How to identify a smallmouth bass

The smallmouth is easily distinguished from the largemouth by its clearly connected dorsal fins, the scales on the base portion of the soft-rayed second dorsal fin, and the upper jaw bone which extends only to about the middle of the eye. The coloration is also distinctive being usually more brownish in the smallmouth and more greenish in the largemouth.

Generally, the smallmouth has bars radiating back from the eyes, and though similar bars may be present in individuals of other species, including the largemouth, they seem to be more prominent and more consistently present in the smallmouth. A smallmouth's eyes are red or orangish. In young smallmouths, there is a distinctive band of orange at the base of the tail. This is followed by a black band with the tip of the tail being either white or yellow.