Faith Restored

[Justin Spencer]

Those fish aren't dumb enough to get hooked often, and when they do most of us aren't ready for it and they break us off. I had a fish break me off yesterday, thought I was hooked on bottom until it suddenly jolted off, I had my fly line pinned to my rod preparing to try and free it from the bottom and it snapped when the fish realized it was hooked. Could have been a big smallie, brown, rainbow, or striper, I'll never know, but fun knowing there are big fish around! To catch truely big fish you have to be geared and ready every time you go out, if you are lazy about your knots, don't retie when you have a nick in your line, etc. your heart will be broken more often than not. Probably why there are few pics of monster smallies.

[Al Agnew]

Ozark river smallies over 22 inches and/or five pounds are exceedingly rare, but a couple years ago Rick Bruder posted pictures of his two biggest, one of which weighed 6 pounds 2 ounces, the other was, if I remember correctly, 24 or 25 inches. As I remember, that one was fairly thin and had an exceptionally big tail.

I caught two that were five pounds, give or take a couple ounces (both weighed on reasonably accurate but certainly not exact De-Liar scales) many years ago, one on what became the original special management area on Big River (to be exact, about halfway between Mammoth Bridge and Merril Horse), the other on the Meramec a few miles above Meramec State Park. The Big River fish was the longest I ever caught, at 22 inches, the Meramec smallie was 21.5. I've seen two that I'm certain were 24 inches (one of them may have been pushing 25 inches) and a couple more that I didn't get as good a look at but I think were at least 23. Those kind of fish you simply don't forget. I can still see the first 24 incher, probably more than 30 years ago, which came out from under a big log on the Meramec and chased an 18 inch largemouth my partner had hooked, trying to take the lure away from it. I made a cast with a twin spin to the fish while it was excited, and I watched it strike, but I was so excited I set the hook way too soon and jerked the lure right out of the fish's mouth. And I can easily remember the one that I think is the biggest I have ever seen, which came out of a root wad on...geez, I still hesitate to name the stream and it's been five or six years ago now, so that fish is surely long gone...so suffice it to say it's a stream in the eastern Ozarks where you probably wouldn't suspect a fish that size to exist...anyway, I saw it cruising next to a big root wad from a good distance away, watched it go under the root wad, made a cast with a Superfluke, watched it ease out and take a good look at it, then fade back under the rootwad again. I'd already sight-fished and caught a 20 incher that day, and this fish was so much bigger that, like the gentleman in the OP, I first thought it had to be a carp.

I still almost get chills thinking about those fish!

[Wayne SW/MO]

sorry he wasn't fishing a Dahlberg Diver with the barb bent back on a 6wt flyrod so he could play the poor bastard until utter exhaustion set in and it floated downstream......could have died that way....just kidding but those fish shake those lures.

my buddy and I still fish soft platics, jigs and things with treble hooks.....sorry I know thats not popular on this forum

I also fish with trebles on occasion. I generally fish an 8 weight which as you know ...makes no difference.

I still hope it survived and I suppose I should have said that maybe the experienced fisherman will add checking his knot and line to his list of always do to better fit your negative thoughts on the post.

[ciRe]

lol......I knew someone like you Gavin, would know the potential of our Ozark rivers. The bummer is there is might be as many smallies that size in that river as fingers on your hand if we are lucky. I just would like to see one like that....it's been a long time. I saw a smallie in person that size once.....and unfortunately it was 1984 on the Meramec just above what is now the Redhorse access, right at what some call Shady Beach. It was an absolute monster and the biggest bummer was it was on an old chain stringer.My dad and I paddle our little jon boat over to the gentleman that held up the fish to see it closer and I did a half assed measurement which came out to a little over 23 inches....I will admit it wasn't the most acurate measurement. I estimated that smallie at 5lb plus and to this day I still fish that strech of the Meramec thinking there is still one in the area that size.....DORK!!!!!!

I fish that part of the Meramec all the time. The biggest I've caught out of there was an 18" smallie. I have a cabin right down the road off Little Indian Creek Road and right next to that public area.