Freshwater and Marine Image Bank, University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections; Freshwater and Marine Image Bank / EOL (Public Domain) · PUBLIC_DOMAIN
Smallmouth Bass
Micropterus dolomieu
- Look for dark brown vertical bars or blotches running along the sides of the body — a key marking on smallmouth bass.
- The back and sides are golden-olive to dark brown, fading to a yellowish-white belly, giving the fish a distinctive two-tone look.
- Dark brown horizontal bars streak across the head, which helps set smallmouth apart from largemouth bass that lack these head stripes.
- The smallmouth has a slender, muscular body compared to the deeper, blockier build of some other bass — and its jaw does not extend back past the eye as it does on largemouth bass.