Smallmouths are cousins to the more prevalent largemouth bass found throughout Alabama. Obviously, they have a smaller mouth, as the name implies, and they're more of a brown color, while largemouths are greener. Smallies are sometimes referred to by the nickname "bronzebacks."

They don't get quite as big as largemouths, prefer running water and rocks to still water and weeds, and are known as ferocious fighters.

A lot of Alabama anglers target smallies on the Tennessee in the fall, but early spring -- February and March -- also offers outstanding opportunities. Like their largemouth cousins, these fish are in a pre-spawn pattern at this time of year.

Smallmouths are in deep water in February and early March. They like a strong flowing current and relate to rocks, stumps and long, sloping points.

The Tennessee River has historically produced outstanding smallmouth fishing in North Alabama, with a former world-record smallmouth being taken here. Depending on whom you talk to, the smallmouth fishing on parts of this river -- particularly Pickwick and Wilson lakes -- may not be what it once was.

"We've got some problems with gill-netting and some water quality issues," explained Troy Jens, a longtime Tennessee River bass guide and founder of Concerned Anglers of Alabama (CAA), an organization that tries to help resolve some of the problems.

"We had some concerns on Guntersville that we were able to get addressed, and now we're turning our attention to some of the problems at Pickwick and Wilson," he said.

On the other hand, Keith Floyd, the Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries district biologist for northwestern Alabama, disagrees that there are serious problems.

"If you talk to some anglers, they might tell you that smallmouth are on the decline," he pointed out. "But the fishing is still pretty good in this area. It can be downright spectacular at times."

WHEELER LAKE
State fisheries surveys on Wheeler Lake have shown more largemouth bass than smallmouth bass, but Floyd said you have to know where to look to find the smallies.

He prefers the lower end of the impoundment for targeting smallmouths. Most of the fish will be on rocky points.

"There's a lot of that type of habitat there," he noted.

Guide Troy Jens said Wheeler might actually be the best of the three smallmouth lakes on the Tennessee River right now.

"The big smallmouth in Wheeler are along bluff walls downriver in February and March," Jens offered. "I've had a lot of success on them fishing with a suspending jerkbait."

Any color that mimics a shad is good. Jens also likes clown and tiger roan color schemes.

"There's not a whole lot of pressure on these fish on the bluff walls," he added. "But there are some real monsters, some 7-pounders, that hang out there. Seven pounds is big when you're talking about a brown fish."