Why Doesn't The Ozark Have Smallies As Big As Elsewhere?

[eric1978]

Compared to the smallies I caught back in Wisconsin, all the smallies here in the Ozarks look like they are starving.

Are you talking about Wisconsin stream fish? Because you can't compare smallies from a lake and smallies from a river...they have different shapes. Smallmouth that come out of those northern lakes are shaped more like footballs, where stream smallmouth, at least here in the Ozarks, tend to be shaped more like torpedoes. They do get fat here, though...keep fishing. That Crooked Creek fish doesn't have the biggest gut on him, but he looks perfectly healthy and quite typical, if not slightly skinnier than average.

[flytyer57]

Are you talking about Wisconsin stream fish? Because you can't compare smallies from a lake and smallies from a river...they have different shapes. Smallmouth that come out of those northern lakes are shaped more like footballs, where stream smallmouth, at least here in the Ozarks, tend to be shaped more like torpedoes. They do get fat here, though...keep fishing. That Crooked Creek fish doesn't have the biggest gut on him, but he looks perfectly healthy and quite typical, if not slightly skinnier than average.

The first fish was caught in the Milwaukee River.

The second fish was caught in the Wisconsin River.

All three fish were caught in flowing water, after spawning season.

[eric1978]

This one came out of a small Ozarks stream in late September. How's that for fat?

[Buzz]

I always thought crayfish were highly nutritious as well, but a few years ago I read a study that noted that, compared to fish, they are actually greatly lacking in nutritional value. A diet of crayfish is not optimal for smallmouth growth, although the smallies obviously depend upon them for a good portion of their food. Far too much of a crawdad is actually not digestible. I guess if a fish eats enough of them, though, they will grow well, and crayfish are fairly easy prey for adult smallies.

I believe, however, that in Ozark streams the biggest fish eat a greater percentage of fish compared to crayfish and other invertebrates than the smaller ones do. It could be that the ability and the inclination to turn to more of a fish diet may be one thing that makes one smallmouth reach a bigger size than another.

Al, I read your whole previous post and this one. I was already wondering if the rivers you spoke of, with few or no small fish, but loaded with big fish, was because the prominent food source might be the young smallmouth. Could that be a correct summarization? Seemingly ozark waters are full of crawdads and numerous minnows, not to mention all of the smallmouth fry. Just curious....

[flytyer57]

This one came out of a small Ozarks stream in late September. How's that for fat?

Nice.

Was that fish taken from a crystal clear stream or does it have some color to it.

It would seem that the fish I catch in Crooked Creek are all skinny, and that is usually crytal clear water. Both the Milwaukee and Wisconsin rivers are quite fertile and tannin stained.

Maybe the water quality/fertility has something to do with it.

I was planning on going to Crooked Creek to fish today, but the water is still up to 474 cfs. Kinda hard wading then. If I do get out and catch some big fish, I'll check them for girth to length ratio.

[eric1978]

Was that fish taken from a crystal clear stream or does it have some color to it.

Gin clear, although it was stained the day I caught him.

flytyer, the fish down here do get nice and fat, but they just aren't gonna get as BIG as your fish up north. You're gonna have to learn to adjust your standards, and judge your fish based on the Ozarks scale. Anything over 18 inches is a darn nice fish down here, and even anything over 15 inches isn't anything to sneeze at. A 20 incher is pretty much a trophy, and a fish that hits 21-22 inches is a once in a lifetime deal that most people will never experience...I haven't...yet. So, you know, appreciate what you're catching based on what's available HERE, instead of 500 or 1,000 miles from here.

Never fished Crooked Creek. That smallie had some nice color to it!

[flytyer57]

Gin clear, although it was stained the day I caught him.

flytyer, the fish down here do get nice and fat, but they just aren't gonna get as BIG as your fish up north. You're gonna have to learn to adjust your standards, and judge your fish based on the Ozarks scale. Anything over 18 inches is a darn nice fish down here, and even anything over 15 inches isn't anything to sneeze at. A 20 incher is pretty much a trophy, and a fish that hits 21-22 inches is a once in a lifetime deal that most people will never experience...I haven't...yet. So, you know, appreciate what you're catching based on what's available HERE, instead of 500 or 1,000 miles from here.

Never fished Crooked Creek. That smallie had some nice color to it!

Sorry. I do think that smallies in the Ozarks can get as big as fish up north. The difference between the Arkansas and Wisconsin record smallies is less than 2 pounds. Arkansas:7 lbs 5 ozs. Wisconsin:9lbs 1 oz. Missouri:7 lbs 2 ozs. All of these fish were caught in lakes. River smallies generally run a tad smaller.

I am a firm believer that the next state/world record smallie could come from just about anywhere I go fishing. I most likely won't catch it, but I'm not gonna stop trying. I do think there are a lot of bigger fish in every stretch of water that no-one ever catches. I mean, they don't get big by biting every lure that comes along.

I'm sure there are plenty of 6+ pounders swimming in Crooked Creek, the Buffalo River, the Kings River, etc. My goal is to catch at least 1 of them someday. And like I said earlier, I'm not gonna stop trying. At least not anytime soon.

[Sam]

Maybe the water quality/fertility has something to do with it.

I think that's it. I was born and grew up here in the Ozarks, then moved to Southern California, then moved back here 20 years ago. I fished a lot in both places, and they're entirely different.

There are few smallmouth in SoCal of course, and the lakes are reservoirs just a few miles long that sit on sandy soil - big farm ponds, really. Per acre of water though, the SoCal lakes are far more productive - they grow more fish, quicker and bigger, than the lakes here. I think that's because our Ozarks soil is so poor in nutrients.

Also, because of population growth and increased fishing pressure, fishing in these Ozarks streams isn't near as good as when I was a kid. The water table has dropped because of so many wells, and lots of fishable water is just a trickle now. I'm afraid all the septic tanks have put pollution in the streams too, because they don't support near as much life as they did 50 years ago. As a kid catching crawdads by hand while the family fished (because that's what kids do), I could fill a bucket with them - they were all over the place. Now I see maybe 1% of the crayfish there used to be.

The land here is being used in a different way, too, and I think that has an effect. When I was a kid, farmers were growing field crops and there were few cattle. Much of the land was still woods and native brush and there were lots of bobwhite quail to hunt. Now there's a lot of cattle and fescue grass fields, and fescue doesn't support any kind of wildlife. I think that affects the streams, too.

[flytyer57]

There are few smallmouth in SoCal of course, and the lakes are reservoirs just a few miles long that sit on sandy soil - big farm ponds, really. Per acre of water though, the SoCal lakes are far more productive - they grow more fish, quicker and bigger, than the lakes here. I think that's because our Ozarks soil is so poor in nutrients.

I think it could also have something to do with CA stocking those reservoirs with trout. That's what those 20+ pound largemouth we keep hearing about out there are feeding on.

[flytyer57]

The world record smallmouth was caught in Dale Hollow Reservoir, Kentucky just a hop, skip and a jump from the Ozarks. They are consistantly catching huge smallies over there.

What makes that lake any different from lakes like Bull Shoals, Norfork, Table Rock or any other Ozark reservoir?

Are there humungous sized smallies swimming in Ozark lakes as they are in Dale Hollow? I think they are and nobody has figured them out like they have over on Dale Hollow. There very well could be a 10 pound smallie swimming in any one of the Ozark lakes that just hasn't been caught yet.

Maybe Ozark bass are just smarter than Bluegrass bass.