How did you get into small mouth fishing?

[Paul Lewis]

I live in one of the few counties in Minnesota that has no natural lakes. The closest lake fishing was over 35 miles away. I asked around and was told I could catch smallmouth bass in any of the local streams. I had no idea how to start, so I took my spinning gear with a Mepps spinner and started casting around. I got lucky, hooked up on with an eight inch smallie that did a tailwalk towards me. I remember going to work and telling people that he had to be a least a pound. = )

That was over 15 years ago. I still love chasing the smallies in the local streams and this year I am planning to buy a NuCanoe so that I can expand my range in a days outing. I'm very excited about the upcoming season.

[BRONZEBACK_ADDICT]

I went to Rainy lake one year. Southern fishing hasnt been the same since. MO fishing sucks compared to alot of the northern lakes.

Sssshhh... LOL!!!

I grew up on Rainy and was hooked the first time I caught a 3 lber. Now I'm on a relentless pursuit of a 5 lber!!

[KansasBASS9948]

Caught my first Smallie in Table Rock Lake down in Missouri. After that I've started fishing for them in any lake I could find that had them in there. One of the better smallies I've caught actually came out of the Kansas River just below the wing dam on I 435.....Love those fish!

[out_doors_guy]

I had the good fortune of growing up where there are plenty of both LM and SM bass. When I was younger, before I had a boat I did (still do in fact) a lot of wading in several nearby rivers that held smallies. Let me tell ya, a 1lb smallie that lives his life in the current of a river can kick a 5lb LM's butt. Good fun. I love fishing for all species, but smallmouth's will always hold a special place for me.

[joefish]

^{Went to Rainy Lake with a friend who needed a boater to go. This was 20 years ago and I still make the 750 mile trek every June. Leaving Saturday}

[HookSettr]

I live in Michigan. Rivers and rocky lakes from my house to the canadian lake superior border has been my stomping ground ever since I was little. Either camping or cabining I've done a lot of smallie fishing between K-zoo, MI and the BWCA/Quetico provincial park. Anyone would be hard pressed to show me a better smallmouth fishing area, other than maybe Lake St. Clair. Hopefully that doesn't stir up an argument. Ha!

[Addicted to Smallies]

I can vividly remember my first smallie. I was fishing for largemouth bass in the Potomac River with a 5" pumpkin Senko, and suddenly out of nowhere it felt like something was going to rip the rod out of my hands. It took me a good 4-5 minutes to fight the fish and land it (didn't know what was actually on the line, so gave it plenty of drag just in case.) When I finally landed it and saw the size (about 4#, but she fought like a saltwater fish 3x her size) I knew that I was hooked. NOTHING fights like a muscled-up river smallie.

I still love going fishing for their large mouthed cousins -- and probably do it more frequently than can fish for smallies -- but ever since that day, I've been addicted to smallies.

[A-Jay]

Growing up in MA, my parents vacationed each summer on Lake Winnipesaukee in NH ( Upper Moltonboro Bay / Lee's Mills area).

I fished from an inflatable rafted that I rowed (and got blown around in ) all over the little bay we were on. Early morning topwater action for smb was insane. I think I used a Fred Arbogast Sputterbuzz.

Back then I lived for that topwater smallmouth bass strike - still do.

A-Jay

[Jedwards36]

I've been largemouth fishing 3 times. And it's sad when I get a better fight from a 9 inch smallmouth than a 15 inch largie. Enough said.( I also live near a good smallie river!)

[mod479]

my dad would bring me to local rivers in northeastern connecticut and it was a plast i started out using rooster tails but then moved to super flukes or even flukes they work soo good! i recommend you try them where you fish.

I'm trying flukes for the first time this year, if you dont mind me asking, got any tips?

I've caught bass flipping them into cover on a texas rig, but I hear they are most deadly with no weight, or a lightly weighted EGW hook. I guess my question is, how do you like to fish them, and how to you work them?

[mod479]

Oh, staying on topic...I got into smallies before I can really remember...my grandfather used to take me to the river daily when I was a young guy, he was an expert on the St.Lawrence, and taught me alot...(I wish I could remember more, he always had a backup plan to find them) but it wasn't until I hooked into one over 3lbs that I got the the bronzeback bug for life! It was the toughest fish I had ever battled at that young age, and they are still pound for pound the hardest fighting fish in freshwater...in my opinion anyhow.

[rockchalk06]

When I was about 8 my dad took me to Wilson Lake in Kansas. We found a nice rock point where the water dropped off rapidly to 30 plus feet and really cold. He tied on a popper and said go! The small mouth hit those poppers like crack. At 8 it felt like sharks on the rod. First time I really remember dad and I connecting and finding a common ground. I knew everything at 8 so we had a lot of dissagreements ha ha. Small mouth was dads release from the life of a narcotics detective and he loved it.

For me, its all about dad. Fighting, eating, catching and releasing just brings back that memory of my dad.

[sean_steiner]

Caught some while fishing for largemouths when I was really little, and noticed how a ten inch smallmouth put up more of a fight then a 5 pound largemouth. I've been hooked ever since. I've caught many huge 20+ inchers in Canada that have pulled a motor boat with two people, fishing gear, a cooler, and a dog. Pound for Pound, no other fish can match their pure power.

[MultiSpeciesFisherman]

I grew up with my grandparents. My grandpa was an avid catfish/ crappie fisherman. We often caught them while we were trying to catch crappie at the dams on my local river when I was a kid. My grandpa would always yell "d**n smallmouth!" every time he thought he had a nice crappie on and found out it was a smallmouth. I was amazed that these tiny smallmouth he would often catch would fight harder than even the largest crappie we would catch. So this nuisance fish to him became a prize to me.

I still thought of them as a bit of a rarity around me until a couple of years ago (about 15 years after first discovering them fishing with my grandpa) when I started using artificial baits rather than just live baits. I started catching one after another on 3 inch twister tails, but they were all small. I was using light tackle mostly and one time I had my line broken, leading me to believe there were bigger ones in the river. I switched to heavier line, heavier action rods, and Bandit crankbaits and since then I have caught a 4 pounder and a 3 pounder. I rarely fish for them (I have no idea why) so even though the big ones were spread out over a couple of years, I think I could have caught more prizes in that span if I had been trying. This last one I caught (the 3 pounder) reminded me of my fondness for them though. I had a good, lengthy battle with him to try and get him up out of that fast moving water at the dam. Even in the placid water, he did a good job of putting the outcome just a little in doubt for me though. Here are some photos:

The four pounder from a couple of years ago

The 3 pounder I caught a couple of weeks ago

And my biggest ever smallie: a monster 6 pounder I caught at Lake Cumberland, KY while fishing for stripers

[bronzewb22]

I got hooked on smallies when i first fished for largemouth (after 2 years of hunting exclusively smallmouth in western maine). Smallmouth have a much much better fight and present more of a challenge in my opinion. Furthermore, I think smallmouth fishing brings you to much more pristine and scenic areas.

[tipptruck1]

Were I live it was not by choice. I have caught a lot more small mouths compared to there cousins. Including many over 3 and 4lbs. Throw in some 5lbers plus. I would rather catch them then large mouths.

[fishingkidPA]

I got hooked on smallies when i first fished for largemouth (after 2 years of hunting exclusively smallmouth in western maine). Smallmouth have a much much better fight and present more of a challenge in my opinion. Furthermore, I think smallmouth fishing brings you to much more pristine and scenic areas.

x2 when im fishing for smallies im usually at the headwaters of a river up in the mountains in the fresh air. when im LM fishing im usually at a nasty lake with lilypads all over it.

[Capt.Bob]

I caught one once, that was all it took, 10x more fun than Large Mouth, I really love fishing fast water for em, just because it's a ball!

[greyleg33]

Raised in the Pacific NW I never knew any fish but salmonids. Then I went in the service and married a girl from Maine. Her father taught me to bass fish. The fighting spirit of the smallie made it an easy choice.