How did you get into small mouth fishing? 2024
fishingkidPA reply :
Sorry if this thread has been posted before. But how did you guys get hooked on small mouth fishing? i enjoy it alot more than largemouth fishing mainly cause im fishing big streams, and smallies fight like no other!
my first ever experience catching one was last year on the first day of trout. I was tossing a little white roostertail and wham something bent my rod in half, i though i had a 20" + trout on my ultra light. i had never caught a smallies before so i show my dad and he told me, now i try and get out fishing for them as often as possible. whats your story?
(1st pic is my first smallie ever
the rest are just a few of the many ive caught out of there, i only wish this stream was as close as my bass ponds
(also pics of my favorite stream, hooked some nice ones under that big boulder)
MNGeorge reply :
I read a book by Dan Gapen..."River Fishing, a Happy World". Went fishing on the upper Mississippi here in Minnesota, caught a bunch of river Smallies and the rest is history...30 years later, I'm still fishing the upper Mississippi here in Minnestota and still catching river Smallies, my favorite fish also.
Bluebasser86 reply :
My first experience with them was in Canada on Eagle Lake. I couldn't believe how hard the fought and how aggressive they could be. When we got back I looked to see what lakes around me had smallmouth and found we have a few pretty good lakes for them within a couple hours. Now I catch them pretty regularly and still have a blast every time I get one! ;D
BassMike88 reply :
My dad would take me to the rivers in Northern Ohio during the Summer for smallmouths. I think the biggest I ever caught was 16 inches or so, but as a kid, it was definitely a thrill.
Senkoman12 reply :
my home lake has both largemouth and smallmouth. i just catch smallmouth more though. i think its because the lake is more siuted for them.
Crestliner2008 reply :
I was raised on the banks of the CT. River here in MA. Did a lot of fishing growing up there. 
stratosjoe reply :
Been avid river smallie fisherman when young. now body won't allow wading so in early 2000 went to Dale Hollow with a guide who showed me how to float-n fly fish. Next day without guide caught a 7# 2oz on a homemade jighead with a Yamamoto twin tailed grub I have been a serious smallmouth junkie since Dale Hollow, Center Hill, St Clair, Erie LUVEN ALL
TimJ reply :
I was born in Windsor...surrounded by Lake StClair, Detroit River and Lake Erie...guess it comes naturally.
Tim J
MaineBassMan reply :
My Dad and my grandfather are avid bass fishermen and we live in smallie country. 
bear7625 reply :
I grew up in northern wisconsin where walleye and SM were the prominent fish in most of the lakes. LM's are making a big comeback because of the catch & release part of the season. I fish both, but smalies are still #1.
Gavin reply :
I grew up camping, canoeing, & fishing in the Missouri Ozarks...The only hard part is picking were you want to fish for smallies...Too many creeks & rivers, too little time to fish.
Siebert Outdoors reply :
I went to Rainy lake one year. Southern fishing hasnt been the same since. MO fishing sucks compared to alot of the northern lakes.
joshholmes reply :
Reading an old book by jerry mckinnis where he told me how to fish a jig'n'pig for smallies and how he explained the huge fight they gave. went out the next day only 10 years old casting a storm swimbait and hooked a 20" smallie. ive been hooked ever since. ( by the way its nice to see another kid here, im 13)
grimlin reply :
I moved to Michigan.
Hooked my first smallmouth roughly 7 years ago...been addicted ever since.
NateFollmer reply :
Started fishing.... heck before I even started grade school, and I had the Juniata river within walking distance of my house. No largemouth in there, so its all smallies for me. Actually, with the exception of 1 private property that I have permission to fish, the closest largemouth water is a 30 minute drive. Actually, I just started largemouth fishing only 3 or 4 years ago, nothin but smallies before that!
BassThumb reply :
I started fishing smallies because the Mississippi River flows through my home town, and I lived within biking distance of a nice stretch that is full of smallies, walleye, pike, crappie, channel cats, and carp. I started wading around the Beaver Islands at age 12, using crawler harnesses and looking to hook whatever wanted to bite. The rest is history.
comescrashing reply :
My buddy took me wading creeks for them and now I'm hooked but I'm moving back to fl so now more smallies for me
Triton21 reply :
I was born and raised on what Field & Stream listed in 1957 "The Best Smallmouth Stream in the USA", Rockcastle Creek, Martin County, Kentucky. I started fishing @ 18 months old. Caught my first Smallie when 2 years old. Coal mining in the area ruined this creek in the '70s and '80s.
Kelley
CoBass reply :
I was getting bored pond fishing for large mouth last summer and heard that river smallies were really hard fighters, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I bought a couple of bags of tubes and some jig heads and took a 100 mile trip to a river with a good reputation for smallies. Within 20 minutes of getting there I was landing good numbers of 3-4 lb fish. Call it beginners luck but I make that 100 mile trip on a regular basis and have yet to duplicate the success I had that day. I still catch fish there but it's usually decent numbers of smaller fish with 1 or 2 nicer ones thrown in. I was spoiled on my first trip and I've been chasing it ever since. Tight Lines...CoBass
webertime reply :
I grew up on the shore of Lake Champlain... The first time (I was about 13) I saw one of thier feeding frenzy wolf packs going after my Wally Diver. Bronze flashes and red eyes. I was hooked.
boystcroix reply :
i live near the Susquehanna river, there are both largemouth and smallies in my area but the smallies are usually more agressive and fun to catch
jignfule reply :
I fished for LM when the opportunity arises and SM when that opportunity arises. I started fishing for smallies when I started fishing the Snake River where the smallies hang out.
bassin73 reply :
Hi fishin kid Pa. My name is Joseph, and I live out west in Oregon. I, or we out here have one of the best smallmouth fisheries in the U.S. We have the Columbia River, (world class), and the John Day river. My personal best smallie is 2 @ 4 lbs. One in Lost Creek Reservoir, in southern Or., and the other in Applegate Reservoir, also in S. Or. They fight the best out of all the species of Bass. So
don't ever stop fishing for them. You might want to try a crawfish crankbait, med. diver, in a red
or brown color, w/rattle in it. They just can't lay off of it. That giant rock will hold the biggest smallie
in that area. Thats where I would try it. Cast up stream, and crank it under that rock. You better hold on though, a large SM, will jerk your rod out of your hand. By the way, I like SM so much, that is my
display name. later, smallmouth55123
fishingkidPA reply :
On 4/10/2011 at 1:33 AM, smallmouth55123 said:Hi fishin kid Pa. My name is Joseph, and I live out west in Oregon. I, or we out here have one of the best smallmouth fisheries in the U.S. We have the Columbia River, (world class), and the John Day river. My personal best smallie is 2 @ 4 lbs. One in Lost Creek Reservoir, in southern Or., and the other in Applegate Reservoir, also in S. Or. They fight the best out of all the species of Bass. So
don't ever stop fishing for them. You might want to try a crawfish crankbait, med. diver, in a red
or brown color, w/rattle in it. They just can't lay off of it. That giant rock will hold the biggest smallie
in that area. Thats where I would try it. Cast up stream, and crank it under that rock. You better hold on though, a large SM, will jerk your rod out of your hand. By the way, I like SM so much, that is my
display name. later, smallmouth55123
your very smart! actually that big rock is were i caught my biggest out of the creek, about 1.5/2 lber. there are a couple huge boulders on the stream i love to fish, its very scenic and the fishin aint bad either!
joshholmes reply :
you know if your a trophy chaser you might want to try fishing lakes more if you have any. smallies grow faster and get bigger in lakes. i live in NY and i typically only catch 2lb bass in creeks but easily catch 4-5 pounders in my lake. plus i got lake george which provides some of the best smallie fishing in the country. lately over the past couple years little 2-3 inch storm crappie swimbaits have been working for me. if that doest work then a suspending jerkbait always works. plus the extra weight of suspending baits helps when fishing in faster or deeper creeks.
fishingkidPA reply :
for me, river and creek smallies is how smallie fishing came about to me, and really the only way i could imagine fishin for them, in cool water streams. i leave the lakes for the LM. But if there were lakes w/ smallies around me i'd be there 
oh yea one of my friends friend's wife got a 6 lb smallie out of here 
, its so unheard here of i didnt believe it untill i got proof.
joshholmes reply :
well the reason you probably dont have good smallie lakes is because although streams are always cold lakes are affected by the weather. northern new york (where i live) is somewhat cooler than PA. if the lakes arent cold enough the fish can deal with the water if its deeper. if you use some maps you could easily find nice deep smallie lakes
fishingkidPA reply :
On 4/12/2011 at 6:31 AM, joshholmes said:well the reason you probably dont have good smallie lakes is because although streams are always cold lakes are affected by the weather. northern new york (where i live) is somewhat cooler than PA. if the lakes arent cold enough the fish can deal with the water if its deeper. if you use some maps you could easily find nice deep smallie lakes
yes i mean like erie and pymatuning, also moraine has them. but those are big lakes and i just couldnt see myself fishing lakes for smallies
joshholmes reply :
why? you can fish from the shore its not hard
fishingkidPA reply :
On 4/12/2011 at 8:24 AM, joshholmes said:why? you can fish from the shore its not hard
id rather fish rivers/streams, its what i like to do.
bucky reply :
I started catching them a few years back while fishing for LM on Ky lake. I don't just target them all the time but still fish areas that have produced good sm. I do go on sm trips to Dale Hollow and some river fishing. Once you catch one of those "ol brown fish", you are hooked. My largest is 5 lbs but still looking for something bigger.
fishingkidPA reply :
On 4/12/2011 at 9:25 AM, bucky said:I started catching them a few years back while fishing for LM on Ky lake. I don't just target them all the time but still fish areas that have produced good sm. I do go on sm trips to Dale Hollow and some river fishing. Once you catch one of those "ol brown fish", you are hooked. My largest is 5 lbs but still looking for something bigger.
wow 5 lbs, that must have fought like none other!
flipnpitch 1 reply :
Started tournament fishing on the Ohio River years ago and have been chasin em ever since.
laus reply :
Was fishing for bucketmouths here in Maine when I was 14.....one day I hooked something on Thompson Lake and I thought I had a hawg!! Turned out it was a 2 1/2 lb smallie. I never looked back. Am headed out there tomorrow in my kayak, will freeze I disagree off, but the thought of one more smallie.....he!
MrBadGuy reply :
I caught my first smallie in the Central Park in the turtel pond Last year and since this time i was infectedt and so i fly this Year back to the USA to catch some bass.
Lg Oliver
wapsi smallmouth reply :
my first came this year while fishng a black buzzbait on a local river. this ill be my first year coming after them so we'll see 
lazeebum reply :
Hmmmm, reading and fishing. That's pretty dang cool! It is nice to know there are youngsters that actually take the time to read or fish. Usually its video games.On 3/30/2011 at 8:06 AM, joshholmes said:Reading an old book by jerry mckinnis where he told me how to fish a jig'n'pig for smallies and how he explained the huge fight they gave. went out the next day only 10 years old casting a storm swimbait and hooked a 20" smallie. ive been hooked ever since. ( by the way its nice to see another kid here, im 13)
MALTESE FALCON reply :
I've been fishing Lake St. Clair since I was five years old...........nuff said.
Falcon
J Francho reply :
I grew up on Port Bay, NY, which is a protected bay off Lake Ontario. If conditions permitted, we fished for small mouth in the "big lake." Otherwise, we fished for blue gill, sunnies, and bass in the bay.
Dad and me before one of our legendary 100+ fish days, in the 90s.
Daniel My Brother reply :
The only smallmouth fishing I've done is wading rivers. Not that many years agos a buddy from work took me to a little creek nearby that I didn't even know existed and we had a blast. Since then my daughters and I have been exploring rivers and streams all over Southeast Missouri, especially in the heat of summer.
senco lover reply :
On 3/30/2011 at 8:06 AM, joshholmes said:Reading an old book by jerry mckinnis where he told me how to fish a jig'n'pig for smallies and how he explained the huge fight they gave. went out the next day only 10 years old casting a storm swimbait and hooked a 20" smallie. ive been hooked ever since. ( by the way its nice to see another kid here, im 13)
I am also 13 where are you from.
retiredbosn reply :
the only bass available to me when I started fishing. I grew up on the Greenbrier and New Rivers in WV and largemouth are not native. When I discovered farm ponds and largemouth I started targeting them for a while, but I enjoy smallies the best. Now that I've moved to SC back to the green fish.
dag623 reply :
On 4/3/2011 at 4:41 AM, grimlin said:I moved to Michigan.
Hooked my first smallmouth roughly 7 years ago...been addicted ever since.
Similar story here... Moved to New Hampshire lol
NBR reply :
We lived in southern Illinois with no smallies around. As a teenager we went to Ely, MN on vacation to a lake with northerns and walleyes. My dad had friends at nearby Eagle Nest lake and we went there for a day of fishing. I still remember a smallie that took a surface bait and threw it on the first jump. As the bait hit the water the same or another smallie grabbed the bait. I've been a fan ever since.
We did find a small local river that as best as I can remember had a small population of smallies. We waded for smallies with our fly rods and caught a few.
Where I live now we have both smallies and largemouth but there are more smallies and since I don't fish T's I don't target the LM. I might have caught one a year or so ago. I like the LM's but I love the brown fish.
Wildbillb reply :
Grew up fishing the river a 1/4 mile from the house with my dad. Caught some mostly on live worms. Started doing some lawn work for one my dad's friends who fished tournaments. I went and bang I was hooked. GAME OVER!!!! All I did after that was fish for them. I even saved up my lunch money to buy more lures and magazines to educate myself.
ww2farmer reply :
Catching one.
I don't pretend to favor them over LM, because often on my home lake fishing for one or the other is totaly different, and I am more comfortable LM fishing, I catch enough of them while targeting LM to satisfy me most of the time. But when I do decide to chase them, I usually dedicate a few days in the spring to them and some years big chunks of the fall, and have good days doing so, it's often the highlight of my season.
aclark609 reply :
Fishing Crooked Creek here in Northwest Arkansas. Seventeen inch smallmouth can be caught all day from this glorious creek.
CrankinCarlos reply :
Caught my first one fishing for LMB. I did not even know what it was when i got it in, had to research it online. It felt bigger than it was and that is what i like about them.
ROCbass reply :
My grandparents live on a lake that is primarily a smallmouth/walleye/northern pike lake. The first bass i ever caught was a smallmouth out of this lake when i was 7 years old and I've been hooked ever since.
alyswim reply :
I live by Lake Winnipasaukee... 'Nuff said!
Paul Lewis reply :
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 reply :
On 3/30/2011 at 4:28 AM, Siebert Outdoors said: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 reply :
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 reply :
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 reply :
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 reply :
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 reply :
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 reply :
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 reply :
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 reply :
On 2/12/2012 at 2:26 AM, basssfishing said: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 reply :
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 reply :
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 reply :
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 reply :
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 reply :
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 reply :
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 reply :
On 7/26/2012 at 5:00 AM, bronzewb22 said: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 reply :
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 reply :
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.
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