Ask serious freshwater anglers what pulls hardest for its size and a lot of them will say smallmouth. Bronzebacks live in the cleaner, rockier lakes and rivers of New England, from the Connecticut River to Quabbin, and they fight with a jumping, head-shaking fury that punches way above their weight. They are also a joy on light tackle and fly.
How to identify them
Smallmouth are bronze to brownish-gold with vertical bars along the sides and red-tinged eyes. The key to separating them from a largemouth: the smallmouth's jaw does not extend past the eye, and its dorsal fins are joined with a shallow notch (the largemouth's has a deep, near-separate notch and a jaw that reaches well past the eye).
Where they live
Smallmouth want clean, cool, rocky water, the opposite of a largemouth's warm weedy pond. Look for them on rocky points, ledges, boulder fields, gravel bars and current seams in clear lakes and moving rivers. Where you find crayfish and rock, you find smallmouth.
Tip Smallmouth are crayfish specialists. Fish baits that hop, crawl and tick along rocky bottom, a fleeing crayfish profile pulled over gravel and boulders is dinner-bell material.
How to catch them
Finesse plastics
Smallmouth eat finesse presentations all day: the drop shot, Ned rig, tubes and small soft-plastic craws are money, especially in clear water and on pressured fish. Fish them slow along rock.
Hard baits and topwater
Crankbaits that dig into gravel, jerkbaits, and, in low light, topwater walkers and poppers all get crushed. A smallmouth blowing up on a surface lure is a highlight of the freshwater year.
Fly
Smallmouth are superb on the fly. A 5- to 7-weight, a freshwater setup scaled up a notch, and crayfish patterns, Clousers and poppers will get you into fish all season.
Handling
Most smallmouth fishing is catch-and-release; they are worth far more as a sport fish than a meal. Wet your hands, support the fish, and get them back quickly, especially in warm water.