Am I the only one who feels like largemouth are more predictable than smallmouth?

 

ex. "hey that fallen tree looks like largemouth heaven (makes a few casts) BLAM! fights on"

 

ex. "hey this rockpile looks like smallmouth heaven (makes a few casts, switches through 40 baits and decides to go home)"

No, especially in northern lakes. Find the smallmouth on one of the Great Lakes

and catch 50-100 a day on the same lure. Come back tomorrow and do it again!

 

 

 

More predictable, no. Easier to pattern, yes. My knowledge about LM far outweighs that of smallies and is possibly the reason I feel they are easier to pattern. If you know either species well, a general assumption, or prediction becomes almost second nature.  The examples you mentioned are based on cover and structure preferences, but that doesn't mean you can't catch smallies in timber or largemouth on a rock pile.

Over the course of a season, both green & brown bass present challenges for me.

 

However when you consider that KVD didn't make the Classic this year, I don't feel so bad having an off day now & then . . . . . .

 

A-Jay

Am I the only one who feels like largemouth are more predictable than smallmouth?

 

ex. "hey that fallen tree looks like largemouth heaven (makes a few casts) BLAM! fights on"

 

ex. "hey this rockpile looks like smallmouth heaven (makes a few casts, switches through 40 baits and decides to go home)"

Not really.  I actually find the smallmouth easier to find in the lakes I fish.  Possibly due to the fact of what papajoe states and I'm up north in Ontario, Canada. 

If I find smallmouth............IMHO they are easier to catch. BUT they can and do vanish quick, especially in the summer time on the lakes I fish. Largemouth on the other hand...........I know where they are most of the time, it's up to them if they want to play, and on our natural lakes with turbo amounts of forage, they only play in spurts. Be there when they are chewing, or have a long day.

I like to think of largemouth as home bodies while the smallmouth are nomadic in nature. Find the largemouth's home and you are always in the right neighborhood. The smallmouth move from place to place chasing their food source. You can find them today & lose them tomorrow.  

No, especially in northern lakes. Find the smallmouth on one of the Great Lakes

and catch 50-100 a day on the same lure. Come back tomorrow and do it again!

 

 

 

To me smallmouth are the "here today, gone tomorrow" fish. I have pulled up on multiple rock piles in the same area all in different depths and have a school of 100 on each (showing on graph), then all become ghost towns the next day. But it definitely is the exception. Just sucks when it hits you right on tournament day.

 

It certainly is a blessing to catch smalllies like that though, just gotta know where to find em, but once you do, it's on.

When I'm fishing for largemouth bass...smallmouth are more predictable.

When I'm fishing for smallmouth bass...largemouth are more predictable

 

Roger

If I'm after smallies, I just drag a tube. LM are the reason the bait chimp owns me. 100 spinnerbaits, 300+ cranks, 25 lbs. of jigs, 50 lbs. of plastics, I have a 300 acre lake in the UP of Michigan that I fish once every year for SM. All I need to do is drag a crawfish colored tube and catch from 15-30 2-4 lb. smallies a day. That's why I only fish it once a year. As for LM, I've been chasing that dream of a perfect day for 20+ years. Rayburn 5 times, Tablerock twice, Ky. lake 3 times. Toho one time. Big "O" once. This year to Guntersville for the second time and I make my 6-8 trips to the Mississippi River in Wisconsin every year. LM bass own me and my wallet. Would I change anything? Are you daft?

They both confuse me some days, and some days I feel like I could go pro. Both offer their own unique challenges though.