What is a Smallmouth?:

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.

I saw one of the biggest Smallmouth I have ever seen taken on a top-water lure. It weighed 6 lbs and 2 oz and was caught in Maine on a Pop-R. That was just a pound and change away from the state record.


State By State Smallmouth Records:
State/Pounds/ Fisherman/ Lake/ Year Caught
Alabama: 10 lbs 8ozs Owen F. Smith, Wheeler Dam Tailrace 1950
Arizona: 7 lbs .96ozs Dennis K Barnhill, Roosevelt Lake 1988
Arkansas: 7 lbs 5ozs Acie Dickerson, Lake Bull Shoals 1969
California: 9 lbs 1oz Tim Brady, Clair Engle lake 1976
Colorado: 5 lbs 12ozs Carl Dewey, Navajo Reservoir 1993
Connecticut: 7 lbs 12ozs Joseph Mankavskas Jr., Shenipsit Lake 1980
Delaware: 4 lbs 15.5ozs Jerry Proffitt, Brandywine River 1989
Florida: None
Georgia: 7 lbs 2ozs Jack Hall, Chatuge Lake 1973
Hawaii: 3 lbs 11ozs Williie Song, Lake Wilson 1982
Idaho: 8 lbs .5ozs Dan Steigers, Dworshak Reservoir 1995
Illinois: 6 lbs 7ozs Mark Samp, Strip Mine 1985
Indiana: 7 lbs 4ozs Dana Yoder, Twin Lake 1992
Iowa: 7 lbs 12ozs Rick Gray, Spirit Lake 1990
Kansas: 5 lbs 5.56ozs Rick O'Bannon, Wilson Reservoir 1988
Kentucky: 11 lbs 15 ozs, Dale Hollow 1998
Louisiana: NONE
Maine: 8 lbs 0ozs George Dyer, Thompson Lake 1970
Maryland: 8 lbs 4ozs Gary Peters, Liberty Reservoir 1974
Massachusetts: 8 lbs 2ozs Barbara Sasen, Wachusett Reservoir 1991
Michigan: 10 lbs .75ozs Mike Polega, Lake Huron 1996
Minnesota: 8 lbs 0ozs unknown, West Battle Lake unknown
Mississippi: 7 lbs 15ozs Anthony Denny, Nantchez State Park 1992
Missouri: 7 lbs 2ozs Kevin S. Clingan, Stockton Lake 1994
Montana: 6 lbs 9ozs Terry L. Bruyvestern, Fort Peck Lake 1990
Nebraska: 6 lbs 1.5ozs Wally Allison, Merrit Reservoir 1978
Nevada: Unknown
New Hampshire: 7 lbs 14.5ozs Francis H. Lord, Goose Pond 1970
New Jersey: 7 lbs 2ozs Carl Marciniak, Round Valley Reservoir 1990
New Mexico: 6 lbs 8.75ozs Carl L Kelly, Ute Lake 1972
New York: Unknown
North Carolina: 10 lbs 2ozs Archie Lampkin, Hiwasse Reservoir 1972
North Dakota: 5 lbs 1oz Denise Hoger, Lake Sakakawea 1987
Ohio: 9 lbs 8ozs Randy VanDam, Lake Erie 1993
Oklahoma: 7 lbs 8ozs Carl Gayle, Lake Texoma 1996
Oregon: 7 lbs 9.6ozs Ray Currie, Henry Hagg Lake 1997
Pennsylvania: 8 lbs 8ozs Robert Steelman, Scotts Run Lake 1998
Rhode Island: 5 lbs 15ozs Butch Ferris, Wash Pond 1977
South Carolina: 8 lbs 1oz Brenna Jo Ritteger, Lake Jocassee 1995
South Dakota: 5 lbs 14ozs James Brennen, Lake Francis Case 1995
Tennessee: Unknown
Texas: 7 lbs 15ozs Tim Teague, Lake Meredith 1998
Utah: 7 lbs 6ozs Alan Lorg, Midview Reservoir 1996
Vermont 6lbs 12ozs George Carlson Lake Champlain 1986
Virginia 7lbs 7ozs John Justice New River 1986
Washington 8lbs 12ozs Ray Wonacott Columbia River 1966
West Virginia 9lbs 12ozs David Lindsay South Branch 1971
Wisconsin 9lbs 1oz. Leon Stefonek Indian Lake 1950
Wyoming 4lbs 12ozs D. Jon Nelson Southeast Pit 1982

Recommended: Yes