A Largemouth acting like a smallmouth

[Gundog]

Back many years ago I fished a local lake. To call it a lake is a stretch, to some it would be a large pond. If you stand on the shore of the narrowest part you can cast half way across the lake. Its also not a very deep lake. Its illegal to take a boat on it so I don't know how deep it is exactly but, from dragging lures across the bottom, I would say its no more than 10 ft at its deepest. It was always a trout stocked lake (put & take) but decades ago someone put some largemouth bass in there and they reproduced and became fat and health. About 10 yrs ago a friend who also fishes the lake told me he saw smallmouth bass in the lake. I thought he was nutty. In my defense, my friend once told me that he believed there was a carburetor that could get 100 miles to the gallon and the government had the patent and wouldn't allow it to be produced. So I had reason to be skeptical of what he said he saw. Anyway, after fishing there one day I hooked a nice largemouth and as I was bringing it in I notice a smallmouth following it. We who have fished for smallmouth know this is nothing unusual. But what was unusual was the largemouth behind the smallmouth following the largemouth I had hooked. When I got the largemouth to the shore both the SMB and LMB scattered. After apologizing to my friend for not believing him, I remember mentioning to him that I had seen SMB follow other SMB that were hooked but never seen the same from LMB. Did the LMB take on the characteristics of the SMB? If so why? Has anybody else seen similar behavior in SMB and LMB together? Has anybody seen both species together in a non-aquarium type setting? 

[soflabasser]

This reminds me of how I see largemouth bass and peacock bass schooling together while they are looking for fish to eat around the shoreline. Both these fish are completely different species and not even in the same family yet they school up together to hunt fish.As for largemouth and smallmouth bass, they are both in the sunfish family and different species of sunfish are often found together. Have caught smallmouth bass and largemouth bass in the same body of water so I am sure they often cross paths or form schools together when they are hunting their prey.

[WRB]

You ever watch MLF when they fish northern lakes with both LMB and Smallmouth bass populations? It's common for the contestants to catch both species from the same spot on back to back casts!

Tom

 

[Scott F]

I regularly catch smallmouth and largemouth from the same spots at the same time. Where I get them, there is almost always a combination of rocks and weeds that hold both species.

[Way north bass guy]

My experiences are very similar to Scott F’s. Lots of lakes up here with both species in them, and you can often get both in the same spot, especially if there’s either weeds or wood mixed with rock or gravel areas. Also, on Georgian Bay where I fish a lot, in the dead heat of summer you can find some absolute pig smallies in a few feet of water and thick weedbeds acting like largemouth.  

[JigMaster4]

I was fishing saturday, caught a LMB, SMB and spot all within about 20 feet of each other. They were stacked on a rock.

[MIbassyaker]

Yup -- On one of my favorite waters, my LM and SM pb from that place were caught at the exact same spot (a weedline bordering the channel in a dam backwater) on subsequent days.

[Gundog]

Have any of you seen largemouths following smallmouths in when you caught a smallmouth? To me that was odd behavior. I've never hooked a LMB and had other LMB follow in like SMB do commonly. 

 

[Pro Logcatcher]

I've had spots follow largemouth and vice versa. I don't know if that is uncommon or not but I have never had a smallie follower.

[deep]

No idea how smallmouths are supposed to act, but I have watched plenty of largemouths follow other hooked fish to the boat/ shore...

[TnRiver46]

I have had a few largemouth, a couple of them pretty big ones, follow in a hooked smallmouth. They are just eating what the hooked fish is vomiting up, fish are ruthless and hungry

[WRB]

A-rigs often catch multiple bass of the same species and big swimbaits with multiple hooks caught 2 big LMB occasionally. I haven't witnessed multiple mixed LMB and smallmouth bass caught on 1 lure but it's possible.

The misconception maybe anglers that fish the bank often catch a single bass near cover and don't believe or have experience with bass that often school in groups to feed on baitfish in lieu of hunting as individuals. It's common for Smallmouth and spotted bass to hunt in groups, LMB also group up in lakes with pelagic bait fish because thier success rate go up.

Maybe the OP doesn't have a lot of  experience with lakes with multiple bass species.

Tom

[Cak920]

I would guess in a small lake or pond a bass will be a bass regardless of type

[LxVE Bassin]

Ive read that largemouth bass school with stripers on blueback herrings lakes.

[Gundog]

11 hours ago, WRB said:

 

Maybe the OP doesn't have a lot of  experience with lakes with multiple bass species.

Tom

You're right Tom. Most of the lakes/rivers I fish have predominately either SMB or LMB. I've heard of LMB grouping up but only from pro anglers on t.v. Never actually witnessed it. 

[B-Dozer]

Maybe he just identifies as a smallmouth?

[Gundog]

The Caitlyn Jenner of the bass world 

[B-Dozer]

1 minute ago, Gundog said:

The Caitlyn Jenner of the bass world 

sumthin fishy goin on here 

[38 Super Fan]

 

It's common for them to hang together around here. Here's a LMB SMB double I caught from last year.

[38 Super Fan]

4 hours ago, LxVE Bassin said:

Ive read that largemouth bass school with stripers on blueback herrings lakes.

I've seen that on my local lakes, and they're not herring lakes. Last year my Dad was fishing with me and he hooked up (and eventually landed) a 20 pound Striper that was breaking threadfin on top. I immediately casted to the same area and caught a little 10 inch spotted bass.

[WRB]

1 hour ago, 38 Super Fan said:

 

It's common for them to hang together around here. Here's a LMB SMB double I caught from last year.

Proof!

Tom

[CroakHunter]

1 hour ago, 38 Super Fan said:

 

It's common for them to hang together around here. Here's a LMB SMB double I caught from last year.

Now that's cool!

[Bluebasser86]

It happens often in the lakes I fish where they both live. A few years ago I was night fishing one and caught a 3 1/4lb smallmouth and 4.5lb largemouth on back to back cast to the same dock corner on the same jig. 

 

[sully420]

Ive seen largemouth bass wolf pack with northern pike and smallmouth so im not supprised at all that people are catching and seeing sm and lm schooling

[Way north bass guy]

Last spring on Georgian Bay I caught a smallie about 3lbs off a fallen tree in a foot of water, next cast to the same tree was a pike about 30” long and on the third cast was a rainbow trout about 2lbs. I’ve never seen anything like that before, except maybe in the bass pro shops aquarium ?.