SMALLMOUTH BASS: IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Smallmouth bass are one of the most important gamefish found in North America. The robust body of this member of the black basses sports a brownish to bronze color with vertical, dark bars along it’s sides. The upper jaw of the smallmouth does not extend beyond the eye as it does in the largemouth. The dorsal fin has a very shallow notch. The young can be distinguished by the tricolored tail which has the outermost portion edged in white, the middle portion with a black band and closest to the body an orange color. The smallmouth bass seldom reaches weights in excess of 12 pounds, but is much smaller in this region.

The range of the smallmouth bass is from Minnesota to Quebec and south to northern Alabama then west to eastern Kansas and Oklahoma. It has been introduced in many other states coast to coast. The spread of the smallmouth can be directly traced to the growth of the railroad. Until the late 1860's, the smallmouth was confined to Lake Ontario and the Ohio River drainage system but soon was transported to different regions via the railroad. The Potomac basin bass came from the Ohio River via the railroad. Eventually the smallmouth arrived in California by way of New York.

The smallmouth bass is generally found in rocky sections of lakes and rivers. They prefer clear, rocky bodies of water with a minimum depth of 25 to 30 feet and temperatures in the summer months being no less than 60 degrees and no more than 80 degrees. In rivers this species prefers a good percentage of riffles flowing over gravel, boulders and bedrock.

LIFE HISTORY

The smallmouth bass matures at different ages depending on it’s growth and environment. In the north, males generally mature at the age of three years and about 9 inches in length. In southern locations both sexes appear to mature around two years of age. Smallmouth bass often move into small and large tributaries to spawn. Spawning usually takes place when water temperatures reach 60 to 70 degrees. This may occur from late April until early May. The male is responsible for building the nest and it is accomplished by fanning out the gravel, course sand or stones with his tail. The nest is built in 3 to 20 feet of water depending on clarity. The nests, which are 14 to 30 inches in diameter will be deeper in clearwater than those found in turbid water. After the nest is completed the male selects a ripe female and drives her to the nest. After she has spawned the male drives her from the nest and another ripe female is selected. Often times, as many as three different females will lay their eggs in a single nest. Although a female will produce 2,000 to 7,000 eggs per pound of body weight, all the eggs do not ripen at the same time. A nest may contain up to several thousand eggs with an average being about 2,000. Incubation takes place in 2 to 9 days depending on water temperature. After hatching the fry leave the nest within a few hours after swimming up. There is little or no parental care.

GROWTH RATE

The growth of the smallmouth is dependant on the amount of food that is available, the temperature of the water and the length of the growing season. In some infertile waters it can take up to four years for the smallmouth to reach 9 inches in length. In fertile bodies of water a smallmouth can reach 9 inches during it’s second summer. In these fertile bodies of water. Smallmouth bass will reach 18 to 20 inches in 7 to 10 years.

PARASITES

The smallmouth bass has a common parasitic enemy known as the bass tapeworm. This internal parasite doesn’t kill the fish but it shrinks the capacity for reproduction to the point that smallmouth have been eliminated from some eastern lakes. The tapeworm also infest the largemouth but not with the same devastating results. Anglers seldom see the parasite, nor eat it accidentally, as it penetrates the intestines and gonads which are removed when the fish is cleaned for cooking. These parasites are no the same as the grubby worms sometimes found in the muscle tissue of bass. The yellow grub infestation is harmless to man and not lethal to the fish. Parasitic infestation is more prone in some areas rather than others and can be transferred from body of water to body of water by unsupervised stocking and becomes an ever present threat.

ANGLING VALUE

The smallmouth bass is widely acclaimed as the top trophy of the bass family. This fish is extremely active and usually jumps when hooked providing a thrilling fight for the angler. The average smallmouth is not nearly as large as other fresh water species, but the capture of a 4 or 5 pounder requires more skill and more patience than the taking of other species of comparable size.

Baits used for smallmouth fishing vary with each locality and the season. The generally accepted natural baits in eastern bodies of water are hellgrammites, softshell crayfish, night crawlers and minnows. Smallmouth generally feed the heaviest during the morning and evening and will often strike during the night when surface lures are presented. Many fishermen feel that the ultimate rush is obtained when fly fishing for smallmouth. Fishing the rivers during late summer is best as lake fish refuse to hit. The lower and clearer the river translates into the best fishing.

In this area, smallmouth prefer large bodies of water with clear and rocky conditions such as those found in southern Maine, which is noted for it’s exceptional smallmouth fishing during May and June. When looking for bronzebacks, scout out area of gravel bars set between weededs in 10 to 20 foot depths of water. Smallmouths will also be found along rocky dropoffs, structure laden bottoms and the ends of breakwaters as they jut out into the water. Smallmouth bass are known for their fondness for crayfish and will often search for them along rock mounds and reefs far offshore. Smallies can be taken on surface lures, particularly during the early morning in close to shore as smallmouth enter the shallow waters along the shoreline in search of frogs and small minnows.

FLY-FISHING FOR SMALLMOUTHS

Fly-fishing in rivers is not very difficult to learn. Most of the runs and pools that you will be fishing are relatively shallow and the bass will readily rise to the music of a surface lure. Smallmouth generally position themselves in the feeding lanes marked by a line of foam or bubbles at the head of a pool. Smallmouth do not hold in water that is very swift, but you will find them in pockets that have moderate currents and around all the obvious cover such as boulders, rockpiles, ledges and banks. They sometimes wander into backwaters from the main river channels especially if there is sufficient depth and weed growth that supports feed.

TECHNIQUES FOR RIVER SMALLMOUTHS

The most important thing you can learn about bass fishing in any given river is to learn the seasonal patterns in fish behavior. Different types of habitat will attract and hold bass during different times of the year. Young bass will be seen throughout most river section but the larger bass are much more selective in their habitat. Although smallmouth do not take part in distant migrations, they will move short distances, from shallows to deep riffles, from pools to pockets, and even to backwaters and sloughs according to the season. There is a variety of reason for this movement such as the availability of foods, the loss of cover during low water conditions or the availability of forage during rising water conditions and temperature changes.

The skilled angler recognizes the productive locations, wether it is shallow, rock-bottomed pools with only a moderate current during the spring months, the main channel edges during the summer or the slack water of deeper pools with no apparent current in the cooler temperatures of fall. There is no hard and fast rules and it can be difficult for an anglers to get a "reading" on a strange river. The river bottom will lend a clue as to where the fish might be. A course and rugged bottom is more likely to hold smallmouth than a gravel bottom as small aquatic organisms will hold to these items. Ledges and long grassy banks will hold smallmouth for short periods regardless of river bottom. River bass like their pond and lake counterparts rely heavily on cover for protection. During the colder water periods when temperatures drop to the low 40's and colder, smallmouth bass will hold up in rock crevasses when not actively feeding. Late season anglers must work these areas slowly and deliberately.

Once you begin to catch fish, make a mental note of the bottom structure, river flow and depth. Look for identical conditions throughout the day and your success rate should be good. At different times of the year, smallmouth will hold in different areas but these areas will be the same throughout the river during the season you are fishing.

Despite the common belief that smallmouth bass can not be caught when water temperatures fall below 40 degrees, persistent fishermen that pay attention to details and keep detailed logs will discover that they can be successful.

Learning the habits and preferences of the smallmouth bass will translate into successful fishing.