Actually, I saw the article in the Burnaby Now newspaper - front page.  Anyway, smallmouths will take any lure that works for trout.  Because of their small mouths, trout lures are great.

Rainbow trout, coho, chum, sockeye, chinook and steelhead, as well as cutthroat trout, carp, stickleback, red-sided shiners, prickly sculpins, and peamouth chub. There are also crayfish, lampreys and tadpoles. I'm surprised you never heard of this river.

You missed out on the black crappie . I don't think there any chinook or sockeye

rln, sockeyes and chinooks have been well documented in the Brunette River. FYI, there have been no documented cases of black crappies in the Brunette or even at Burnaby Lake. So, unless, you caught a black crappie, and you swear it was a black crappie, then that's someone new.

Here's an excellent link that details the fish in Burnaby's lakes, rivers, and tributaries. Click on the species of fish to see the body of water they reside.

http://www.penr.bcit.ca/fwr/images/Basin_images/Basin_interactive.html#

I know the people from TEAM DIAWA fished Brunette river as a Team Diawa fishing book from the 80's mentioned about Brunette river as a great river to fish for salmon and trout. It also mentioned that corn, cheese, bacon and worms are baits you should try I remember going to the Brunette river when I was about 15 years old and I decided not to fish there because the water level was so low and the colour was dark. However, during the fall or spring, water levels are high enough so that fishing is capable.