Small Mouth Bass. What Are They?

Before the 1900s pretty much the only place to find smallmouth bass was in the great lakes. However as technology advanced and transportation evolved small mouth were stocked in many more places including, rivers, natural lakes and man made reservoirs. The lakes of the Canadian Shield have probably been the best success story for transplanting small mouths.

The small mouth is a close relative of the large mouth bass but it does have a lot of differences. Smallmouth prefer cooler water, they usually lay their eggs later. In bodies of water that contain both large and small mouth bass the smallmouth will usually be found in the deeper water. They are less likely to live around weed cover. Smallmouths prefer rocky bottoms. Unlike large mouth you will seldom find smallmouth on soft-bottomed structures.

Smallmouths respond to sunlight and weather changes in a very similar way as a large-mouth. Both fish are most active under low light and as long as the weather is stable the bite will usually be a lot better.

Crayfish are smallmouth favorite food. However they do eat a number of other tings as well. Frogs, tadpoles, small fish, worms and many different kinds of insects.

Smallmouths don’t reach the same size as large mouth. In fact a five pound small mouth in most waters is considered a trophy fish. There are several caught each year between 7 and 8 ponds and the world record is 10 pounds 14 ounces.

A smallmouth jaw extends to the middle of the eye. Their sides are greenish to brown with dark vertical bars that come and go. Three dark bars radiate from the eyes. Smallmouths are constantly changing colors to fall into place with their surroundings.

Dale Mazurek