Wherever there is cool, clear water with a good supply of crayfish, anglers are likely to find smallmouth bass. And, whenever you hook a smallmouth, you’re bound to see spectacular leaps and determination unrivaled among freshwater fish.
Prior to 1900, smallmouth bass were found mainly in the Great Lakes and in river systems in the east-central United States. But as the railroads moved west and north, smallmouth were stocked in many rivers, natural lakes and large reservoirs. Probably the most successful introduction was in the clear, rocky lakes of the southern Canadian Shield.
The smallmouth bass is a close cousin of the largemouth, though the species differ in many ways. Smallmouths, for example, prefer slightly cooler water. They are most active in water 67° to 72°F and spawn in water from the upper 50s to lower 60s. While smallmouth spawn in cooler water, they may deposit their eggs a few days later than largemouth. The reason is that shallow, weedy bays used by spawning largemouth warm faster in spring than do the deeper, rocky sites preferred by smallmouth.
Where smallmouth and largemouth inhabit the same waters, smallmouth will usually be found a little deeper and are less likely to inhabit dense, weedy cover. Smallmouth prefer a firm, rocky bottom and, unlike largemouths, are seldom found on soft-bottomed structure.