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The "Cinderella" Fish

(Please Note: Some of this information only applies in New York and/or the United States)

When writing about smallmouth bass, what can be said that hasn't been repeated a thousand times.. great fighting heart, bulldog tenacity, a tail-walking, sky-dancing fool, king of the rock pile. These attributes make the smallmouth on of our greatest and most sought-after game fish.

The smallmouth bass season opens the 3rd Saturday in June and closes November 30 (New York State Regulations). Fishing is good to excellent into mid-July, and can be considered super-excellent from September through November. late July and August fishing is fair on bright days, fair to good on overcast days. The secret to excellent summer fishing is late evening, nighttime, and dawn hours. Surprisingly, fewer than 5% of local anglers take advantage of this great late evening and nighttime fishing.

Baits: Crawfish 4-6' shiner, minnow, and chub; large night-crawler; frog; leech.

Lures: Small to medium-size crank bait (plug), 1/4-1/2 oz. spinner bait, 1/4-5/8 oz. spoon, surface plug, plastic worm, jig, and pig and jig.

Check with local bait/tackle shops for the best bait, lures, and colors.

1. Smallmouth will be found on rocky structure with and without light weed lines. On bright days fish 15-35' deep; overcast days 10-25'; early morning, evenings, and nights, from surface-10'.
2. The smallmouth has and exceptional sense of sight, smell, and hearing. This allows feeding anytime over a 24-hour period and is why bass feed heavily at night.
3. The smallmouth. like most fish, is light-shy. On bright or sunny days, work the shady sections of good Bass holding structures.
4. Bass are schooling fish by nature, so you are likely to catch several bass in the same locations. If while playing a fish you put the school "down", they should be back inside 30 minutes.
5. Catch one smallmouth and chances are you'll catch more about the same size in the immediate area. If, after catching and releasing two or three that are under 2 lbs., search out some new structure that might be holding some  5-7lbs fish. Please...only keep one of these trophies. After catching and releasing two or three, search out a new structure. This conservation practice helps make Lake George one of the top ten smallmouth waters in the nation... Thanks!

This page was last edited: Thursday, June 24, 1999