Top 3 Fishing Stories of the Week: Largemouth vs. Smallmouth, 5 Tips for a PB Bass, and the West’s Best Fly Fishing

From Largemouth vs Smallmouth and the Debate Over Which Bass is Best, to 5 Proven Tips to Catch Your Personal Best Largemouth, to Colorado’s premier fly fishing destinations, these stories captured our Sports Illustrated fishing reader’s attention on Fishing on SI this past week.

Top 3 Fishing Stories of the Week: Largemouth vs. Smallmouth, 5 Tips for Your PB Bass, and the West’s Best Fly Fishing | Kurt Mazurek | Justin Hoffman | Jasper Taback

1.) Largemouth vs. Smallmouth: Which Bass is Best?

The green giant vs. the bronze bruiser—it's the ultimate freshwater fishing rivalry. | Photos by Kurt Mazurek

Bass anglers love bass, right? But exactly what do you picture when you dream about that personal best bass? Is it green or bronze? Are you fishing in a jungle of dense weeds and cypress trees or looking through 20 feet of gin clear water at the rock to sand transition below?

If you only had one final day in your life to go fishing, are you spending it chasing largemouth or smallmouth bass?

Let’s go through a category by category comparison and see if one bass species reigns supreme…GET THE REST OF THE STORY HERE.

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2.) 5 Proven Tips to Catch the Biggest Largemouth Bass of Your Life

Put the odds in your favor for catching a personal best largemouth bass by following these tried-and-true fishing tips. | Andy Morrisey

As anglers, our common goal is to catch the biggest fish possible. It's a game of inches for those who chase the elusive muskie, but for the fan-favorite largemouth bass, pounds is where it's at.

Where you reside, and therefore where the bass reside, dictates what qualifies as a trophy. Here in Ontario, Canada, the 'unofficial' mark is five-pounds. For those that fish the southern U.S. or California, a double digit fish gets the well-deserved recognition and fanfare.

Commonly called a 'PB' (Personal Best), this moniker gives credit to the milestone achieved upon landing your biggest largemouth ever. But raising the bar is what keeps us all fishing, because records are made to be broken.

Here are five proven fishing tips to help you catch the biggest largemouth bass of your life…GET THE REST OF THE STORY HERE.

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3.) The West’s Best Fly Fishing Isn’t in Montana Anymore

Fly fishing in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River | photo by Jasper Taback

Colorado holds a special place in my heart – it’s where I learned to fly fish and really caught the bug, so I try to get back whenever I can.

Recently, the opportunity came up to spend a few days exploring trout water in a part of the state that was new to me, and I jumped.

The Gunnison Valley, tucked between the San Juan and West Elk Mountains on Colorado’s Western Slope, is best known for two destination mountain towns – Gunnison and Crested Butte. 

Both towns are great in their own right, but there’s a whole lot more to the valley worth experiencing…GET THE REST OF THE STORY HERE.