[4] It is the type species of its genus Micropterus (black basses), and is a popular game fish sought by anglers throughout the temperate zones of North America, and has been spread by stocking —as well as illegal introductions—to many cool-water tributaries and lakes in Canada and more so introduced in the United States.

[5] The combination of the muscular fusiform body shape and camouflage like coloring make these fish highly effective ambush predators.

The Neosho are native to an ecologically isolated region of the lower Midwest known as the Central Interior Highlands, which weave through southwestern Missouri, northern Arkansas and northeastern Oklahoma.

[10] The smallmouth bass is found in clearer water than the largemouth, especially streams, rivers, and the rocky areas and stumps and also sandy bottoms of lakes and reservoirs.

[citation needed] When the weather gets colder, and the water temperature drops below 15 C (60 F), smallmouth will often migrate in search of deeper pools in which they enter a semi-hibernation state,[13] moving sluggishly and feeding very little until the warm season returns.

[13] Smallmouth generally begin spawning patterns in spring or early summer when water temperatures are between 15–18 °C (59.0–64.4 °F), which is heavily dependent on latitudinal location.

During the mid-to-late 19th century, smallmouth were transplanted via the nation's rail system to lakes and rivers throughout the northern and western United States, as far as California.

Shippers found that smallmouth bass were a hardy species that could be transported in buckets or barrels by rail, sometimes using the spigots from the railroad water tanks to aerate the fingerlings.

In recent years, a renewed emphasis on preserving water quality and riparian habitat in the nation's rivers and lakes, together with stricter management practices, eventually benefited smallmouth populations and has caused a resurgence in their popularity with anglers.

[19] In addition to wild populations, the smallmouth bass is stocked in cool rivers and lakes throughout Canada and the United States.

[21] The current all-tackle world record for a smallmouth bass is 11 lb 15 oz, caught by David Hayes[22] in the Dale Hollow Reservoir, on the Kentucky/Tennessee border, in 1955.

[23] In conventional fishing, smallmouth may be successfully caught on a wide range of natural and artificial baits or lures, including crankbaits, hair jigs, plastic jerkbaits, artificial worms, spinnerbaits, and all types of soft plastic lures, including curly tail grubs or tubes with lead head jigs.