Types of Bass in North America: The Complete Species Guide
North America is filled to the brim with some of the best game fish in the world. From massive catfish that can pull a small boat around to the ferocious alligator gar, anglers can find an impressive fight anywhere. However, one type of fish stands out as the American angler’s go-to sport fish—the bass.
Bass fishing provides an experience unlike any other. While it’s primarily popular due to largemouth bass in the United States, there are quite a few bass species available. All provide a unique experience and some fantastic CPR opportunities for sport anglers.
Today, we’ll review the types of bass found in North America, discussing some of their finer details, the experience they offer anglers, and where to find them.
1: Largemouth Bass
You can’t make a species guide to North American bass without putting the cream of the crop at the top of it. The largemouth bass isn’t just the most popular bass species. In the US, it’s the most popular game fish in general.
There are a lot of reasons for this.
The Largemouth Bass Fishing Experience
There are two core reasons largemouths stand out as the top game fish, and this is one of them. Anglers crave a good fight that puts their rods to the test, and the largemouth offers that.
They’re known for being extremely strong compared to their size and unpredictable in the water, and of course, they like to put on an acrobatic show, leaping several feet above the surface and flaring their gills. It’s not only a spectacle. It also tests skills that anglers don’t often have to test.
However, despite being such great fighters and a sight to behold, largemouth bass aren’t like predatory fish with the same caliber of experience. You don’t need a big tackle box of specialized equipment to get into the sport.
It helps, but it’s not necessary like it is with some of the bigger species. With some inexpensive lures, almost any rod and reel combo, and a bit of patience, anyone can get a largemouth bass on the line.
Where are Largemouth Bass?
This is the other reason largemouth are so popular. They’re practically everywhere in the US.
You tend to find the most significant specimens along the entirety of the southern portion of the country and the Midwest. Still, even northern states can enjoy some decent largemouth fishing. They’re in nearly every lake, pond, and river across the country.
How to Identify Largemouth Bass
Identifying largemouth bass is extremely simple. Depending on age and conditions, they come in various shades of green, but you don’t have to worry about the small details with largemouth.
Look at the jaw’s hinge point. If the bass is green and the hinge is behind the eye, it’s a largemouth. None of the similar bass species have jaw hinges that far back on the face.
Best Methods to Target Largemouth Bass
Largemouth bass aren’t technically challenging to catch. They’ll bite pretty much anything. The challenge comes in when you’re trying to figure out precisely what they’re looking for at any given time and specifically target the big guys because there are a lot of times when they’ll be extremely picky.
The best approach is to learn a variety of rigs, start with the Texas rig in most conditions, and cycle through your repertoire. Knowing how bass behaves in different situations also helps, and we have guides to help with that.
2: Smallmouth Bass
Smallmouth bass are the second most targeted bass species in North America, and they share many characteristics with the largemouth bass that dominate the area.
However, some points make them not as accessible, and they’re also not as flashy when it comes to the fight they put up. That doesn’t mean they’re second-rate, though. They make up for it in a variety of ways.
The Smallmouth Bass Fishing Experience
Although smallmouth and largemouth look incredibly similar, the experience is entirely different. We’ll use largemouth as the reference point.
Where a largemouth likes to put on an extravagant show and ultimately tire itself out quickly, a smallmouth is all about raw power. They don’t jump around and try to spit the hook like that. They dive deep with tremendous strength for their size, and they thrash.
Many anglers who prefer smallmouth specifically prefer them because of this. It’s like the heavy tug that a large catfish produces, but with a lot more action on the other end.
Where Are Smallmouth Bass?
Smallmouth bass can also be more challenging to access. While they’re prevalent, they’re not as numerous as largemouth bass. You can typically find them in the northern states and some of the Midwest. Then, they’re dotted around the country.
While every angler in the US can usually find a smallmouth spot within a somewhat reasonable distance, it’s not typically as easy as driving to any nearby lake or pond.
How to Identify Smallmouth Bass
Smallmouth bass are just as easy to identify as largemouth bass. They tend to be a deeper green, and none of the other basses on this list will share this coloring except for the largemouth.
The big difference is in the jaw hinge. While largemouths have their hinge behind their eyes, smallmouths have it in front of them. This prevents their mouths from opening as wide, which gives them their name.
There are differences between their lateral lines and fins, but you don’t need to focus on those details.
One thing to note is that smallmouth bass tend to be much smaller than largemouth bass. The bar for a considerable smallmouth is around 6-8 pounds, but largemouth can easily reach the teens and even exceed twenty pounds on rare occasions.
Best Methods to Catch Smallmouth Bass
The same tackle you use for largemouth bass will be perfect with smallmouth bass. Except, you want to shy away from some of the biggest lures due to their smaller mouths.
One of our favorite lures for smallmouth bass is the classic Whopper Plopper. It’s a prop bait with a unique spinning action that consistently draws them in without requiring expert-level skills.
3: White Bass
White bass aren’t as popular as game fish, but they are available and pretty plentiful. For many, they’re a great middle ground between pan fishing and bass fishing, and they’re crucial for another, more exciting, species on this list.
The White Bass Fishing Experience
White bass don’t put up too much of a fight, but they’re certainly more potent than your average bluegill and more difficult to attract with artificial lures. This does add a bit of challenge compared to other fish of the same size.
White bass also tend to bite on many smaller bass lures you might use under high pressure. So, you can catch them when you’re targeting much more impressive species.
Where are the White Bass?
White bass aren’t as accessible as the first two species. They tend to be commonly found along the eastern coast, the Midwest, and the southern center of Canada.
They can be found in western states such as Texas, but their populations are far more scattered than on the East Coast.
How to Identify White Bass
White bass look nothing like largemouth and smallies.
They’re smaller, silvery-white bass with a jutting lower jaw and very closely spaced dorsal fins. They also only tend to reach about 2 pounds. So, most adult white bass are smaller than some older juvenile largemouth bass.
They also have solid dark lines running horizontally across their bodies from the neck to the tail fin. This is important because the last two species are a little more complicated.
Best Methods for Catching White Bass
The best way to catch white bass is to use small soft plastics meant for bass and crappie. They’re about the same size as juvenile largemouth and respond to many of the same presentations.
As such, many ultra-light lures are also great options, and an ultralight setup will help you get more excitement from such a small fish.
4: Striped Bass
Striped bass are the second most unique bass on this list, and they’re also the largest. Under the right conditions, stripers can reach up to 70 pounds, but they struggle to reel in without the appropriate gear.
The Striped Bass Fishing Experience
Striped bass are the most challenging fish to catch in the US, not only because of their sheer size and strength but also because of their location.
Not all stripers get to monstrous sizes, but even smaller examples tend to break hooks by diving deep and putting up long-lasting fights against your drag.
Fighting them requires a lot of endurance, but it also stresses the fish more. As a CPR angler, you must consider this and put extra time and care into your release technique.
Where are Striped Bass?
You’ll find striped bass almost exclusively along the eastern coast. They’re ocean fish that can also live in tributaries and landlocked lakes. So, you can fish for them in fresh, brackish, and saltwater. The latter tends to produce the most prominent bass and most intimidating challenges.
However, this also limits access to this impressive fish, as anyone not on the East Coast must travel substantially to catch them.
Identifying Striped Bass
It’s not hard to identify these when they’re huge. They’re silvery, white, slender, and look like an elongated white bass.
One key feature you want to remember is that their lateral lines are dotted and don’t appear on their bellies, and their bodies are long and slender.
Best Methods for Catching Striped Bass
Striped bass are best caught with swimbaits and jerk baits, and due to their larger size, you can go all out.
5: Hybrid Bass
Finally, there is the hybrid bass. This unnatural white and striped bass hybrid was designed to help stock fisheries nationwide and provide a unique angling experience.
The Hybrid Bass Fishing Experience
Hybrid bass brings a unique experience to anglers. They can get heftier than largemouth, put up a stiff fight like smallmouth, and they’re regularly stocked for easy access and well-maintained populations.
You’ll want heavier equipment because these guys can regularly lift up to 25 pounds, and while they aren’t flashy, they do put a lot of strain on lighter equipment.
Where are Hybrid Bass?
Hybrid bass are all over the country. They’re more or less man-made.
The fish farming industry produces them by combining striped and white bass reproductive materials to create a hardy and reliable game fish.
Then, they are distributed across the United States. These populations are topped up regularly because they cannot reproduce independently.
The easiest way to find out if there are hybrids near you is to visit your state government’s DNR website.
How to Identify Hybrid Bass
Identifying hybrid bass is only tricky when they’re freshly stocked, and many juveniles are around. They can look similar to white bass when they’re tiny. However, you’re unlikely to see them in that state.
These combine features of white bass and striped bass. They’re enormous with lateral lines like white bass and sharp features, but unlike striped bass, they look stouter. They’re short and squat with fat bellies compared to striped bass' long and slender bodies.
Which Bass is the Best to Catch in North America?
The types of bass in North America offer a diverse and exciting fishing experience. The largemouth bass is the most popular species, and it has even been exported to countries like Japan for its growing sports fishing community.
However, it all comes down to what you look for on the water. White bass can be great fast-paced action, stripers are massive and will give you a genuine workout, and of course, you can’t go wrong with a largemouth on your line.
What matters is that you’re out there learning new skills, enjoying nature, and catching new records.
To enhance your fishing experience, download the BassForecast fishing app for real-time fishing insights, maps, and expert tips!