small mouths are monsters and pound for pound way better fighers and much more scrappy than LMB. They just carry a little more prestige with them as well I think since they are not stocked in every body of water in the world.
Smallmouth are so much more agressive than LMB that I almost freaked when I saw that the poll results. I wonder if the LMB voters have EVER really dealt with a SMB? I had 8 bass (7 LMB & 1 SMB) that I put into my farm pond close to a decade ago. They were all roughly in the 8" - 10" at the time. The one SMB was SO dominant over the seven LMB that it is disturbing to see this.
The LMB are about the LAZIEST big predator fish in N. America for pete's sake, hence the LARGE MOUTH that allows this predator to "Suck/ inhale" its prey with FAR less swim movement. The SMB needs to hunt with out of control agression, speed and fury! They prowl/ hunt constantly, where the LMB stay stationary waiting for a fish to swim close enough to it's large mouth to "gulp".
Seriously, Any owners of BOTH species (LMB & SMB) that have kept these fish together in monster aquariums or ponds, please chime in and HONESTLY answer some questions regarding the comparison between the two fish:
1. Which species was more active (swimming etc..) in tank/ pond setup?
2. Which species was the more agressive predator of live prey?
3. Which species (Assuming roughly equal size) was dominant in the setup?
4. Which monster was "meaner"?
5. Which species claimed the "larger" area as their own?
6. Which species generally won "fights"?
