What Would You Guys Consider A Big Ozark Smallie

[smallmouth man]

i have fished the james alot the last 2 years. South of Battlefield MO we have had some nice SM, mabye a couple pushing 3 pounds, but nothing over. I did float down at Galena last fall and talked to a guy @ James River Outfitters that said they had caught a 24" smallie last summer on a float, and he had a picture.

If you get one 4lb, or 20"+, hold on! I belive there are some out there.

[Crooked Creek Angler]

Hey ladies and gentlemen, I was wondering what you would consider to be a big Ozark river fish. Well actually a trophy to be honest. Have any of you caught a smallie over 4 lbs, or 20" in length and greater? I'm just trying to see what other fisherman have to say because if I do catch one this year I want to get a replica made. Also, what is considered a big spot on these rivers?

In about 20 years of fishing mainly on the Buffalo and Crooked Creek I've caught two over 20 inches with one at 20 1/2" and one at 21 1/2". I didn't weigh them, but I'm pretty sure they would've pushed 4 lbs. really hard and maybe gone over a touch. One float trip on the lower end of the Buffalo me and a friend of mine caught 8 fish over 18". I've also had some pretty reliable guys I know of tell me they've caught smallies between 5 1/2 and 6 1/2 lbs. on the lower end of the Buffalo. Personally, I believe them.

Last year was an excellent year on Crooked Creek. There were several trips when we caught around 20 fish between 16 and 20 inches. (See my post on the Crooked Creek forum for a few pics with one pushing 20") That is definitely not typical though, an average trip might produce 1 to 4 or so fish over 16 inches. All in all, I think anything over 16 is a good fish, but I'm happy to catch them just barely bigger than my bait as well.

To me the keys to catching the big ones are 1) High, stained water, (preferably in the spring or fall), or 2) Fishing at night in the summer.

[Al Agnew]

A trophy is in the eye of the beholder, but if there's such a thing as a generally agreed upon standard for Ozark streams, 18 inches is a big fish and 20 inches is a true trophy. I don't worry about weight, because that's dependent upon everything from time of year to how well the fish has been feeding lately. But on average, a 20 inch fish will weigh just a bit less than 4 pounds on an Ozark stream. I've caught 20 inchers that wouldn't have been much over 3 pounds, and 20 inchers that would have gone well over 4.

The two biggest Ozark river smallies I ever caught--both weighed on De-Liar scales that I'd checked often so I knew they were within a couple of ounces of being correct--were both right at 5 pounds. I guess there are few each year caught from Ozark streams that will beat 5 pounds, but not many. Most "5 to 6 pounders" you hear about weren't weighed but over-guesstimated. I'd bet there haven't been more than a handful of legitimate 6 pound smallmouth caught in Ozark streams in the last 20 years...maybe in the last 50 years. I do know that in nearly 50 years of fishing Ozark streams I've only SEEN two fish that I thought had a real chance of making the 6 pound mark.

I hear of a few 23-24 inch fish taken each year. A fish that size, caught at the right time of year, SHOULD go well over 5 pounds. I've never caught one that big...nor ever actually seen one that big out of the water. My biggest ones by length have been around 22 inches.

I have the statistics somewhere...in fact, I may have posted them here at some time or another...on how many 18 inch plus and 20 inch plus smallies I've caught in the last few years. Usually about one 20 incher for every 10 or 15 full day trips I make, and about one 18 incher per every two or three trips. Of course, on good days I might catch several in the 18 inch class, which tends to skew the average a bit. And it depends upon the stream--I've got a couple of stretches where I'd be willing to bet on catching at least one over 18 about every time I go. The only hint I'll give is that these stretches are too small for jetboats.

I

[RSBreth]

I'll agree with what most have said- not very many huge Smallies around here in the rivers, but plenty of good sized ones. I catch some real toad Largemouths out of the James and Finley every year, but Largemouths are like that - a little slack water and food out of the way of most "serious" Bass anglers= big fish.

Big Spots? Not as likely as even the Smallmouths, as Spots just don't get as long very fast.

[hambone80]

Thanks for the feedback guys. It's greatly appreciated! I've only just begun my quest for smallies, but I caught one last year just shy of 18" and honestly I thought it was a 4 or 5 pound largemouth at first. What a fight! She was full of eggs and was built like a Mac truck. I guessing it might have been over three pounds. I wish I would've measured her girth though. I think if I land a pretty 18" I'll get a replica made of it, but really a 20" + would be awesome for sure.

[Al Agnew]

About spotted bass...very few river spotted bass get much over 15 inches. I think the biggest I ever caught was right below Clearwater Dam on Black river, about 18 inches but pig-fat, probably weighed well over 4 pounds. That was a special case...it was during a pretty cold winter and lots of dead and dying threadfin shad had been coming through the dam for weeks, and that fish (along with a 16 incher that weighed at least 3 pounds), had been gorging on shad the whole time.

My brother caught a 19 inch spotted bass/smallmouth hybrid on Big River a few years ago, which was far bigger than any pure spotted bass I'd ever caught on Big River.

[Ham]

I like em all. Anything over 16 inches is really nice. A smallie over 18 is big. Any smallie over 20 you'll want to commit to memory, take pictures, and call your friends.

[Gavin]

In Missouri I consider anything over 15" to be a nice fish, and a couple fish 15" or bigger makes for a memorable trip..over 20"..I've never caugh one that big in Missouri..I've caught 6-7 in the 19's in MO over the years but a 20" river smallie has eluded me so far. Biggest spot was 17" or so, and I've caught several LMB in the 20-24" range our rivers. Cheers.

[Al Agnew]

I just looked back through my 2008 fishing trips...I keep a daybook where I record the hours spent painting, business trips, AND fishing trips. I record all smallmouth of 17 inches or better that I catch. Last year I spent a lot of the summer and early fall in Montana so I went on considerably fewer Ozark smallmouth trips than usual.

25 days fishing Ozark streams for bass

17-17.5 inches--9 smallmouth

18-18.5 inches--5 smallmouth

19-19.5 inches--1 smallmouth

20 inches or better--2 smallmouth

If you do the math, those figures fall in with my guesstimates in my previous post--8 fish 18 inches or better is just a bit less than one fish every three trips. And 2 20-inchers in 25 trips is right in the middle of that one every 10-15 trips that I said above. Last year wasn't a normal year--I didn't fish in Missouri during some of the peak times, and I didn't fish much in late autumn and winter, when I usually catch some of the bigger fish of the year.

The two 20-inchers were both exactly 20 inches, by the way. One came in March on a jerkbait, the other in April on a spinnerbait.

[fishinforhim]

i am an avid smallie guy

one year i fished about 200 days

I fish alot in the ouachitas and have had

1 fish 22in. long and slender 41/2 lbs

and 6 18in or bigger in 2 years.

its possible

I wish I would have not been broke

I would have loved to mount the bigg one

one little picture is all I got

mabey Ill get another this year

my son was 26in in the pic