Smallmouth vs. Largemouth Bass

[TerryMSU]

I have recently started catching river-run smallmouth bass (I think they are anyway). How can I tell the difference between smallmouths and largemouths?

Thanks,
Terry

 

[jtexas]

Re: Smallmouth vs. Largemouth Bass

a largemouth basse's jaw extends well past his eye socket.

 

[FLATHEAD]

Re: Smallmouth vs. Largemouth Bass

AH!! A chance to post some pics .

Largemouth has a very distinct lateral blotchy line on his side, and a big ole bucket mouth.

A smallmouth has a bronze color and has bars on his side that run top to bottom. and a much smaller mouth. Bad pic of me, great pic of a smallie

Pound for pound River smallies are IMHO that hardest fighting bass you'll ever catch. Those things pull like a frieght train.

 

[TerryMSU]

Re: Smallmouth vs. Largemouth Bass

Thanks...

They were all smallies then. (Thought so.) I was using the lateral line vs. the top to bottom bars.

I second your statement, " Pound for pound River smallies are IMHO that hardest fighting bass you'll ever catch. Those things pull like a frieght train."

I fish the Grand River at Grand Rapids, Michigan. Because the river has a bad reputation for polution, must people will not eat anything from the river. As a result, we all catch and release. The funny thing is, the river is actually much cleaner than I would have thought, at least above the sewage treatment plant. Unfortunately, there are several cities along the river (including Grand Rapids) that dump sewage whenever we get a heavy rain. About 50% of the river bottom here is rock-bottom, undeveloped, and only accessable by boat. When the river is down (like until recently), the fish are easy to find, but hard on the propellers.

Thanks,
Terry


Terry

 

[jtexas]

Re: Smallmouth vs. Largemouth Bass

hope you're happy, terry, you made flathead get up from his computer to go out & catch a couple basses..................

 

[FLATHEAD]

Re: Smallmouth vs. Largemouth Bass

Terry that is terrible that they dump sewage like that. Might be time for the local fisherman to get give a call to the DEP when this goes on. Hard bottom= big smallmouth. Here in Pa. we fish the Deleware, and the Susquehanna rivers. Both rivers have an abundance of rocky shallow water, and world class smallmouth fishing. There is a whole culture of guys that fish these rivers with Jet boats. They are usally a center console Jon boat built up with heavy aluminum, and powered by Jet motors (no prop). These things can get into some skinny water. Some will run on plane in 6 inches of water.A major investment for sure but if you live on the river it is well worth it.

Dont put your gear away when it gets cold. When the water temps go into the 50's the big smallies on the rivers come out to play.

Kudos to you guys for the catch and release

 

[TerryMSU]

Re: Smallmouth vs. Largemouth Bass

Ther are a few jet's on the river here. I am told that they have issues with sucking up weeds, etc. I use my outboard whenever possible and then shift to the front mount trolling motor or a canoe paddle. (My boat is a 14' fiberglass trihull with no oar locks and no place to sit even if I had oar locks.)

The sewage issue is due to a sewer system that cannot totally isolate storm sewer from sanitary sewer. Years ago, they were totally combined. There are a few people who run their eaves trough into the sewer and when we split the sewage system did not get the eaves trough line moved. This dumps to much water for the sewage plant to handle at once. They will treat the dumped sewage with heavy clorine.

What makes me even madder are people who use the river as a trash dump. People who just put pop cans in the river or even worse drop glass bottles in the river.

Terry

 

[John_S]

Re: Smallmouth vs. Largemouth Bass

Flathead,

I fish the Susquehanna River here in NY, before it enters into Pa. The sewer systems here in NY are the same as what Terry describes. Until complete isolation of storm sewers occurs, access sewer is an issue. They also treat less in the winter, because the cold water kills bacteria. Honestly though, I see bigger problems with bridge construction and highway truck spills, etc than sewer plants. The river is very good at cleaning itself.

This summer you can only wade or boat very small sections by us. Even too low for jet boats.

And yes, nothing like a river smallie! The good months are just ahead (Oct/Nov). And as the smallies slow down, walleyes come on

 

[penst8grad]

Re: Smallmouth vs. Largemouth Bass

I grew up on the Susquehanna River in the center part of PA. We used to play in it when it was orange from the mine runoff around Wilkes-Barre. We didn't care.

Now it is much-much cleaner. I still wouldn't eat out of it though. Smallies are fun, but so are carp for their pure strength. It's awsome seeing the kids face when they hook one for the first time.

Musky fishing in the river is also lots of fun.

 

[John_S]

Re: Smallmouth vs. Largemouth Bass

"Musky fishing in the river is also lots of fun."

Yes it is! They follow the walleyes. My son's friend caught this 40"er 19lber last fall, while with us. On the same day, I lost a bigger one when the spoon split ring gave way!

 

[FLATHEAD]

Re: Smallmouth vs. Largemouth Bass

John S. Great ski.

 

[bass buster]

Re: Smallmouth vs. Largemouth Bass

Pound for pound River smallies are IMHO that hardest fighting bass you'll ever catch. Those things pull like a frieght train.

I strongly agree with this! Lake or river smallies will give you a better fight than a comparable bigmouth, its been my experience. I love catching smallies!
I think they are sometimes more acrobatic than largemouths too. Great fun when they jump 3 feet out of the water!

 

[rndn]

Re: Smallmouth vs. Largemouth Bass

Here's a nice Lake Erie smallmouth. In case you're wondering it topped out at 6lb 5 oz.

 

[jebeebe]

Re: Smallmouth vs. Largemouth Bass

The river smallies tend to be longer and slimmer than their fat lake cousins. I think they put up a better fight too. I have caught and released many three pounders and a few four and five pounders in the Des Moines river near my house. I have spent many hours wadeing the river when my 19' Lund with the 150 merc was sitting in the garage. There is a rock reef running all the way across the river below me and I wade out below the reef and cast into the fast water with Black and chrome "fat Rap" baby ones". They run about a foot below the surface and don't hang up in the rocks. I some times use the same lure for weeks without changing it. The lure gets about five feet down the river and they almost jerk the rod out of my hand. They feed on shad and have a split second to make up their minds and I don't think they look the lure over too good. Bunch of fun................Jerry

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: Smallmouth vs. Largemouth Bass

My ol stomping grounds, The Hollow, is world class on these fish.
The new Float-N-Fly is the bomb on them if you can get the hang of it.
Use to fish the Billy Westmoreland SM tournament ever Dec untill he died and then quit going.
Just wasn't the same without Billy being there.

 

[beerfilter]

Re: Smallmouth vs. Largemouth Bass

Smallies are my favorite , as we both like the same habitat (rocky streams and lakes ) , and forage (crayfish , although I seldom fall for the fake ones.. ) .
They fight like hell , especially the stream/river smallies .
I'll take a 5 pound smallie over a 10 pound largemouth , anyday .

 

[Ben Paquin]

Re: Smallmouth vs. Largemouth Bass

Smallies are my favorite , as we both like the same habitat (rocky streams and lakes ) , and forage (crayfish , although I seldom fall for the fake ones.. ) .
They fight like hell , especially the stream/river smallies .
I'll take a 5 pound smallie over a 10 pound largemouth , anyday .

here we have hybrids. A mix between largemouth and smallmouth.
Just as acrobatic as the smallmouth and they pull as hard or harder.
Crazy fish. Caught a 4lbs like that today fought like hell. Then a 6lbs largemouth. Fought about the same but no acrobatics, just a lot of torque !

I find the largemouth pulls as hard as the smallmouth around here anyways. The main difference is the smallmouth jumps more.

 

[TerryMSU]

Re: Smallmouth vs. Largemouth Bass

Ben:

My experience seems just the oposite. Smallies tend to fight underwater, Largemouth tend to jump around much more. However, the smallies tend to fight much harder on any inch for inch (of fish length) than do the largemouths. of course this could be just me, as this is the first yaer for smallies, and I have not caught any largemouths this year (or the last two or three years). This is due to a move from a small lake to living near (but not on the waterfront) a moderate sized river.

Terry

 

[HyperFox]

Re: Smallmouth vs. Largemouth Bass

Well heck.. If were on bass, Im in.

I always found the smallies tend to dart more in random directions then the largemouths. Personally I love the fight of any strong bass, but I think the smallies are more challenging up here, just because they scramble a lot.

Our smallies here have pretty distinct coloring tho especially in mid-spring, like in may here as this pic was taken.

Yeah.. he wasnt a big one, but he was a good fighter, and lovely coloring. Cold day that was.. 10'C, light rain.. Miserable weather.. Better then workin tho!

I think for pulling power, our little river cats here are pretty wild, they hit.. Hit.. and as you set, its like they head the other way and keep the tail goin. Like a train.