Most bass fishermen are aware smallmouth bass do not grow a big as their largemouth cousins. Also known (if you have been lucky enough to hook-up with a smallmouth) is the fact smallmouth provide a vicious fight- much more than does a largemouth bass on a pound-to-pound comparison. However, the “fight relationship” discussion is for another day. Our objective with this article is to evaluate the size and weight variable of the green vs. brown bass on an apple-to-apple basis.
I read an article written by James Hall, Editor of BASSMASTER Magazine, in his Upfront column (November/December 2016 issue).
Hall hit the nail on the head with his insight and observations on the lack of real appreciation for smallmouth tourney fish/limits compared to largemouth bass bags weighed in. The editor conceived a unique and plausible way to equivocate the weights of green and brown bass to put smallmouth weights in an appropriate perspective.
Hall based his new mathematical, smallmouth weight conversion by first considering a very simple fact: The largemouth bass world record weight is 22 pounds, 5 ounces and the world record weight of the smallmouth bass is 11 pounds, 15 ounces thus showing the two species do not grow the same. Some kind of a relative relationship was needed to put a smallmouth’s weight on par with a largemouth’s weight for a more appreciated comparison.
The which one is the more impressive catch” argument can now be put to rest with James Hall’s largemouth pounds conversion multiplication. SFN photos
The crafty editor figured, “A 10-pound largemouth is considered a lunker, as is a 6-pound smallmouth. Through simple math, (easy for him to say), …that would put a 50-pound limit of largemouth equal to a 30-pound limit of smallies (or vice versa). This is a 5:3 ratio, which equates to a 1.66 multiplication factor.”
So, with Hall’s “largemouth pounds (lmps)” 1.66 multiplication factor conversion, you can see where a 26 pounds, 7 ounce smallmouth bag limit stands in “largemouth pounds”- 43 pounds, 8 ounces. Applying the 1.66 multiplication factor to our smallmouth weight would show a 35 pound bag of green fish was actually less impressive than the 43 pounds, 8 ounce bag of brown fish when converted to the apples and apples largemouth pounds.
Hall wrote, “Remember, 20 pounds of smallmouth equals more than 33 pounds of largemouth.”
Knowing about the largemouth pounds (lmps)” conversion may not help you a whole lot when you hand your bag to the tournament weighmaster but you sure can confuse the heck out of the other competitors.
Maybe you will be able to convince the first place winner to hand over his “largemouth check” since you just proved to him that your smallmouth bag actually weighed more…
