Eric,
About the smallmouth. Although they are considered coolwater fish I had the fish farmer that sold me my last batch tell me they are the first to go off feed in the fall, and the last to start feeding in the spring. That makes sense as of all the largemouth bass we have released fishing for perch (up to 100) only two smallmouth bass have been caught. Although I have had some mortalities of predominately smallmouth bass this winter, I still think there are a good number left.
