Wildlife Quiz - Small Mouth Bass

The Smallmouth Bass

The Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu) exist as freshwater member of the sunfish family. The Smallmouth Bass differs from the Largemouth Bass in that its upper jaw of does not extend beyond the back of the eye. The Smallmouth Bass goes by many other names such as Smallie, Bronzeback, Brownie, Black Bass, Brown Bass, and Bareback Bass. Originally a native to the Mississippi River, Saint Lawrence River, Great Lakes, and Hudson Bay, through stocking the Smallmouth Bass can now be found inhabiting lakes, streams and rivers across Canada and the United States.

Smallmouth Bass commonly live 5-7 years, with a few impressive individuals reaching 10-20 years of age. Older adult Smallmouth Bass can attain lengths up to 27 inches and weigh as much as 12 pounds but in Maine, only a few individuals ever exceed 5 pounds. Male Smallies weigh around two pounds, while females tend to be larger, averaging three to five pounds.

The Maine state record smallmouth bass stands at 8 pounds and was caught in Thompson Lake by George Dyer in 1970. The current world record for a smallmouth bass is 11 lb 15 oz. 

When water temperatures warm to the mid-50s, smallmouths begin move into the shallow flats to spawn. Spawning occurs in water 3-15 feet deep, in small diameter gravel nests that border underwater stumps, boulders and vegetation. The female can lay up to 20,000 eggs, which are guarded by the male until they hatch.

Voracious eaters, Smallmouth Bass prey upon almost anything they can fit in their mouths and have even been observed eating frogs, mice and birds. Their tenacity makes Smallmouth Bass one of the most popular game species, regarded for its size by many anglers as, "the gamest fish that swims".

Wildlife Quiz Questions:
1. What is the difference between a Smallmouth and Largemouth Bass?
 2. What was the original native range of the Smallmouth Bass?
 3. How long does a Smallmouth Bass typically live?
4. What is the largest Smallmouth Bass caught in Maine?
5. What is the weight of the world record Smallmouth Bass?
6. When do Smallmouth Bass spawn?
7. How many eggs do Smallmouth Bass lay?
8. What large prey species have Smallmouth Bass been seen feeding upon?

 Wildlife Quiz Answers: 
1. The Smallmouth Bass differs from the Largemouth Bass in that its upper jaw of does not extend beyond the back of the eye.
 2. The Smallmouth Bass was originally a native to the Mississippi River, Saint Lawrence River, Great Lakes, and Hudson Bay.
3. Smallmouth Bass commonly live 5-7 years.
4. The Maine state record smallmouth bass stands at 8 pounds and was caught in Thompson Lake by George Dyer in 1970.
5. The current world record for a smallmouth bass is 11 lb 15 oz.
6. Smallmouth Bass begin move into the shallow flats to spawn, when water temperatures warm to the mid-50s.
7. Female Smallmouth Bass can lay up to 20,000 eggs.
8. Smallmouth Bass have been observed eating frogs, mice and birds.

Lead is Dead!

Lead is Dead

Last season, I started trolling togue with wire trolling line. Wire lining might not be the sportiest way to catch togue but it is highly effective and given my extremely high degree of success with this product, I am afraid I will never again be able to return to using lead core line again.

Tolling with wire line, such as AFW’s Monel trolling wire, allows anglers to get down deeper, faster and without having to let out as much line as those fishing lead core. This is made possible because wire line has a higher mass and lower diameter than lead core line. This property, of wire line, allows it to sink more rapidly than lead core and attain deeper trolling depths without the use of additional sinkers or down rigging. As a comparison, running 100 yards of 30 pound test Monel, at trolling speeds of less than 2mph, provides the ability to fish depths of almost 70 feet. The same length of lead core trolled at the same speed, will sink only to a depth of approximately 50 feet. Wire line also displaces a smaller volume of water than lead core, thereby creating less felt drag. This translates to less felt rod vibration, leading to decreased angler fatigue after a long day of trolling.

Wire line does require anglers to learn a few new knots and some fishermen may even need to purchase a new rod and reel. I prefer a medium fast rod that has the backbone to handle the heavy load of line, weight, spoons and lure but also still has some degree of action at the tip for playing out caught fish.  Those who fish a lot will likely place a lot of stress on their equipment and wire line. To help combat these issues, be sure to check out the “Twili-tip”, this invention uses a small spring to guide the wire line through the rod tip, saving rod eye wear and reducing line kinking which can ultimately weaken the line. I run my wire line through a mooching reel but other choices are equally good as long as the spool isn’t made of plastic. Wire will eventually cut into plastic spools, rendering the reel useless. Mooching reels are nice because an angler can slowly play our line by cranking the reel handle. Using a standard trolling reel, an angler must slowly thumb the wire of the spool otherwise it “birds nest”. Wire line is unforgiving and hurrying it off your reel will have you using the cutting out the snags with pliers. Ultimately, however, even with these few challenges, the positives of using wire line are well worth the initial investment of time and money.

By carefully watching the depth finder and spooling line in and out carefully and deliberately anglers can hug the bottom and find where the big boys hide. Don’t be afraid to snag bottom from time to time, just make sure that the drag on your reel is set lightly. Wire doesn’t stretch and catching bottom can quickly become problematic. Last spring while trolling for togue on Whitney cove on West Grand Lake our largest togue were hooked seconds after our deep water trolling rigs bounced off bottom. It is my guess that the disturbance of the substrate elicits togue to bite.

Big Bait Big Fish

            When targeting big togue with deep wire lines, I prefer to use big bait. When trolling, live bait isn’t needed so my favorite baits include; sea run smelts, large golden shiners and suckers. Sea run smelts caught during the winter while jigging out of the smelt fishing shacks on the Kennebec river can be bagged, frozen whole and used effectively as bait all summer long, same with large golden shiners left unused after ice fishing season. For those looking for additional togue bait should consider checking out, 42 acre Orie Lake in Talmage  as it is a great spot to catch white suckers.

            Catching suckers isn’t much different than catching smaller baitfish like minnows. The only difference is that the hole in the bait trap needs to be slightly enlarged and white bread is used primarily as bait. Successful sucker fishermen also know to target the mouths of inlets and outlets to maximize catches. Also, in Maine, the White Sucker spawns, usually in great numbers, in the shallow water of streams throughout April and May and can be easily netted.