The Three Species of Black Bass and Where to Find Them

When most people think of bass, they think of the three main types of black bass. Once you fishing reading this article, you'll know where and how to fish for largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass.

Largemouth Bass

Anglers love the challenge of fighting a largemouth bass. Largemouth bass are aggressive feeders, and they will eat anything from insects and frogs, to small birds and rodents, but they are also intelligent animals. After a bass encounters an angler, it will learn to be wary of lures. Choose larger lures for largemouth bass, and smaller ones for smallmouth bass.

Largemouths put up a good fight. When fishermen think of sport fishing, they often think of largemouths first.

Largemouth bass prefer to seek out deeper parts of a body of water, and they prefer a slower current. They love to hide near logs, vines, and tree roots.

Largemouth bass have a wide stripe running horizontally along either side of their body, going from their eye to their tail. They also have much larger mouths than their small-mouthed cousins. The mouth of a largemouth bass extends beyond the eye.

Smallmouth Bass

Smallmouth bass are smaller than their large-mouthed cousins, but they also put up a good fight when hooked. They prefer to dwell in colder waters and stronger currents.

Largemouth and smallmouth bass can be found in the same bodies of water, but usually one species is more dominant in a particular area.

The mouth of a smallmouth bass usually extends to the center of their eye, but not beyond that point. While a largemouth bass has more meat, many people say they prefer the taste of smallmouth bass.

Spotted Bass

Spotted bass are often mistaken for largemouth bass because of their similar coloring. While spotted bass have the same wide horizontal line running from their eye to their tail on either side of their body, but they have smaller mouths that do not extend beyond their eye. Spotties like a moderate current, like smallmouth bass, but they prefer warmer waters, like largemouth bass.

Where to Find Bass

When you go bass fishing, think about cover and structure. Cover consists of anything that bass can hide behind. A cluster of cattails or a clump of grass can provide excellent cover for a hunting bass. Structure is the general shape of the waterbed. Peaks, flats, humps, and bridges are good examples of structure.

 Bass hunt more like lionesses and less like sharks. They prefer to hide in the shadows and camouflage with their surroundings, unnoticed by their prey, until it’s time to strike. Anything from insects to birds and rodents are fair game. When fishing for bass, match your to lure to what bass prefer to eat in that area, whether it’s crickets, flies, frogs, or ducklings.