The recent spell of warm weather and rain has flushed the ice from the region’s rivers. Though mud and ice deposited on boat ramps may well impact access for the time being, within a few short weeks some of the year’s best fishing for smallmouth bass will occur.

When it does, it will pay to show fish a variety of profiles, including jigs dressed with non-traditional materials such as rabbit fur.

Leadheads dressed with fur and feathers provide a classic look to coldwater smallmouth bass that at times outperforms jigs adorned with soft plastic dressings.

When using jigs with a primary body ingredient of bucktail, marabou or rabbit fur, the key times are both early spring and late fall, when water temperatures range from 40 to 50 degrees. A wet, matted ball of hair out of the water, fur jigs come to life when submerged, as they breathe from gentle movement caused by angler manipulation. It’s this convincing appearance – even when the jig is at rest – that likely sparks a response from sluggish icy water smallies.

Since the varying characteristics of deer hair, marabou (which is actually feather) and rabbit fur behave differently in the water, it pays to experiment with each. On a given outing, bronzebacks may clamp down on a rabbit jig, while a day or two later display a preference for a bucktail or marabou jig.

Natural colors in the brown, black and olive green are productive. In clear water, try a combination of blue head/white body.

“I’ve found rabbit fur to be the ideal material for tying hair jigs for smallies,” John Wilpula said at the start of a past river outing. We went on to boat 70 brown bass up to 18 inches, many of them on his fur jig.

“I’ve found bucktail to be too stiff for the best subtle action in cold water,” Wilpula noted. “And marabou can wad up. Rabbit fur seems to have the best all-around qualities. It pulsates and breathes, even when the jig is motionless.”

John creates his rabbit fur jig by first typing in a 1.5 to 2-inch tail of rabbit zonker strip. He then winds on a light body with a strip of crosscut rabbit fur, finishing with a wrap of thread at the jighead. His favorite colors are black and olive green. Typically, Wilpula ties his fur jig on a mushroom-style jighead, or a football head.

No selection of cold-water smallmouth bass baits is complete without the inclusion of a curly tail grub. But just any curly tail won’t do. There’s something nearly magical about the way chilly water smallies hit Galidas Grubz (www.galidasgrubz.com), even in water temperatures below 40 degrees. Perhaps it’s the heavily ribbed body the ultra-thin tail, or just the right size. Regardless of why, brown bass like it, making it a profile that must be tried in the quest to discover Sir Smallie’s preference of the day. Fitt Custom Lures’ Chillie Willie is another excellent cold water smallmouth profile which I’ve had excellent success with in the past.

Seek out slackwater river pools where awakening brown bass are becoming active, but aren’t yet willing to buck heavy current. Using a medium power, fast action spinning rod in the six-to-six-and-a-half-foot range, drag/hop the jig along the bottom, expecting bites to have a spongy feel. Braid of 15- or 20-pound test, finished off with a two-to-three-foot section of 10-pound test fluorocarbon leader, will increase the likelihood of detecting the light bite.

During the early spring, on lakes, target sand/gravel flats adjacent to drop offs. These shelves are often the transition zone between deep wintering areas and spawning flats.

Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle