The Smallmouth Bass

Smallmouth are the most active of the bass family. If you hook into one, hold on, because you are in for a good fight. Unlike the largemouth, the smallmouth will leap, flip, flop, and spin to throw the hook. They fight like a largemouth that is twice their size. Since they are so active they will eat more prey than a largemouth will. A largemouth will wait for one or two big meals while a smallmouth is more active and will eat meals that vary from crawdads, to minnows, to worms.

How can I tell it apart from a Largemouth:

A smallmouth bass is a member of the bass family that is brownish and bronze in color. The largemouth bass is more greenish and has a tint of yellow. The body looks a lot like that of a largemouth except the coloration and the size of the mouth. If you can’t tell the difference between the two from color alone look at the point in the back of the jaw bone. Where it comes to a V. If that V is under the imaginary parallel line that the eye makes directly behind the eye than it is a smallmouth. If the V is above the eye line than it is a largemouth.

Where to Catch them:

You can catch a smallmouth in any part of a lake where they live but to consistently catch them and to catch the big ones fish around rocky points and shorelines. If you have a depth finder look for areas under the water where a hump rises or the bottom is real jagged. If there are rocks in the area there probably is crawfish and smallmouth and crawfish go hand in hand. They will go up into shallow coves at certain times of the year but they prefer deeper water. They spawn in about 10-15 feet of water.
Smallmouth prefer to live in cold and clear water. It is unlikely they will do well in a small warm and muddy pond. They just won’t survive.
They will stay around rocky and sandy shorelines but they school up more than largemouth so be prepared to find them chasing schools of bait. Look for ripples or disturbances on the top of the water. Most likely there are smallmouth below a school of bait fish. Cast to that spot and be ready.

Their Diet:

Smallmouth love Crawfish/Crawdads. This is their favorite foods do use lures that simulate that of a crawfish. They also feed on leeches, minnows, other bass, frogs, snakes, mice, bug, insects, grasshoppers, crickets, and basically anything alive in the water. This makes them easy to catch because they are not too picky.

Downsize Your Lure, To Upsize Your Catch!:

Believe it or not, if you want to consistently catch BIG SMALLMOUTH, downsize your bait. By downsizing your Rapala, grubs, jigs, and other lures you can better your chances of hooking into a real monster. You will also increase your chances of catching more fish, and isn't that what its all about anyway. One of the biggest Smallies’ I have ever caught came on a lure about the same size as its eyeball. Very tiny.
This is an opposite to the advice that most fisherman give. Everyone these days is saying, “get the biggest lure you can find, big lure means big fish.” While this does hold truth especially with Largemouth, it is not always or often the case with smallmouth.

Top Water Action:

If you want some serious excitement, go fish for smallmouth with top water lures. I recommend the Skitter Pop by Rapala, or the Super Spook Magnum by Excallibar, or the original Pop-R. Any prop-bait as well. A prop bait is a lure with a propeller on it that spins as you retrieve the lure. This adds a wake to the water and a splashing noise that fish can’t resist. It almost appears to be the tail of a minnow splashing back and forth on the top as the prey tries to escape from the predator. When the fishing is hot I recommend a fast top-water retrieve. Make as much noise and splash as much water as you can with it. When the fish are biting they will hammer the top for an easy meal. When the bite is slow I recommend a slow retrieve. Just twitch it on top and let it sit. One rule of thumb I have for a slow bite is to let the lure sit after you cast it until all the ripples have disappeared from around it, then begin your slow retrieve. This drives them crazy.
I really love seeing a smallmouth come to the top and drill a top-water lure. All Hell breaks loose when this happens.
It’s important to make a quick and swift hook-set after it bites. Keep tension on the fish the whole way and be prepared for it to jump and attempt to spit the lure. Smallmouth are notorious for that. They swim just as fast as any other freshwater fish I have caught as well so be ready when you set into a big one.