Smallmouth Bass

Where to go

Smallmouth Bass lake by lake

Ranked by how good the fishing actually is, not alphabetically. If a lake is not on this list, it is because the fish is not worth targeting there.

1. 01

   Lake St. Clair

   Lake St. Clair is the best smallmouth lake in the country and the numbers are not close. Eleven feet of clear water over grass, a forage base of gobies and emerald shiners, and enough four-pound fish that a five-pounder does not stop the boat.

   Prime time: Late May through October, with September and October the best big-fish window · Depths: 8–16 ft over cabbage and sand flats; 18–24 ft on the shipping channel edges in fall

   Full guide
2. 02

   Lake Erie

   Erie grows the heaviest smallmouth in the Great Lakes and the eastern basin from Erie, Pennsylvania to Buffalo is where they live. The western basin islands give you numbers and easier water; the eastern basin gives you five-pound fish over 25 feet of rock.

   Prime time: Late May through June, and September through early November · Depths: 10–22 ft on the western basin reefs; 22–45 ft over eastern basin rock and gravel

   Full guide
3. 03

   Lake Huron

   Lake Huron has more smallmouth water than any lake on the chain and almost nobody on it. Fish the northern island country around Les Cheneaux and Drummond Island for numbers and solitude, and the Thumb reefs off Port Austin for size.

   Prime time: Mid-June through early October, with September the best size window · Depths: 6–18 ft in the northern island bays; 18–35 ft on the Thumb and Thunder Bay reefs

   Full guide
4. 04

   Lake Ontario

   Lake Ontario's eastern basin is one of the great deep-water smallmouth fisheries in the country, and its shoals around Henderson Harbor and Galloo Island go weeks without a bass boat on them. Fish it in September and October, and be ready to drop-shot in 35 feet.

   Prime time: Late June through October, with September and October the best size window · Depths: 12–25 ft on the eastern basin shoals in early summer; 28–45 ft by late summer

   Full guide
5. 05

   Lake Michigan

   Lake Michigan's smallmouth fishing is concentrated in the northern bays and the Door County rock, and it is as good as anything in the country. Grand Traverse Bay and the Beaver Island archipelago are the two trips worth planning; Sturgeon Bay is the one that has already been discovered.

   Prime time: Mid-June through early October, with September the peak for size · Depths: 6–18 ft on the spring and early-summer rock; 25–40 ft by late summer in the deep bays

   Full guide