Smallmouth bass feed in 45–82°F water and bite best at 60–74°F. Fish Scouter's season calendar follows them in 47 waters; in October they are at their peak in Alabama fresh water, Tennessee fresh water, Arkansas fresh water and 40 more.
30 pts · trophy at 20"Feeds 45–82°FBest 60–74°FIn season nowRiverCreek / streamLakeReservoirBridgeDock / pilingsFish attractor / brush pile
About
The bronzeback: a bronze, red-eyed, tail-walking bass of clear rocky water — the rivers of the Ozarks and Appalachia, the TVA lakes, the Great Lakes shoals. Pound for pound the hardest-fighting fish in fresh water, and a six-pounder is a lifetime fish.
How to fish it
Rock, gravel and current. In rivers, the seams below riffles and the eddies behind boulders; in lakes, the gravel points and the rock humps. Slow and on the bottom in cold water, a walking bait over the shoals in summer.
What it eats
tubes and Ned rigscrawfishjerkbaitshair jigs in cold watertopwater in summer rivers
Live bait for it
CrayfishHooked through the tail on a #2 to 2/0 hook and dragged slowly along rock and gravel — the smallmouth bait, and good for catfish and walleye.
Minnows (fatheads, shiners)Hooked lightly through the lips or behind the dorsal on a #6 to #2 hook under a slip bobber for crappie, perch and walleye; a big golden shiner on a 2/0 to 4/0 for largemouth, pike and stripers.
LeechesHooked once through the sucker end on a #8 to #4 hook under a slip bobber or on a live-bait rig — walleye and smallmouth can't leave them alone.
NightcrawlersWhole on a #6 to #2 hook under a bobber or on a bottom rig; threaded on a spinner harness drifted for walleye. The bait that catches everything in fresh water.
What to fish it with
the sizes that fish it
Leader10–20 lb fluorocarbon
Hook#2–3/0
Jig head1/8–1/2 oz
Braid10–30 lb
The rule
not confirmed here
Rules differ by state — check your state's fish and wildlife agency before you keep one.
UTER