Florida Bass Fishing Forum
Smallmouth, Largemouth, We're All About Bass!

How do you ID a smallmouth bass?

What part of the southern states can you find them?

Public Comments

1. small mouth the mouth hinge is even with the eye the are bronze to brown colored and the eye is red tenesee that i know of

2. Small mouth are more of a bronze color than the traditional lrg. mouthed. They are not found as much in southern areas as they are up north. A huge smally is 6 pounds as they don't grow as fast in colder water, although they can grow to over 10lbs.

3. When compared to other bass, you can identify a smallmouth by the following characteristics:
* Cheek scales much smaller than rest of body scales
* Bronze and greenish-brown color
* No dark horizontal stripe
* Without rows of dark spots
* Upper jaw does not extend beyond back of eye
* Tongue usually has rough patch
* Dorsal fins connected

The big one is that the jaw does not extend behind the eye. If it does, then it's most likely a largemouth.

4. Is he buying cigarettes or beer?

Sorry, I just couldn't pass that one up.