Biggest Smallies...??

[Stick in Mud]

Hello all.

Don't mean to brag (OK, I do!), but I was down at the rio last night and caught a 22.5''. My dad says he's got a 23.5'', though there is no proof other than his good word. Either way, I was wondering what all of our personal bests are out there.

I would also like to know if there's a chance that the state record is in the Miss up here. I'm skeptical because the fish I catch up in Mille Lacs are much much heavier even when they are significantly shorter. I don't weight the big big ones out of the river, but I've weighed a few 18'' or 19'' and they are always lighter, even if they are "fatter," than those I catch in lakes.

[Mark Christianson]

Whats the "rio"??

There will never be a state record coming out of the river. No way possible in my opinion. 20 inch fish are nearing the end of their lives, and they rarely are approaching the 5 lb mark at that size/age. Not that I catch many 20 inch "class" fish....

[riversmallmouth35]

To anwser your question about the state record in the mississippi,I don't know. It was about five years ago I think I heard that they tagged a fish over 8 pounds were the sauk river comes into the mississippi. I think they were electrofishing ( correct me if I am wrong ).

I heard this from a pretty reliable source too but It could still be wrong.

and to anwser your other question my biggest right now is 19 3/4 inches, I am still looking for my first 20 incher.

[Mark Christianson]

Our good friend Smallie Hawgin will clear the air on the 8lb tagged smallie.... Or the "reliable source" aspect of it....

[Royce Aardahl]

I shoulda wieghed that 19 incher with the baby duck in her tummy.

[MSRiverdog]

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Whats the "rio"??

There will never be a state record coming out of the river. No way possible in my opinion. 20 inch fish are nearing the end of their lives, and they rarely are approaching the 5 lb mark at that size/age. Not that I catch many 20 inch "class" fish....

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Thats what you say, there was a 24 that went by my dock just after you left BLB. Bring more beer next time and you may see it to.

[Royce Aardahl]

I thought it was a 23?

[DancesWithWaves]

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they are always lighter, even if they are "fatter," than those I catch in lakes.

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thats because they dont have sinkers in their bellies.

[Stick in Mud]

Ooops. Sorry. "Rio" is Spanish for "river." Just a little nickname my friends and I devised to make our excursions sound a little more exotic.

[primetime49]

carmike,we live by a lake that had closed all smallmouth keeping for about 10 years.

All through this time you would keep hearing about ghost fish caught and released in the 7 to 8 pound range.

Now that lake has reopened and in 2 years and several tournaments and hundreds of fishing days only 4 pounders make the high end of weigh ins.

It would be very interesting to see even a 5 pounder out of here.

One walleye guide says he has come close to getting in the bigger range of smallmouth but fishing deep with 6 pound berkly they simply dont make it to net,but he has lost some monsters.

some day we hope to see a 5 and than a 6.

[Stick in Mud]

Primetime,

Are those fish long and lean? How long do they get...?

[primetime49]

20s,lots of guys say they are getting 22s but we just dont see them in competition.

I cant get a 22 for all the tea in Spicer.

I call these skinny also .

Saturday we have state championship tourney here and with guys from nearly all levels of bass attitude will not bring in a 5.

All reports of larger are from guys livebaiting.

[Mark Christianson]

Well I can say that a 22+ inch smallie on the Miss is the fish of 10,000 lifetimes based on the data the DNR has to offer up. It would be equivalent to shooting a 200 inch buck here in MN. Or bagging a 33 inch walleye.

I see pics on here and on other forums with fish laying on measuring sticks with the mouth open and not even on the zero mark on the stick, but yet claims of 20 inch fish or whatever the size.

Here is a certified, right on the stick, 20 inch class fish. Mouth closed all the way, tail pinched(swiped) on the 20 inch mark. Show me pics on a stick, and I will be a believer....

[Stick in Mud]

biglakebass, where do you find dnr data on fish sizes? that would be interesting. I've seen a lot of guys claim to catch fish 22''...I didn't think they were that rare. Maybe we are wishful thinkers...I don't know. My ruler is on the side of the boat, so it certainly isn't precise, but i do try my best to get an honest measurement.

someone else mentioned live bait as being much better for the big fish, and I also find this to be true. Why is this? I can honestly say I've gotten...oh, 15....20'' fish, and most have come walleye fishing in the spring and fall with big chubs, leeches, or crawlers.

[smallie_hawgin]

Not sure what the reliable source is..... but there is no report of any fish over 5 lbs let alone bigger.... The DNR in Montrose and Little Falls have been doing electrofishing surveys for quite a while.... biggest fish ever from any of the years of data..... 21" There are only several dozen that have been officially measured in the 20 plus years of doing the surveys in spring and summer that even broke the 20" mark.... So an 8.... I am EXTREMELY skeptical.... As BLB eluded to... river fish approaching 20" are dang near 16-18 years of age. They don't have a lot left....

But that is just a "Biologists interpretation".....

[MSRiverdog]

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To anwser your question about the state record in the mississippi,I don't know. It was about five years ago I think I heard that they tagged a fish over 8 pounds were the sauk river comes into the mississippi. I think they were electrofishing ( correct me if I am wrong ).

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This 8 pounder rumor has been going around at least since my first river fishing days..... 28 years ago....No pics, didn't happen.

[Mark Christianson]

So your saying since I dont have pics of my 43.5 inch pike I caught on 4 lb test it aint real either???

Well, I know its true, so boo on you.

[Daze Off]

This year my best smallie has been 19.9999999999" on the Mississippi. After that I have a cluster of fish in the 18" range but that is the only one which broke 19 so far.

Daze Off

[MSRiverdog]

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So your saying since I dont have pics of my 43.5 inch pike I caught on 4 lb test it aint real either???

Well, I know its true, so boo on you.

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I'm still waiting for for you to show me how to kill em on Senkos. Guess we gotta go downriver.

[Mark Christianson]

Kill em on Senkos??

Now that there is funny, I dont care who ya are.

[primetime49]

big lake I like your sign in with the dollar sign.

Smallmouth bass fishing has really turned the economy around for the good here and guess the locals are loving it .

And yes this lake does incorporate with the Mighty Rio.

[MSRiverdog]

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I thought it was a 23?

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That was last year silly goose, he picked up an inch over the winter.

[Kevin Turner]

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my best smallie has been 19.9999999999" on the Mississippi.

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How 'bout it SH, Can we give him the .00000000001 and call it a 20

[Mark Christianson]

If he gets to call it a 20, then my stats jump from one 20 inch smallie in my life to about 20 of them!

[river rat316]

Yeah right, SH was just being nice to you on the "20" that you think you caught

By the way my opinion is the same as the rest, these upper Miss smallies just don't grow fast enough to get to record size, they live a tough life, battling the current and the river itself to exist..... heck a certain DNR guy is out there shocking em 3 times a week to figure out seasonal patterns

[Mark Christianson]

Your just jealous cuz you don't catch 20 inch caliber, 8 lb smallies like this one.

[Mark Christianson]

Or are you just super jealous cuz I caught that same fish a month later again...

[Corey Bechtold]

[Mark Christianson]

Stay outta this ya panfish chasin' scrub....

Oh, wait, I better call ya. I need a tip for league night tomorrow night.....

[Royce Aardahl]

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If he gets to call it a 20, then my stats jump from one 20 inch smallie in my life to about 20 of them!

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