Brett,
There are many types of bait that you can use when fishing for smallmouth bass, i.e. crankbaits, jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, soft platics, etc.
If there were any "one" bait that I could recommend for someone getting started, it would have to be a grub. This bait will consistently put fish in your boat and will catch many species of many sizes. They are deadly on smallmouth bass. (They will work for largemouths too) If you have some black and some chartreuse grubs, you will almost "always" be able to get fish to strike.
"All of the following items can be purchased at
www.basspro-shops.com"
#1 - Berkley Power Grub (Soft Plastic Grub) Size: 3"
Colors: a) Black b) Chartreuse
#2 Jig Heads (Bass Pro Shops® Painted Jigheads)
Sizes: 1/8oz. & 1/4oz. ball head jig
Color: Black
Rigging:
These grubs most effective when using a 6' Medium or medium-lite action spinning rod with a fast tip action matched with a suitable spinning reel. (Like an Eagle Claw X9 -size 10, or a 1000 size Shimano)
Line sizes can vary based on the depth you are fishing and the clarity of the water. For the most versatility, I would recommend using 6 pound test of your favorite line. The 1/8oz. jig head works best in water from 15' or less and the 1/4oz. will be most effective anywhere from 6'-30'. You can switch back and forth between weights (1/8oz & 1/4oz.) to figure out which the fish want and which will work best under different conditions. For example on, you may find it easier to fish the 1/4oz. in 0'-15' on windy days. On another day the smallies may want a slow fall, so you might use the 1/8oz. out in 25' of water. You will get a lot of strike on the fall using this bait, so keep the line semi-tight as it falls.
The rest is simple... Get out on the water and start fishing. One of the most effective ways of fishing the grub is to "crawl it". Crawling works just as it sounds, cast the grub out, let it sink to the bottom and then "crawl it back to the boat or shore slowly. The idea is to keep the grub in contact with the bottom. If you do not feel the bottom, you are either reeling too fast, or a fish has picked up the grub. You can crawl a grub from 0'-30' of water with out much trouble. Smallmouth love chuck rock, boulders and weeds, so be prepared to lose some rigs.
After you get comfortable crawling the grub and are consistently catching fish using it, then try some other retrieves like hopping or swimming the grub.
If you give this a try, I can promise you will get results very quickly. Good luck, I hope you find some of this information helpful.
Brendan