Smallmouth Bass Biology

HABITAT

The smallmouth is a native fish to North America. It's current home range covers the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence seaway south along connecting water to South Dakota. It has also spread from the Mississippi river to as far south as Alabama. Many of the locations smallies exist today are due to their introduction by man. They generally prefer colder and much clearer water than due largemouth. Deep, clear northern lakes and cool clear rivers with cover and deep holes are the spots where smallmouth bass do the best. This clear water habitat can create added difficulties when it comes to lure presentation.A good water temperature for healthy a population is between 68 and 80 degrees.

In a lake, smallmouth bass will be found around rocks and sand/gravel bottoms in clearer water. They actively seek out these conditions due to the fact that they are visual predators. The breaklines off rocky points and large underwater rocks are the classic structures to look for in pursuit of the “bronze bass”. If they reside in a river, they act a lot like trout hanging right near the fastest current. Current breaks next to slack water with deep holes are good places to find river smallies. As they mostly hunt by sight, some great action can be had all day long, but they are very prone to bad moods due to high pressure systems. When the clouds disappear, often the smallmouth do too!

REPRODUCTION

Smallmouth bass make nests with their tails in about 3 to 8 feet of water. They prefer a sand/small gravel bottom to do this in. There is an interesting mating dance of rubbing and biting that takes place before eggs are laid. The male makes the nest and guards it. After mating is complete, the female is evicted and she may go on to mate again with other males. Dad watches the kids for about 2 weeks then they all split. When the water temperature rises to about 50 to 55 degrees this reproductive activity starts.

Reproduction for smallmouth bass takes place in the spring. This will usually take place slightly before largemouth because lower temperatures trigger them to spawn. The bass, largemouth or smallmouth, has no choice in the matter. This is an important point to bring up. Nature governs all that bass do. There is no greater driving force than their instincts and habitat. If you catch a nice bass, somehow you have mimicked a natural occurrence and triggered the bass to bite. You will see this information again!

BEHAVIOR

Smallies are found in both lakes and streams, but for simplicity we'll cover lake behavior as it applies to the rivers as well. They actively seek out harder bottoms and cooler, clearer water than the largemouth. This bass is a schooling fish if there ever was one. This can be good or bad depending on how you handle yourself while fishing. Don't do you homework, don't take time to understand seasonal and weather changes, and you don't catch smallmouth bass! Period.

A good thing to remember is that smallmouth bass are not spread out evenly in the water. Think of them as nomads on the plains. They take the same routes, with some same variations in pattern, to provide what they need. These are food and shelter. When you find these “nomads” they will be in a group, this is to provide protection and support to each other. They are excited and spooked as a group. They move as a group. However they can not be everywhere at once so you need only learn their patterns, and what effects them to change these patterns, to locate them.

The diet of smallmouth bass is not as varied as his cousin. The two largest food sources are crayfish and other fish. Of course a tasty hatch of insects will not be past up and is a great time to locate them in a river. Top water smallies will make you late for dinner!

He is a visual predator and all good lures will need to take this into account. Lure color is used only as fine tuning and not as the final decision. Smallies home in on prey by seeing it. They also are very sensitive to vibration, but without the right look, nothing happens!

Speaking of lures, smallmouth can also be caught on simple soft plastics. The tube and curly tail grub have accounted for many huge bronze backs and they are quite easy to use. Using different size jig heads to effect the drop speed and even weedless rigs will bring hours of fun.

Probably the most expensive and intense part of smallmouth bass fishing is hard plastic jerkbaits and crankbaits. You get this right and it will knock your socks off! The smallmouth by nature is prone to taking a hard plastic crankbait that closely imitates a wounded fish. Depth and speed control are very important to match his activity level and mood.

SIZE AND AGE

The average lifespan of the smallmouth bass is 6 to 14 years. They are very sensitive to water pollution and if you have a healthy population it is a great indicator of a healthy body of water. The clean cool water will have a direct effect on the size and age of the fish. It is possible in the right environment for these bass to live upwards of 20 years.

The largest smallmouth is reported to have grown to more than 12 pounds. This unofficial record, like the largemouth record, is quite up for debate. A mature smallie in good conditions will reach 6 to almost 7 pounds! That is a handful on even the best gear.

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