Post-dispatch Article

[joeD]

Al, you are the voice of reason and experience, a gentleman to boot, and I respect, trust and value your opinions. And I have no doubt the Meramec was a smallmouth bonanza years ago. This guy didn't catch those smallies years ago. He's around my age, and wasn't fishing back then. I daresay those fish were caught semi-recently.

'Weights--I gotta assume, without evidence to the contrary..."

That's just it- "without evidence to the contrary..."

Just because something can't be "disproved," doesn't, in fact, make it true. UFO's, ghosts, bigfoot, Tour de France riders, John Edwards' campaign statements... One can put anything out there, and if there is no "proof" otherwise, it must be true, regardless of common sense.

Sorry, I'm not railing at you Al, and I'm sure you're right, but for some reason, this article got under my skin. It's stupid of me and of no consequence . I'll stop.

Maybe the scale was off.

[shawncat]

Just got off the phone with Rick.He caught the 6.2 smallie out of the Meremec in Feb. 1996.He told me the story,and what a story it is.I would tell it but he swore me to secrecy ,he's writing the story about it himself.The 5.9 smallie was caught in the Gasconade in Feb. 2001.The funny thing is the 6.2 was 24" and the 5.9 was 26"....go figure.He told me he would get me some pic's or maybe better .......he will come and post the pic's and story's about smallies himself.I'll post them when I get them.

[Guest]

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[RSBreth]

I was thinking about length vs. weight of some fish I've caught, and this guys claims, and then I realized, maybe he did catch a couple that big.

I mean, little kids crappie fishing with minnows catch 7-pound Largemouths every spring, and that's by accident. I'm just not familiar with those rivers enough to make a call. The James or Finley, yeah, I'd call bull@&$%.

But then again, you never know. I've caught some real nice Largemouths in odd places, I just don't go around telling everyone about them.

They won't believe you, or worse they will, and you'll see your little spot overran by the Mongols.

I just re-read that and realized, I do go around telling people about bigger fish I catch, and even shoot video of it. But I won't tell exactly where, how's that?

[Danoinark]

Once I bought a scale to weigh my fish, the weights of what I was catching SUDDENLY went down. I am going to throw it away as I was catching a LOT bigger fish before.

Attaboy Kevin. A sign of a true fisherman.

[steve l]

I'm not going to pass judgement over whether the fish were 6 lbs or not. Wasn't there & don't know this person.

5-7 years ago I was catching tagged fish in the Jacks Fork. Got to wondering what the results of the study were, and asked the MDOC if I could get something. They sent me a copy of the study completed at that time. The study was looking at smallies & goggle-eye in the JF & Gasconade, before & after special mgt areas were instituted.

It is a somewhat interesting study, and I'm willing to send it off if you pm me. It is rather hefty at over 4.5 mb, so be warned if you're still on dial-up.

I have snipped a couple pieces out & attached. One is a statement that an 18 inch fish is likely 8 years old on the Gasconade, and 9 years old on the JF. Points out that very few fish over 18 inches were collected in the study, they just are not that common.

The second part is a distribution table of the fish collected between 1990 and 2001 in the, basically showing in graphic form what is stated above.

It is interesting to note that there were very few fish over 12 inches collected before the 18 inch regs.

Not really sure what this adds to the entire discussion, but there is one thing for sure, and that is if the fish caught were the sizes stated about all I can say is I wish it had been me!

smallie_study.doc

[Al Agnew]

I hope he posts pictures of those fish, especially the 26 incher. I've seen (in the water) one Ozark smallmouth that I'm pretty sure would have been over 24 inches, perhaps 25 inches. I posted here about it last year. I'd caught a 20 earlier in the day, and this fish was so much bigger it was amazing.

However, it doesn't surprise me that those fish were caught in February.

[joeD]

(sigh) I shouldn't have said anything.

"Don't pay any attention to him folks, he's just a big, dumb animal." - Richard (David Spade) in the movie "Tommy Boy"

Behold the fisherman, who sallies forth in the morning, rod in hand. When he returns, he stinketh of liquor, and the truth is not in him.

[steve l]

Hey JoeD, actually a good thread. Beats the usual what do I use/do & this is what I caught thread! Not that's there anything wrong w/those.

[Rick Bruder]

I hope he posts pictures of those fish, especially the 26 incher. I've seen (in the water) one Ozark smallmouth that I'm pretty sure would have been over 24 inches, perhaps 25 inches. I posted here about it last year. I'd caught a 20 earlier in the day, and this fish was so much bigger it was amazing.

However, it doesn't surprise me that those fish were caught in February.

This is my first time on this site and it is a pleasure to read comments from people that are not mean and degrading like some of the other forums out there.

The 6.2 smallie I caught was caught in the Meremac and I weighed it on a new scale that I bought that day. I was going to have it mounted but I couldn't kill it, so I released it after taking some pictures of it. The fish was the thickest, fatest smallie I have ever seen before. It did measure 24" but its length wasn't what was so impressive but how thick it was and the drop of its belly. The second 5.9 smallie was actually caught in the Gasconade. Kathy made a small error when she said they where both caught in the Meremac. She had ask me so many questions throughout the day and just got things mixed up. The 5.9 was a freak of nature and without a doubt the coolest looking smallie I have ever caught. Its is really long and had the biggest tail I have ever seen on a smallie. It had the longest distance between its tail and it main body which accounts for it long length. I caught this fish on a small crank bait and I thought I would never land her. She pulled like a train, like all big smallie do, but this one took forever to get in.

I have been hearing a lot about how people measure fish. Some measure a a fish by it length and some other like myself like to weigh them. I don't think it matters either way. I have this crazy dream about catching the next state record smallie out of a Missouri river, not a lake, so I like to weigh them to keep track of just how heavy one can get in our rivers.

I am not a guide and I am not looking for more business. Mrs. Etling had asked me to take her and her husband Bob fishing and it was my pleasure to do so.

Kathy and Bob are the nicest, down to earth couple I have ever met. Not to mention they are really acomplished fishermen. This is really cool forum and I hate to say it but I never seen it before. It is sure nice to see people sharing information on fishing and to see so many people who love stream fishing.

I know by now everyone would like to see the pitcures of the two smallies and I will send them soon. My boy's will have to help with this. Rick