a bucktail jig in the drabber--and more effective colors--seems to be most productive.  This may be stodgy habit on my part.   Tie your jig short and sparse; the 1/4-ounce jig has a 2/0 or so hook, and a well-tied smallie jig-and-pig jig will have a sparse flare of bucktail that extends no more than a half-inch past the bend of the hook.  I believe this gives (with a trailer) the chunky profile that fools big early season bass.  Trailer:   Zoom salty chunk is my first choice.  The Iovinno products are expensive but effective.   There are several outfits selling custom smallie jigs on the web; all are good and many have very interesting and informative local color patterns and variations.  You can't go wrong with jigs made by smallie guys; you usually won't find the best at Galyan's and Wal Mart.  Pork trailers aren't as effective, though some feel that in very cold water--under about 40 degrees--pork outperforms plastic.  For those really early season jaunts, carry both.

Buzzbaits   There's only one, really; a buzzbait.   1/8 ounce, long-shank, with the double metal blade.  White, maybe chartreuse.  These are very tough to find (unless you buy mine, or know Matt Frondorf, who taught us how to make them.)  This is an absolute go-to lure for us.

Spinnerbait   Not much consensus here.  Generally it's a light colored 1/4 or 1/8 ounce lure with a single-blade, silver or copper; multiple blades make a ton of drag in a fast current situation.  Some years spinnerbaits have taken a lot of fish, others not so many.  I've done well on toned lures, especially containing some red, brown, or blue, and once had a great day on a white/grey/silver skirt combination.  Buy the cheap ones at Galyans and cut the small shaft-blade and clevis off.  That's what I do.  You don't lose many in the rocks but you do throw them off fishing on 6 or 8 pound line.

Plugs   I carry a lot, use few; main problem is treble hooks, which I hate.  Nothing spoils the fun of a guided float trip like twisting barbed trebles out of a client's hand.  Main exception:  Tiny Torpedo or Pop-R, in light colors ("bone" is a popular, hard-to-find color for these products.)   Also clear, and black for night time.  I love the Storm Chug Bug, both in the small and regular size.  It can make more commotion than any other topwater lure, and casts like a bullet; I keep one rigged up when we're on the move because if the raft drifts past a prime spot and nobody hits it, an eighty-foot cast with the chug-bug is easy and the ungodly-sharp little treble hooks guarantee a hookup even in a different time-zone.  Also they make a sexy copper color.  Of course, the Rapala (pronounced RA-pa-la; really) is an unbeatable lure for smallies, and perhaps the most versatile lure there is.  You will also do well to carry some of the old standard Rebel crawdad crankbaits.

Spin Gear    Quality medium action rods (St. Croix and Loomis make the best; they're pricey but come with Tragedy Guarantees) with a light reel with a good drag (I prefer Shimano products in the 1000 size).  Avoid the ultralight; it's fun but it kills fish, especially in warm weather.  Line:   Monofilaments--not braids or tech-lines, though I suspect I'm behind the times on this suggestion.  Though the new lines give astonishing sensitivity, their lack of stretch is a liability in rivers, rocks, and smallie-country, where things are sudden and strong.  Tectan gets good buzz on the talkboards.  I'm still using up the million-mile spools of Berkely Tri-Max I bought a few years ago.  It's holding up so far.