Interesting. I've seen that Smallmouth Fly Fishing book around, but never thought about it because I don't fly fish. Will have to check it out.

Lake Smallmouth and River Smallmouth almost seem like different species to me. Most of my smallmouth experience is with free-flowing sections of small-to-medium sized rivers -- shallow, rocky runs, riffles and pools in current. But when it comes to natural lakes and impoundments, I have almost no idea what I'm doing.

I just picked up this book at my local bookshop. It covers the basics from smallmouth biology to the gear and equipment and lures and when to throw them.

On 3/15/2026 at 10:06 PM, MIbassyaker said:

Interesting. I've seen that Smallmouth Fly Fishing book around, but never thought about it because I don't fly fish. Will have to check it out.

I largely would think the same thing, but if they do a good job of explaining where the fish are, that's still invaluable.

On 3/1/2026 at 1:10 PM, TnRiver46 said:

One thing about SMB here near my house, they unfortunately don’t follow patters. You’ll hear all the pros say it over and over when the bassmaster tour comes here, the word random is thrown around very often

That's the thing especially with smallmouth is they move around a lot. You may get on the bite of your life one day, and then come back another with the exact same conditions, weather patterns, moon cycle etc and all but they're just in a different part of the lake at that time.

On 3/15/2026 at 10:06 PM, MIbassyaker said:

But when it comes to natural lakes and impoundments, I have almost no idea what I'm doing.

The best advice I can give is look for areas with no weeds, hard bottoms and lots of rocks. I found a rocky shoal that essentially had smaller rocky shoals on top of it on Lake Champlain last year and sure enough I pulled out a good one there. I've also caught a few in laydowns.

Getting on a smallmouth bite can be both fun but also quite frustrating. I often end up across the lake skipping docks and flipping weeds for largemouth after a while.

On 3/15/2026 at 9:06 PM, MIbassyaker said:

Lake Smallmouth and River Smallmouth almost seem like different species to me

I agree. I grew up for many years targeting the river versions, but in the last decade+ I've moved to mostly target lake versions (big water). So I've got about 15 years in the river experience and about 12 now in the lake experience.

River versions seem far more aggressive to me. They are more willing to bite fast moving presentations. And they are more powerful fighters. And leaner.

Lake versions are less aggressive most of the time. Quite often I have to resort to a more finesse, slower approach to get bit. They are generally stouter in shape, more like a football.

The easier fishing in lakes is before they spawn or in the fall after the water has cooled off some. Summer time is tough fishing, as they often head out deep into the abyss.

Whereas river fishing often peaks in the middle of summer.

Rivers are often subject to more extreme change based on weather whereas lakes are not.

I approach lake fishing with more stealth and make longer casts, as the water is often very clear. In the river, not so much. The current and turbidity of the water can mask my presence.

Hope that helps. It's taken me some time to alter my course of thinking here when transitioning from one to the other.

Every thing you just wrote is exactly what my experience shows. River Smallies are just mean, aggressive fish that tend to be leaner than their "lazier" brothers from lakes. And they are not nearly as shy as the lake versions. However, I love fishing for both river and lake Smallies. Just a difference in technique for the most part.

On 3/15/2026 at 9:06 PM, MIbassyaker said:

Interesting. I've seen that Smallmouth Fly Fishing book around, but never thought about it because I don't fly fish. Will have to check it out.

On 3/17/2026 at 8:48 AM, Boomstick said:

I largely would think the same thing, but if they do a good job of explaining where the fish are, that's still invaluable.

Other than the tools used to put the fly/lure in front of the fish, there's no useful difference between fly fishing for bass (or anything else) and using conventional gear.

The process is the same:

• Find out where they are.

• Find out what they want to eat.

• Show it to them.