Long considered a hard bottom oriented fish, smallmouth bass have evolved to adapt to the habitats provided by the lake. Only specific conditions must be present for them to survive and thrive. While most smallmouth bass anglers associate the species with rock and hard bottom habitats year-round, overlooked are a great number of smallmouth fisheries without rock structure but rear smallmouths exclusively because of their available wood habitat. These waters are all over the place throughout northern Wisconsin. These fisheries are less fertile mesotrophic waters but are clean and clear where much of the lake bottom is made of a mixed composition of sand, gravel, and muck. Topography and contours vary, as some are structure filled while others are barren bowl-shaped basins containing less-distinct underwater topography. Despite their limitations, smallmouths flourish in these waters where they’ve etched out their dominance in the biomass. The fish of these lakes love wood in the form of laydowns, logs, cribs, and artificially placed half-logs. Each wood structure type is integral to smallmouth survival and sustenance of the fishery.