BRONZEBACK BOOM TIME

LARGEMOUTHS AND SPOTTED BASS GET THE LION’S SHARE OF WESTERN BASS ANGLERS’ ATTENTION, BUT SMALLMOUTHS OFFER SOME OF THE REGION’S BEST SPRINGTIME ANGLING.

By David A. Brown

Brandon Palaniuk has fished the nation’s top-rated small-mouth waters, from Pickwick Lake in the Deep South to Lake Champlain and the mighty St. Lawrence River in the Northeast. However, the two-time Bassmaster Elite Angler of the Year’s personal-best smallie—a 7 3/4-pound beast—came from an Idaho reservoir. Sure, not all Western smallmouths are that big, but there are plenty of them, and if you do your homework and put in the water time, western fisheries can produce epic smallmouth bites. And while hefty largemouths, like those giants of the California Delta, and spotted bass that live in meccas like Shasta Lake are more common targets of the West’s bass aficionados, when it comes to aggression, cold tolerance and a “don’t-care-gonna-eat-it” dependability, western smallmouths are well worth the effort, especially come springtime.…

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Game & Fish West (Digital) - 1 Issue, April 2025

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