How to Catch Smallmouth Bass in Minnesota: Seasons, Rigs & Waters

Smallmouth bass are the hardest-fighting fish in Minnesota for their size, and the state has some of the best smallmouth water in the country. To catch them, fish rock: boulder points, reefs, gravel flats and river current seams, with tube jigs, Ned rigs, drop shots and topwater lures. The rule to know is the fall one. In most of the state smallmouth can be kept only from the late-May opener until mid-September (May 23 to Sept. 13 in 2026), and after that they are catch-and-release only until the end of February.

Identification and habits

Smallmouth are bronze to brown with dark vertical bars on the sides, dark lines radiating back from a reddish eye, and an upper jaw that ends below the eye rather than behind it. The dorsal fin is one continuous fin with only a shallow notch. Largemouth are green with a horizontal stripe and a deeply notched fin.

They prefer cooler, clearer water than largemouth and hard bottom over weeds. Crayfish are the staple food wherever rock is present, supplemented by minnows, young perch, ciscoes and insects. Smallmouth are also long-lived and slow-growing this far north; a 20-inch fish in a northern Minnesota lake can be well over a decade old, which is why release matters so much with this species.

Season by season

Spring and opener

Smallmouth move shallow as the water climbs through the 50s and spawn at around 60 degrees, usually late May into June, later in the far north. Nests are swept-clean circles on gravel or sand, often beside a boulder or log in 2 to 10 feet. The pre-spawn period produces the heaviest fish of the year. Bass may be fished catch-and-release from March 1 until the harvest opener; whatever the date, return nesting males right away and near the nest, because sunfish and crayfish clean out an unguarded nest fast.

Summer

Lake fish spread to rock reefs, boulder points and offshore humps, commonly in 8 to 25 feet, and roam sand flats chasing perch and crayfish. Low-light periods bring them up for topwater. River smallmouth are easier: they hold behind boulders, along current seams, below riffles and at the heads of pools, and wading or floating for them in July and August is some of the simplest good fishing in the state.

Fall

As the water cools, smallmouth feed hard and then gather in large schools near their wintering areas: deep rock and steep breaks in lakes, slow deep pools in rivers. It is the best time for a truly big fish, and it is exactly why harvest closes. Schooled fish in predictable places are vulnerable.

Ice

Smallmouth are nearly dormant in winter and bunch up in deep water. In most of the state they are catch-and-release only for the whole ice season. Fish pulled from deep water can suffer pressure injuries, so the responsible approach is not to target them through the ice.

Techniques and rigs

• Tube jig. A 3 to 4 inch tube in a crayfish color, dragged and hopped over rock. The classic.
• Ned rig. A small buoyant plastic on a light mushroom-head jig. Slow, subtle and effective when nothing else is.
• Drop shot. A small minnow or worm bait held above the weight, for fish holding deep on reefs and for fish you see on electronics.
• Topwater. Poppers and walking baits over reefs and along rocky banks at dawn and dusk and on calm, overcast days.
• Jerkbaits and spinnerbaits. Cover water in spring and fall, especially with wind on a rocky shoreline.
• Hair jigs and swimbaits. A small marabou jig or 3-inch swimbait swum steadily is deadly in clear water.
• Live bait. A leech or minnow under a slip bobber next to boulders. Use circle hooks or set quickly to avoid deep hooking.
• Fly fishing. Poppers and crayfish or baitfish streamers on a 6 to 8 weight rod are a natural fit on the Mississippi and in canoe country.

Gear

A 7 foot medium or medium-light spinning rod with a fast tip, a 2500-size reel, 10 pound braid and a 6 to 8 pound fluorocarbon leader handles all the finesse techniques. Add a medium casting or spinning rod with 10 to 12 pound line for jerkbaits, topwater and spinnerbaits. Clear water and rock mean abrasion: retie often. For rivers, add wading boots or a canoe, and wear a life jacket in current.

2026 seasons and limits

Verified against the 2026 Minnesota DNR fishing regulations, effective through Feb. 28, 2027. Confirm before fishing.

Zone	Dates (2026 regulation year)	Smallmouth rule
Southern and North-central	March 1 to May 22	Catch-and-release only
Southern and North-central	May 23 to Sept. 13	6 largemouth and smallmouth combined
Southern and North-central	Sept. 14, 2026 to Feb. 28, 2027	Catch-and-release only
Northeast	March 1 to May 8	Catch-and-release only
Northeast	May 9, 2026 to Feb. 28, 2027	6 largemouth and smallmouth combined

What this means on the water:

• Fall rule. Outside the Northeast zone, a smallmouth caught on or after Sept. 14 must go back immediately. Largemouth remain legal to keep, so be sure of your identification.
• Northeast zone. The area north and east of U.S. Highway 53 from Duluth to International Falls, which the booklet extends to Pelican and Ash lakes in St. Louis County for bass. No fall catch-and-release period applies there.
• Exceptions. Mille Lacs bass regulations are set separately and posted by the DNR. Border waters with Canada, Wisconsin and the Dakotas have their own rules, and some lakes carry special bass regulations. See special regulations and slot limits.
• There is no statewide size limit.

Where smallmouth thrive in Minnesota

• Mille Lacs. Widely regarded as one of the top smallmouth lakes in the nation, with rock reefs and boulder shorelines producing large fish. Check its separate regulations.
• Upper Mississippi River. The stretch from roughly Brainerd and St. Cloud down toward the Twin Cities is a first-rate river smallmouth fishery, much of it wadeable or floatable.
• St. Croix River. Rocky, scenic and full of smallmouth; a border water with its own rules.
• Arrowhead and border lakes. Vermilion, Rainy, Kabetogama and the lakes of Voyageurs National Park, plus Basswood and many others in the Boundary Waters, where topwater fishing from a canoe is the main event. See also St. Louis County lakes.
• Central and west-central lakes. Clear, rocky lakes in the Brainerd area and Otter Tail County, including the lake that produced the 1948 record.
• Other rivers. The St. Louis River near Duluth, the Rum, the Snake and the Cannon all hold smallmouth.

The common thread is clean water, rock or gravel, and crayfish.

State record

Per the DNR state record fish program, the weight record is 8 pounds even, from West Battle Lake in Otter Tail County in 1948. It is on the pre-1980 non-certified list, and the certified-weight record is open to new entries of 7 pounds or more. The catch-and-release record is 22.75 inches, caught June 25, 2024 on Basswood Lake in Lake County.

Handling and release

• Land fish quickly and keep them in the water as much as possible. Smallmouth fight to exhaustion.
• Support the body with two hands if you hold the fish horizontally; do not crank the jaw open on a heavy fish.
• Use single hooks and pinch barbs when the fish are biting freely. It speeds up release.
• Avoid fishing deep schools in late fall and winter, where pressure injury is likely.
• Let nesting fish go at once, in the same spot.

Bottom line

• Fish rock and current, and think crayfish.
• In most of Minnesota, smallmouth are catch-and-release from Sept. 14, 2026 through Feb. 28, 2027. Only the Northeast zone allows fall harvest.
• These are slow-growing fish. Release the big ones in any season, and compare with largemouth bass if your lake is more weeds than rock.