Wildlife Watching Wednesday: Smallmouth Bass are Feisty Fighters
By: Tom Berg
The smallmouth bass is a much sought-after gamefish. Pound for pound, many anglers believe they fight harder than any other freshwater fish. They also have a habit of leaping completely out of the water when hooked in an attempt to get away, making them very exciting to catch. It is not unusual for a smallmouth bass to jump several times when hooked by a fisherman. Smallmouths are also called smallies, brown bass and bronzebacks.
Smallmouth bass are actually not members of the bass family at all. They are members of the sunfish family. They can be distinguished from their cousin the largemouth bass mainly by their coloration. Smallmouths are generally brown or tan-colored, often with vertical bars on their sides. Largemouth bass are usually green or olive-colored, with a dark black stripe running horizontally from head to tail.
Like the name says, smallmouths have slightly smaller mouths than largemouth bass. But their mouth is still pretty big in comparison to their body. The upper jaw of smallmouth bass is typically right in line with their eye, while for largemouth bass their upper jaw extends beyond their eye. Another easy difference to spot is with their dorsal fins. A largemouth has a set of two dorsal fins that are separated, while the smallmouth’s two dorsal fins are connected.
Smallies are top predators, and they eat everything from smaller fish to crayfish, frogs, insects, worms and even mice. Minnows and crayfish are among their favorite foods. Smallmouth bass inhabit many clean lakes and rivers throughout the USA, and they are extremely abundant in the Great Lakes, especially Lake Michigan and Lake Erie. They are also very plentiful north of our border in Canada.
Summer is prime time to catch a smallmouth bass whether you fish from a boat or from shore, so head out to your nearest smallmouth water and catch one for yourself!
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