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Studying smallmouth bass range
By Hal Schramm
BASS Times, Nov. 2004
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When discussions turn to smallmouth bass habitat, mental images abound. Some anglers might envision deep, rocky impoundments like Roosevelt or Apache lakes in central Arizona. Others might envision small streams in Missouri or Oklahoma. Still others might dream of remote locations in the northern United States and Canada, where winters arrive early and smallmouth numbers boggle the imagination.

Regardless of location, all these fisheries share common characteristics relating to water temperature and underwater terrain, according to the fisheries biologists who study this popular species of gamefish.
While all the aforementioned are likely locations to get thumped by a smallmouth bass — and often — some quality smallmouth fisheries don't fit these mental images. And it just so happens that some waters, particularly those in parts of the southern United States, are home to world-class fishing. Check out the record book.
Most of the IGFA's world line-class records come from the Deep South, notably Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina and Kentucky.

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