Coming up July 13-27 and may look at changing things up and doing some smallmouth bass fishing. What would be the best lake for smallmouth in the area and what structure should I target?

Any help would be great.

Zeepo2

*bump*

i live in bemidji and would like somebody who knows where the smallies are to let me in

We take a lot of trips for smallmouth, and there is some travel involved. A few lakes to try very locally are Beltrami and North Twin...

ever fished Grace for smallies? i thought all that was in there were big mouth, but i recently saw it has smallmouth as well. that's not much of a drive from bemidji. first chance i get i will try beltrami.

Never heard of, nor have I seen a smallmouth in Grace. Doesn't mean it's not possible though... Sure you're not seeing rock bass?

Numbers are low but increasing in Beltrami. Smallmouth are not native there, nor on any of the nearby lakes connected to Beltrami by the Turtle River if memory serves, but someone introduced them a few years ago. I caught my first smallie out of Beltrami (we've had a cabin there since 1983) three summers ago, and numbers are on the rise. It's got the vegetation/structure to be a very good smallmouth fishery eventually. Somebody planted some muskies in there a few years ago, too. I caught one the same summer I caught the smallie.

The DNR hasn't surveyed the lake since 2000. It'll be interesting what shows up in the next sampling. Movil, connected to Beltrami by a short stretch of the Turtle River, was sampled in 2007 and no smallies were found. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before they spread and colonize all the connected lakes.