Michigan's Bass Opener: Smallmouth Revelations

Memorial Day weekend is the traditional opener of bass season in Michigan. This covers both largemouth and smallmouth bass. Growing up, the outdoor magazines I read would always be loaded with articles on fishing for largemouth bass while smallmouth always seemed to get a much smaller billing. As a result of this, and my extremely limited exposure to waters that held smallmouth, it wasn't until I met my wife that I learned the bronzeback is at least equal in every measure to it's bucketmouthed kin, and even superior in some aspects. 

Before I met Annie, I had only ever caught two smallmouth bass. Both were well under Michigan's 14 inch legal minimum, and from a dock on a dam backwater. My father-in-law introduced me to fishing skinny water in some of Lake Michigan's smaller bays in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Wearing waders and working the edges of reeds in as little as two feet of water, the aggressive fish respond equally well to a white twisty tail grub or a nightcrawler. In slightly deeper water, a beetlespin with a white twisty tail cast around submerged boulders seems to be the ticket. 

When it comes to excitement, both large and smallmouth leave nothing to be desired if you're using lighter gear. Largemouths will give you the flashy, jumping fight for which they're famous, while smallmouth will rip drag and bulldog you all the way to the net. I've heard many people say a largemouth isn't worth eating, but if taken from cold, clean water, they're just fine, in my opinion. Smallmouth are even tastier.

We had hoped to feature video from this year's opener, but Annie had some pretty serious health issues that took precedence over fresh footage. Pictured is a decent smallie I caught last year. 



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