Smallmouth Bass
Smallmouth bass, a black bass member, are a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family also known as Brown bass, Brownie, Bronzeback, Smallie and Bronze  bass. The upper jaw of Smallmouth bass extends to the middle of its eye and not past as with the Largemouth. Smallmouth bass are generally brown with dark vertical bands rather than a horizontal band along the side and have 13 to 15 soft rays in their dorsal fin. Habitat however, does play a significant role in their color, weight, and shape. Smallmouths that live in the dark waters of some rivers tend to be rather torpedo shaped and very dark brown. On the other hand Smallmouth bass that live for example in the sandy areas of lakes tend to be more oval shaped with light yellow brown coloring to better adapt to this environment.
The world-record Smallmouth bass was caught in a lake in July, 1955, and weighed 11 pounds and 15 ounces. This smallmouth was caught on a pearl colored Bomber bait in Dale Hollow Lake along the Tennessee-Kentucky state line.
The Smallmouth bass is highly regarded for its topwater fighting ability when hooked. It has been called "ounce for ounce and pound for pound the gamest fish that swims”. Conventional spinning, bait casting and fly fishing tackle can be used when trying to land Smallmouths. When using spinning and bait casting tackle, lure choices should include crankbaits, plastic jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits and all types of soft plastic lures including curly tail grubs or tubes with lead head jigs. Natural baits include night crawler worms, minnows, hellgrammites, leeches and crayfish. Good fly fishing lures for Smallmouths are large dry or wet flies, nymphs, streamers, and crayfish or leech imitations. Floating topwater popper fly patterns are also popular smallmouth lures. Many anglers today practice catch-and-release Smallmouth fishing to improve populations.
The Smallmouth bass is native to the upper and middle Mississippi River basin, the Saint Lawrence River, the Great Lakes system, up into the Hudson Bay basin, and can be found, through stocking programs, in many cool water rivers and lakes throughout the United States and Canada. Smallmouth bass are found in clearer water than the largemouth. Smallmouths prefer cooler water temperatures than Largemouths also and may be found in both still and moving water preferably with gravel substrate. Because Smallmouths are relatively intolerant of pollution it can also be a good natural indicator of a waters environmental health. In lakes, Smallmouths are usually found along the shorelines, especially if it’s rocky, even during summer when they will tolerate warm water temperatures near shore. Larger Smallmouth bass will generally associate with underwater "structure" in these areas for ambush sites. In rivers and streams Smallmouth bass are usually found in the wider downstream reaches.
Spawning for Smallmouths occurs in the spring when water temperatures approach 60°F. Male Smallmouth will move into spawning areas and build nests. Nests are usually located near shore in lakes and downstream from boulders or some other obstruction that offers protection against strong current in streams and rivers. Mature females then will lay 2,000-15,000 golden yellow eggs in the nest. Males may also spawn with several females on a single nest. Average nests though contain about 2,500 eggs. The eggs will hatch about 10 days afterwards if the water temperatures are in the mid 50°F range and as quick as 2-3 days if temperatures are in the mid 70°F range. Males then guard the nest from the time eggs are laid until fry begin to disperse which can be a period of up to a month. The new fry begin to feed on zooplankton, switching to insect larvae and finally fish and crayfish as they mature. Mature Smallmouth bass feed mostly of crayfish, insects, and smaller fish.
Smallmouth bass mature at age three or four, and occasionally live to be 10 to 12 years old. The usual smallmouth seen by anglers is 8 to 15 inches long, and weighs less than three pounds. Male smallmouth bass are relatively smaller than the female.
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