fancy equipment to get in on the excitement of catching this hard-fighting sportfish. Largemouth bass take lures, plugs, flies, plastic worms, real worms, crayfish, and crickets. In short, they are opportunistic feeders that often strike aggressively. As shown in the color section, the jaw of the largemouth extends farther back than the eye (which is not true of the smallmouth). The largemouth is usually dark green in color with a dark band along the lateral line. The dorsal fin is divided into two distinct portions: hard spines in front and softer ones in the rear. The largemouth is sometimes known as the bucketmouth because of its large mouth, which appears even bigger when it attacks your lure, fly, or bait. Bass grow larger in warmer climates like those found in Florida or California, where 20-pound largemouths appear; in the Midwest, an 8-pound bass is a rare trophy.
Smallmouth: The gamest fish
In what’s perhaps the most-quoted phrase in angling literature, retired Civil War surgeon James Alexander Henshall called black bass (meaning largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass), “Inch for inch and pound for pound, the gamest fish that swims.” Many people now mistakenly believe he was referring to only the smallmouth bass, because the description is so apt.
A TRUE FISH TALE
It was rainy and windy on June 2, 1932, and 19-year-old George Perry was out before dawn with his fishing buddy Jack Page. “My father died the year before,” Perry later recalled. “I had my mother, two sisters, and two brothers. We lived three creeks further back than anybody else, and in those days it was a good deal of a problem just to make a living. I took money we should have eaten with and bought myself a cheap rod and reel and one plug.”
Perry remembers that he wasn’t feeling very lucky that morning on Montgomery Lake near Helena, Georgia. He tied on an imitation of the local baitfish, the creek-chub. A bass took the lure. Perry struck but couldn’t budge it. Then the fish moved, and Perry knew he was into a major bass. When it finally surrendered, even though it was enormous, Perry later said, “The first thing I thought of was what a nice chunk of meat to take home to the family.”
Thankfully, Perry had the presence of mind to make a detour at the general store in Helena, Georgia, where the bass that he had pulled out of Montgomery Lake tipped the scales at 22 pounds and 3 ounces, duly notarized and witnessed. It is a world record that stands to this day. (Although the record has been tied, with another giant fish caught by Manabu Kurita in Japan in 2009.) With his place firmly enshrined in the history books, young Perry went home and prepared a very large largemouth meal for the family.
Similar to its largemouth cousin, the smallmouth is a native of the Mississippi drainage, which makes it a true heartland fish. Where the largemouth likes slow or still water with lots of food-holding weeds, the smallmouth prefers clean, rocky bottoms and swifter water. Lake-dwelling smallmouth might school up, but in rivers and streams, they are more solitary. Similar to the largemouth, the smallmouth is an opportunistic feeder; both crayfish and hellgrammites score well (as do lures that imitate them). Unlike its largemouth cousin, the smallmouth is usually bronze and has a series of dark vertical bands along its flanks, shown in Figure 4-2. The dorsal fin of the smallmouth is marked with a shallow notch between the spiny part and the softer part, while the largemouth’s dorsal fin reveals a deeper notch (one that almost separates the two parts). Another difference is that the smallmouth’s upper jaw does not extend backward beyond the eye. Smallmouth bass, on average, are smaller than largemouth bass, but under ideal conditions can grow upward of 12 pounds.
If you try to pick up a bass by grabbing its body, you’ll find it’s about as easy as trying to diaper an angry baby. Even worse than babies, bass have spiny fins that can deliver nasty pricks. With a bass (and with many other soft-mouthed fish), however, you can nearly immobilize it if you grab it by the lower lip, depressing its lip between thumb and forefinger as shown in the adjacent figure. Be very careful to avoid the hook that caught the fish, especially the multiple treble hooks of some lures. Larger fish (of every species) should be held horizontally and supported under the belly. This prevents damaging the fish’s organs.
© John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
© John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
FIGURE 4-2: The mouth of the smallmouth isn’t that small, but its upper jaw is shorter than the largemouth’s.
Catfish
Many species of fish look like other fish at first glance, but a catfish looks only like a catfish. Covered in skin, not scales, catfish are smooth, muscled bruisers. Members of the catfish family have barbels around their mouths — whiskers they use to taste their environment. In fact, they taste with some of the skin covering their bodies and, for that reason, they’ve been called “swimming tongues.” They have grown in popularity as sportfish due to their large size, good taste, and tackle-busting fight. In this section, you discover the four most popular species of catfish.
Blue catfish: King of the big water
Blue catfish (see Figure 4-3) are the kings of big rivers. Although they also appear in some large reservoirs, blue cats thrive in the rolling, rollicking waters of wide rivers such as the Ohio, Mississippi, and Missouri, and also in tidal rivers such as the James. They feed primarily on fish like skipjack herring and gizzard shad. A ferocious fighter when hooked, blues attain sizes in the triple digits. Because blues are big fish found in big waters, anglers often fish from boats using heavy rods and reels to cast or drift big chunks of cutbait (cut fish). Despite the myth that catfish feed only at night, blues are active day and night and can be caught during the winter months, as well. They can be found near the bottom, but they also suspend throughout the water column.
© John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
FIGURE 4-3: Notice the broad, muscled body of the blue catfish, which is built for big water.
Flathead catfish: Denizens of the deep lair
Similar to the blue catfish, flathead cats can weigh more than 100 pounds, and they also thrive in America’s big rivers, reservoirs, and lakes. However, flatheads tolerate muddier, slower water better than blues, and can be found in some surprising small streams.
