fish · The Trophy Room
Smallmouth Bass
Pound for pound the hardest-fighting fish in fresh water, and the Columbia Basin is stacked with them. A bronze smallmouth hammers a lure, cartwheels across the surface, and never quits — this one came off a jig against a dryland reservoir wall, all muscle and attitude in a fish that rarely tops a few pounds.
Identifying
- bronze-to-olive body with dark vertical bars down the flank (not a horizontal stripe)
- a red-orange eye, and a jaw that ends at or before the eye — the "small mouth" that names it and separates it from a largemouth
- three dark bars radiating back from the eye across the cheek
- powerful, deep body built for the fight
Facts
- introduced to the Columbia system and thriving in its rocky reservoirs — now a top sport fishery
- the jaw test is the ID: smallmouth's upper jaw stops under the eye, largemouth's extends past it
- famous for its fight — anglers rate it the scrappiest freshwater fish for its size, bar none
