The Fight

[Mobasser]

My own PB fish was a LM near 8lbs, caught years ago. I caught this one on a Mann's Jelly Worm, 6" solid black.             Once hooked, this fish half rolled on the surface, then came in pretty easily.            When I got her near the boat, I was amazed at the size of this fish. I expected a smaller bass. Since then, hooking fish of all sizes, Ive had 3 or 4lb fish fight much harder, tearing up the surface, jumping, and pulling hard.                                                      Everything I've read and heard over the years points to the  smallmouth bass as being the harder fighting fish. One writer called the small mouth bass " pound for pound, one of the hardest fighting fish that swims".                                      But, we never know what a fish will do, untill he's hooked, and the fight begins. Each one is different.                       For those that fish for both smallmouth  and   largemouth do you think this is correct? Is the  smallmouth bass the harder fighting fish?                                   The late Billy Westmoreland called the smallmouth"those bodacious brown bass", and said that the smallmouth was  always hell bent on a good fight.                Whats your opinion here? Is the smallmouth the harder fighting fish?                

 

[gim]

It is of my opinion that smallmouth do put up a better fight than largies.  And I would go even further and say that river smallies fight harder than their lake cousins too.  A 12 inch river smallmouth hooked in some current feels like a 19 incher until you actually get a visual.  I'm sure that its simply a by-product of the environment and fighting current constantly.

[roadwarrior]

If you hooked a 3lb smallmouth up with a 5 lb largemouth the brown fish would drown

the green fish!

 

 

                                                      

[Bluebasser86]

I've had some big largemouth that fought pretty good, but nothing like a big smallmouth. 

[CM-fisher]

My PB smallie fought much harder than my PB Largemouth. The largemouth hit a frog in dense emergent vegetation, and I just winched her in without much of a fight. I thought it was a little guy at first, the fish just barely slurped the frog. The smallmouth came in about 15" of water in the boundary waters in Northern MN on a crankbait, I must've thought that thing for a good 2 minutes on the light line and ML power spinning rod. So I suppose the environment the fish was caught in (weeds, open water, river current) does affect the quality of the fight, like @gimruis mentioned. The thing I've noticed with smallies is that no matter what size they are they like to jump clear out of the water, which makes the fight thrilling. Bigger 18"+ largies try to bury themselves in the weeds instead of going for massive leaps. Just my personal experiences though. 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

A Smallmouth certainly is a harder fighting species. 

That said, both the LGM and Smallmouth are playing for second place as long as the Alabama Bass exist.   Spots and Smallmouths fight alot alike, but where the Spot separates itself is the speed of it's runs.   It's a more sleek and streamlined fish compared to the football shaping of the Smallmouth.

[Darth-Baiter]

i'm gonna visit a friend to see about a large Smallmouth.  the videos look downright violent.

 

having said, that i have had some largemouth fool me into thinking it is a giant.

the fish in Clearlake and the CA Delta have some extra level of attitude.  the pull is strong enough to spin my kayak around (i work kayak drag into  the total fish fighting drag equation :D) but i wouldnt call it violent. 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

1 minute ago, Darth-Baiter said:

i'm gonna visit a friend to see about a large Smallmouth.  the videos look downright violent.

 

having said, that i have had some largemouth fool me into thinking it is a giant.

the fish in Clearlake and the CA Delta have some extra level of attitude.  the pull is strong enough to spin my kayak around (i work kayak drag into  the total fish fighting drag equation :D) but i wouldnt call it violent. 

If I lived in Cali I'd want to see what a 8-10lb Spot pulls like ?

[Jar11591]

Smallmouth are much harder fighting in my opinion. Of course every individual fish can be different, but overall there’s no comparison on my eyes. Big largemouth can pull very hard, but smallmouth half as big can equal their output. I would say about 20% of my hooked largemouth go airborne, where smallmouth are approaching 100%, so there’s that as well. 

[Darth-Baiter]

2 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

If I lived in Cali I'd want to see what a 8-10lb Spot pulls like ?

sadly.  me too.  

 

a two pound spot is very impressive.  the hit is so fast.  none of that slow inhale..just BAM!!!  "what was that?"

3 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

If I lived in Cali I'd want to see what a 8-10lb Spot pulls like ?

if you ever visit.  give me time to hire a guide.  mahuuuawahhhaaaa..

[Dwight Hottle]

Smallies definitely fight harder than a largemouth and for a longer duration. People say that river fish fight harder than lake fish but I take exception with that statement. River current contributes to the fish fight because the fish usually uses it to it's advantage. But most river fish are long & lean in frame while the great lakes smallies have a massive frame with muscle mass just behind their heads & their chins extending the whole way back to their tails.  

My experiences with largemouth caught in Mexico make them much tougher than their US cousins almost like our smallies. 

[N Florida Mike]

Probably the hardest fight per pound bass I ever caught was a 2.5 pound Suwannee bass ( Sub largemouth specie)that I caught in the Sante fe river here in N. Florida. I thought it was 4-5 pounds while fighting it.

Cannot compare a smallmouth to it since I’ve never caught one . 

 

[Fishingmickey]

     We have Guadalupe bass here in Texas that put up a serious fight too. I feel that they, like a spotted bass fight much more like a smallmouth. A 16" "Guad" will give you a battle!

     Another point I'd like to make is the difference between how differently the fish fight at different water bodies.  One of the power plant lakes here in South central Texas the bass really punch above their weight class.

     Alabama Spot and Darth, I'd love to join you in the pursuit of a 8-10lb California Spotted Bass!

Fishingmickey

[flyfisher]

River fish fight harder than lake fish

Smallies fight harder than Largemouth

Spots fight harder than both green and brown bass

Sunnies fight harder than all three.....

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Water temperature seems to play a huge role in a Bass's ability to fight as well.  

 

Certainly, recover after a fight......It takes forever to revive 5lb+ fish in the Alabama Summers.  I've saw several fish this summer take 10-20mins to recover and swim off.    

 

Smallmouths have traditionally been known as a colder water species, whereas Largemouth are thought to be a more warmer water species...granted you have Northern Vs. Florida Strain here.

 

All very fascinating stuff, Bass biology is my favorite things to learn about besides catching them.

9 minutes ago, Fishingmickey said:

     We have Guadalupe bass here in Texas that put up a serious fight too. I feel that they, like a spotted bass fight much more like a smallmouth. A 16" "Guad" will give you a battle!

     Another point I'd like to make is the difference between how differently the fish fight at different water bodies.  One of the power plant lakes here in South central Texas the bass really punch above their weight class.

     Alabama Spot and Darth, I'd love to join you in the pursuit of a 8-10lb California Spotted Bass!

Fishingmickey

I can't fathom a 10lb Spot, truly can't.     I was watching a video on the current WR Spot, and the day they caught it, they caught several other 7lb+ Spots.

 

Imagine that day of fishing......I'm not sure how you would go fishing again, you'll never top something like that.     Tim from Tactical Bassin had the previous WR, and I believe the video is on the TB channel.   Very cool video and has lots of footage of the WR.  

[A-Jay]

Always an interesting debate ~

Never caught a spotted bass so I can't comment there. 

While there is little doubt that 'trophy sized' brown & green bass don't usually come to the net easily, my general feeling on this has three basic aspects to it.

First revolves around the rule of gross tonnage.

The second has to do with tackle used.

And third involves water temperature. 

So big bass, regardless of color, fight hard IMO.

And big in my mind is a smallie over 6lbs and a LMB over 10 lbs. 

Just basic physics, big powerful tails, taller & wider bodies can create greater force than smaller models.  And IME big bass are Not lazy and DO most certainly jump, really high sometimes too.  

Now tackle, if I used the same gear I used for big green bass to land big brown bass, the 'fight' might not be all that exciting.  Conversely if I used the same gear I usually fish for brown bass with, to target big green bass, I'd probably never land one. 

Finally water temp; cooler means less active in ALL regards.

Warmer water temp can & often does mean super charged.

So I'm going to say this has to be considered as part of this discussion. 

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

Let me know if you want to see some video to support any of this.

I can do that.

A-Jay

 

 

 

 

[Zcoker]

Come down to south Florida and hook into some these crazy Peacock bass...those things are insane! As far as your 8 pounder goes, some of the bigger fish are lethargic, yes, but others can totally lay waste. Here in south Florida it can be just a few weeks apart hooking into them. Some are easy peasy, others can break rods! Just never know what to expect. Always good to be prepared, though, expect the unexpected is my motto. 

[TOXIC]

3 minutes ago, Zcoker said:

Come down to south Florida and hook into some these crazy Peacock bass...those things are insane!

While that may be very true, the Peacock “Bass” isn’t really a bass, it’s a cichlid the same as an Oscar which is also in your waters.  IMHO water temp and size aside, smallmouth do fight harder than a northern strain largemouth in my experience.  Smallmouth will turn and shoulder down multiple times regardless of size and as soon as you turn them you can almost be guaranteed they will then go airborne.   Largemouths will give you a couple hard runs and then pretty much give up the fight.  

[WRB]

In generalI agree that Smallmouth fight harder then Largemouth, Spotted bass are faster but rarely jump.

The health and condition of the individual bass affects their strength and ability to fight. The size of the lure and where the hook has penetrated impacts the bass ability to fight. Lots of factors.

Hardest fighting fish and fastest swimmers are salt water species like jack and tuna family pound for pound imo.

[Zcoker]

24 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

  Largemouths will give you a couple hard runs and then pretty much give up the fight.  

Well, I beg to differ on that one. I've had big LM bass give me a run for the money many, many times, especially late at night. Not just a few runs but a ton of runs all over the place, including in mid-air....rarely giving up the fight. Heck, even while dehooking and measuring they still fighting hard! Granted, they may react differently at night, maybe so.

[gim]

1 hour ago, flyfisher said:

River fish fight harder than lake fish

Smallies fight harder than Largemouth

Spots fight harder than both green and brown bass

Sunnies fight harder than all three.....

So where does a Rock Bass fall in line here?  You know, the ugly cousin of the bass family that no one wants to associate with.

 

8 minutes ago, WRB said:

are salt water species like jack

My experience is very limited in the saltwater realm but the Jack I caught in March 2018 off the Florida Keys was the hardest fighting fish of any species I have ever caught.  Tarpon were a close second, but with more aerial acrobatics.

[Jar11591]

3 minutes ago, gimruis said:

So where does a Rock Bass fall in line here?  You know, the ugly cousin of the bass family that no one wants to associate with.

Rock bass fight like crazy for the first 0.5 seconds of the fight, then give up immediately. Just long enough to trick you into thinking you have a good fish. But overall I think they’re the weakest fighting of the centrarchids. 

[roadwarrior]

7 minutes ago, Zcoker said:

Well, I beg to differ on that one. I've had big LM bass give me a run for the money many, many times, especially late at night. Not just a few runs but a ton of runs all over the place, including in mid-air....rarely giving up the fight. Heck, even while dehooking and measuring they still fighting hard! Granted, they may react differently at night, maybe so.

 I have had these fights on numerous occasions, especially on my local ponds when fishing

from the bank. I love me the feisty smalljaws, but an 8 lb green fish with attitude is another

excellent treat!

 

 

 

                                                     

[gim]

1 minute ago, Jar11591 said:

Rock bass fight like crazy for the first 0.5 seconds of the fight, then give up immediately. Just long enough to trick you into thinking you have a good fish. But overall I think they’re the weakest fighting of the centrarchids. 

They should start allowing them in tournaments.  I mean technically they are a bass.  Can you imagine someone holding up a couple of big ugly brown disease-ridden "rockies" on stage with ACDC's Thunderstruck blaring from the speakers?

[Mobasser]

I've been " tricked" by LM too. Fishing a black jitterbug at night. The bass would smash it right near the bank. Then, I'd lift up a 12" dink. But the way they strike it makes you think it's a hawg.