Why are largemouth so much more popular than smallmouth?

[Jleebesaw]

Im sure that nationwide largemouth are more popular. Smallmouth arent in the water in many places, so that obviously contributes. I live right on the st lawrence river and can tell you that a lot of people prefer smallmouths around here. I have never caught a LM in new york that was more than 6.5lbs. But catch smallies in the 6-7 lbs range all the time. You basically cant cash a check in derbies on the river with less than 25lbs. Its not hard to average 5lbs at all.  So in this niche part of the country, smallies tend to be bigger. Thats a big part of why so many people here prefer them.

     But i think the style of fishing can be a big part of it too. Unless its during spawn or late fall, smallies are usually on the move and in deeper water. Sometimes thats just not very fun. Skipping docks and running shallow weedlines for largemouths is more fun in my opinion. Dragging tubes or dropshotting over waypoints isnt as fun to me. Of course my experiance with smallmouths is in very large bodies of water, not streams like the OP mentioned. I fish LM ans smallies in the same lakes and rivers. Just different places on them. 

     I think most people dont really prefer one over the other. Some days ill want to target one, the next time the other. Just depends on my mood i guess. Or weather. If its windy i usually target LM. Lm are easier to find in places with protection from wind than smallies. I personally dont enjoy being out in the big waves all day. Id rather find calmer places where im more likely to find largmouths.

[roadwarrior]

Its not hard to average 5lbs at all.  

 

Yeah, that sucks...Now I understand why you prefer green fish.

 

[A-Jay]

1 hour ago, Jleebesaw said:

 I have never caught a LM in new york that was more than 6.5lbs.

But catch smallies in the 6-7 lbs range all the time.

You basically cant cash a check in derbies on the river with less than 25lbs. Its not hard to average 5lbs at all. 

     

7 pound brown bass all the time and 25 lb bags ~

That is outstanding ! 

Hope you'll share some pictures with us. 

A-Jay

 

 

[king fisher]

   When I was a kid I fished a creek near my house, that opened into a small deep lake for a mile, then turned back in to a small creek.  The large mouth bass in the lake section large, up to six pounds, but were not plentiful.  The small mouths in the creek section were small most less than a pound, but very willing to bite.

     I spent most days trying to catch the trophy large mouth first, then ended up fishing for the more willing to bite smallmouth.  I didn't prefer one over the other because of species, just preferred to catch the larger fish if possible.

     Now their are no largemouth in this system, but the smallmouth have grown up.  The slow section has the big fish topping out at 6 lbs. but not plentiful, similar to years ago, and the fast section still has all the small bass you can catch.  I have to admit, after hooking in to a couple 5 pound smallmouth, the only reason I miss the largemouth in this system, is only due to nostalgia.

     Now I live in Mexico, and their are no smallmouth, but I don't care, because my next cast could be over 10 pounds.  If I caught smallmouth the size AJ catches, I don't think I would fish for large mouth very often.  

     I think the reason largemouth are more popular, is because they are everywhere, and big.  The same reason King Salmon are more popular than silver Salmon.  Size matters.

[Spankey]

On 9/7/2020 at 10:49 AM, Ohioguy25 said:

I’ll never understand this.  Smallmouth fight harder, put on a far more acrobatic display, and are much prettier fish.  They are also much more challenging to catch.  Not to mention fishing a wild scenic river in the woods is much more adventurous and immersive than sitting on a hot stagnant lake or pond. 

 

The only logical explanations I can come up with are that they are more widespread, easier to locate and catch, and most importantly size - they get much bigger, but so what? I’ll take fighting ability over size all day. I just don’t really get it. 

Are you catching any greenies in the creek/river you fish? Not uncommon in slack areas with wood. 

[Luke Barnes]

For me its availability. In oklahoma there are only a few lakes and maybe 2 rivers that have smallies. Closest to me is about 45 minutes, which im making the trek tomorrow for. But I can fish for large jaws within a half mile of my house. So for me its what's available. I dont always have the time for a hour and a half round trip when I only have 2 hours to fish. But I would rather fish for smallies if I could. 

 

What irks me, I grew up on the Delaware River. Right where the east and west branch merge. But i was young and wasnt into fishing. Native trout and smallmouth were the main attractions. Most of the time if someone caught a large mouth its because they hit before the smallmouth did. 

[TriStateBassin106]

Because Smallmouth are much more moody fish and can only be found in certain regions/climate and specific types of waterbodies. 

 

When I say smallmouth are moody I mean this because they react harder to sudden weather temps/changes but one thing i've noticed about smallies is once you find them especially in river holes there's a million of em and the fight they put up is amazing. 

[soflabasser]

As I said before I prefer catching largemouth bass over smallmouth bass since largemouth bass grow much larger than smallmouth bass do. Many people have caught +8 pound largemouth bass but not many people have caught +8 pound smallmouth bass. Largemouth bass to me are much more impressive fish. Both are very fun to catch.

[Boomstick]

On 9/7/2020 at 3:18 PM, billmac said:

For eating and fighting, I don't think you can beat pike.

That depends if you have muskies where you live

[roadwarrior]

On 9/16/2020 at 9:53 AM, A-Jay said:

7 pound brown bass all the time and 25 lb bags ~

That is outstanding ! 

Hope you'll share some pictures with us. 

A-Jay

 

 

Guess he couldn't find a picture.

 

[Sir Shamsalot]

For me its about a bit of history. My area didn't use to have the smallmouth fishery it does today. Back then, a 3lbs smallie was really something to catch. Then you have the introduction of zebra mussels and gobies. That cleaned the waters that a sight oriented hunter like the smallmouth really needs, and an abundance food source for them to grow on.

 

[redmeansdistortion]

I'm a smallmouth guy since I live near arguably the best smallmouth water in the world.  I've caught countless smallmouth north of 5lb, while largemouth I can count the 5lb+ fish on one hand.  This is 30 years of fishing Lake St Clair.  Most of the largemouth I've caught were in the 1 to 3lb range.  I'd love to get on some big largemouth like those down south or out in California.

[5by3]

For me personally, it boils down to power fishing vs finesse fishing. Im lucky to live near Lake Erie, one of the best smallmouth fisheries in the world. I love to catch my share of smallies, especially during his spring when they come in shallow to spawn. During the summer months, I don’t care much to chase them in 20+ fow with a drop shot or tube. I’m a power fisherman at heart. I’d rather flip heavy cover or throw topwater and catch 2-3 lb largemouth than drop shot a 4 lb smallie. My opinion would probably change if we had better inland lakes near me for smallmouth, but largemouth are more accessible.

[Columbia Craw]

I’m just happy that I have access to both species.  They are exactly the same only different.

[Drew03cmc]

Let me offer some evidence why smallies are my favorite. They are not the most readily available here locally, but they are definitely my favorite. These are fish my son has caught this year. He was far happier about the smallie, on topwater, from a creek in Mid-MO.

[Ratherbfishing]

If you don't have them (or they are scarce), you simply won't likely pursue them.  Largemouth are almost everywhere whereas small mouth are...not so much.

[bulldog1935]

Largemouth fit right in the stillwater ecosystems of reservoirs, and are native in a large area of the country.  

Native habitat for smallies is moving water, though they do very well in colder reservoirs.  

Smallmouth also readily interbreed with spotted bass, as the fish and game bureaucracies in states with endemic spotted bass species have learned the hard way.  

[JLBBass]

They’re not.....?

[moguy1973]

On 9/7/2020 at 3:58 PM, WRB said:

The answer to your question has nothing to do with the Smallmouth bass and everything to do with location. Organized tournament bass fishing by Ray Scott's All American followed by B.A.S.S. Organization was located in Alabama. To this day when anyone states bass fishing it's 99% Largemouth bass. 

Smallmouth bass rarely factored in on winning tournaments until B.A.S.S. followed by FLW tournemnts were held north of the Mason-Dixon Line. 

Both Smallmouth and Spotted bass fight harder lb for lb then LMB, fighting harder doesn't win derbies weight does.

Tom

I'd bet 99% of fishermen will never fish a bass tournament in their lifetime.  They do fish for fun, and fishing for smallmouth that fight harder than largemouth do and that's fun in my book.  Catching big largemouth can be exciting, but they don't fight very hard.  Catching a 2-3lb smallie will feel like a lot bigger fish.

 

On 9/7/2020 at 10:08 PM, soflabasser said:

More people travel to fish for big Florida largemouth bass than they do for traveling for smallmouth bass. For example many Northerners spend thousands of dollars every year to travel to Florida, Texas, California, Mexico, and other places to catch big Florida largemouth bass. Many bass fishermen have caught +30 pound 5 fish limits of largemouth bass but not many have caught +30 pound 5 fish limits of only smallmouth bass. 

All the places that have big largemouth are also warm climate places.  People up north hate the cold and their lakes freeze over in the winter so they have to go south to fish, and there aren't many smallies down there where it's warm.

[TnRiver46]

8 hours ago, JLBBass said:

They’re not.....?

Exactly 

[soflabasser]

8 hours ago, moguy1973 said:

All the places that have big largemouth are also warm climate places.  People up north hate the cold and their lakes freeze over in the winter so they have to go south to fish, and there aren't many smallies down there where it's warm.

There are many big largemouth bass in Northern States but the South has much more. I have caught smallmouth bass in South Carolina where the weather is much warmer than most places with smallmouth bass. I highly recommend you fish for peacock bass if you get the chance to visit South Florida. Not only are they beautiful fish but they fight harder than a smallmouth bass or any equal sized black bass. 

[The Maestro]

I think when you first start fishing it's easier to target largemouth since they relate so much to visible cover like docks, trees, weeds etc... In most cases smallmouth are going to be found in areas where they relate more to underwater structure and features. This can make them quite a bit more challenging as it relies more on understanding seasonal movements and interpreting what you see with your electronics.

[The Maestro]

On 9/16/2020 at 10:53 AM, A-Jay said:

7 pound brown bass all the time and 25 lb bags ~

That is outstanding ! 

Hope you'll share some pictures with us. 

A-Jay

 

 

Lake Simcoe in the Fall kicks out huge bags. 31.8lbs in 2017 and 31.55lbs in 2010 with an 8lber on the same day. 7's aren't an everyday thing though.

 

https://m.bassmaster.com/news/massive-bag-smallmouth-sets-canadian-record

 

Not a very good picture of the 8lber (bottom pic)

 

https://cjohn2979.proboards.com/thread/6660?page=1

[A-Jay]

48 minutes ago, The Maestro said:

Lake Simcoe in the Fall kicks out huge bags. 31.8lbs in 2017 and 31.55lbs in 2010 with an 8lber on the same day. 7's aren't an everyday thing though.

 

https://m.bassmaster.com/news/massive-bag-smallmouth-sets-canadian-record

 

Not a very good picture of the 8lber (bottom pic)

 

https://cjohn2979.proboards.com/thread/6660?page=1

Me too ~ 

 

 

A-Jay

[ThatZX14Fella]

Because they're more plentiful. I've never even seen a smallie caught around here. Largemouth are common. Why would I fish for smallies when there's little chance that they're even at the location I'm fishing? I wouldn't go into an auto parts store looking for vegetables.