I think a lot of us have been brainwashed by the "great American media machine" into believing that the large mouth bass is the be-all and end-all of game fish.
I just finished 3 weeks of bass fishing virtually every day in Southern California and I've decided that while they are great fun to catch.....for the first 5-10 seconds or so, after that it's just a matter of hauling them in like a snagged log and letting them go.
They ain't no big deal boys and IMHO we are better off without them.
Now smallmouths...well that's a different kettle of fish altogether.