The rocky areas that I have been fishing were loaded with smallmouth 6 weeks ago.  An occasional largemouth would be caught.  As the winter has approached fewer and fewer smallmouth are showing up and more and more largemouth are in the areas.

 

Yesterday I fished the same places and caught 18 bass.  15 of them were largemouth (5) keepers and only 3 were smallmouth.  I am not complaining about the largemouth just wondering where the bulk of the smallmouth have gone.

What kinda of depth are you fishing? Typically smallmouth will winter deeper than regular depths that they are found at during the rest of the year. 

2 hours ago, Jig Man said:

The rocky areas that I have been fishing were loaded with smallmouth 6 weeks ago.  An occasional largemouth would be caught.  As the winter has approached fewer and fewer smallmouth are showing up and more and more largemouth are in the areas.

 

Yesterday I fished the same places and caught 18 bass.  15 of them were largemouth (5) keepers and only 3 were smallmouth.  I am not complaining about the largemouth just wondering where the bulk of the smallmouth have gone.

Can't answer your question, but.......WAY TO GO on the 18 Bass!

My guess is that your rockpile is summer depth for smallmouth and winter depth for largemouth.  As @Dwight Hottle said smallmouth typically winter in deeper water. More likely as they progressed to their deeper water the LMB progressed to the rockpile, which is their deep water. 

Nope 

I am fishing flat rocky coves from the point back as far as I can get a bite.  Most of the time the boat is no deeper than 8 feet.  The fish are from 2-6 feet deep.  I’ve never seen fish this shallow this late in the year.

 

 I have tried backpacking off and fishing deeper but I can’t get a bite that way.

I wonder the same thing. If im catching Smallies in the River and start getting Largemouth. Smallie bite is done 

Fishing Lake Menderchuck, I would need to intentionally look for LMB

as they are almost never mixed in with the SMB.

In fact, if I start catching green ones and I'm seriously looking for brown ones,

I relocate.  Where depends on the predominant seasonal pattern

or wherever my Forward Facing Ouija Board directs me. 

A-Jay

I remember years ago a tv show called "Hook and Look" by Kim Stricker. He is a fisherman and underwater videographer. On one episode he filmed a guy hook a small size smallmouth and during the fight a much larger largemouth tried to swallow the poor smallmouth. Cool filming. So I think they may displace some smallmouth especially if there is a true size difference, but I have never caught a smallmouth so I would listen to @A-Jay.

On 1/8/2026 at 4:24 PM, A-Jay said:

Fishing Lake Menderchuck, I would need to intentionally look for LMB

as they are almost never mixed in with the SMB.

In fact, if I start catching green ones and I'm seriously looking for brown ones,

I relocate.  Where depends on the predominant seasonal pattern

or wherever my Forward Facing Ouija Board directs me. 

A-Jay

They mix here all of the time, hence meanmouth. However the areas where I normally fish are predominately smallmouth with largemouth sprinkled in along with a spotted bass or two. This latest pattern just has me wondering.

Over the years on St Clair I've noticed typically if I'm catching smallmouth I rarely if ever catch a largemouth. Move a little and it might flip. Also I've noticed on that lake the Smallies tend to stay deeper.

Where I fish (a river), smallmouth and largemouth can be really close to each other in shallow water. Catch a smallmouth, move 10 feet closer to shore and catch a largemouth. But the water stays cool all season. I think the opposite is more likely. I think smallmouth hold their ground and largemouth take over when they (the smallmouth) leave a spot because of seasonnal mouvements.

In my opinion, a 3# Smallmouth could kick a 5# Largemouth's butt if it wanted to. I've watched 15 inch Smallmouth nest guarders attacking multiple and circling big carp like a torpedo; successfully keeping them at bay.