If You Caught The Smallmouth Of A Lifetime.........

[ozark trout fisher]

I caught my "smallie of a lifetime" on a wilderness pond north of the Adirondacks and south of Canada that is supposed to a be a refuge for a rare strain of brook trout. The brook trout are not doing so well, but there were plenty of large and smallmouth bass.

The bass are an invasive species dumped in the system by some yahoo a couple decades ago, and that fish (among a number of other small and largemouth bass) made an excellent dinner for a couple of hungry paddlers. So yes, I kept and ate the biggest smallie I've reeled in, and it was actually the only thing I could have done.

[Jerry Rapp]

OTF is obviously a troll and has a heck of a hook up ratio, including me, several times.

[bfishn]

Oh I'm not questioning the worth of sampling for all things, but I don't see how they could arrive at any usable information concerning methods. I would think there would be too much room for error. In a river i would think the delay between creel sampling and electrofishing would be enough to skew the results.

I agree. I misunderstood you earlier. I didn't mean to infer they could tell who was catching what and how more than in a very general way.

I'm sorry, I must have gotten you mistaken with someone else. I thought you won a Revo reel on a bet

No problem man. It's a little embarrassing to be reminded how out of touch I am with new gear... didn't know what a Revo was... Guess that's another indicator I'm gettin' old, I'll probably still be putting parts as needed on my old gear when I croak. :-)

[bfishn]

I caught my Smallmouth of a lifetime last year...

...It was actually the easiest fish I have ever caught. I saw it out in the river and just simply threw the bait right on top of it. I kid you not - it took one second and the bait was already in it's mouth.

I think that's more the rule than the exception. All of my biggest fish of any species were simply a "right place, right time" experience, with no unusual or incredible effort on my part.

[Mitch f]

I think that's more the rule than the exception. All of my biggest fish of any species were simply a "right place, right time" experience, with no unusual or incredible effort on my part.

Ditto, my heaviest smallmouth in Missouri was last year and I saw it then cast in front, she took it on the second hop of my craw.

[ColdWaterFshr]

Would you release it?

Would you fillet it?

If it was a record, would you sell it to a catalog store?

Get a replica made?

Lie about where you caught it?

Should have conducted a poll.

I would probably eat it. Replicate the lords supper with me and KVD, Jimmy Houston, Virgil Ward, Roland Martin, Tom Mann all sitting around the table as my disciples. Have a friend snap a picture of me lathering it in tartar sauce and taking a mouthful, and then get a replica made of this feast scene. Maybe mount it on drift wood flotsam, or glitter fiberglass or a neon Budweiser. Something very classy like that. And sell it to Bass Pro. I could see it doing well in their catalog. $249.95

[bfishn]

Now that there's funny!

Make mine in black velvet and fluorescent paint. Put a couple Yuccas in the background. I have an inbred soft spot for that stuff.

[bfishn]

...or a variant on Dogs Playing Poker... Dogs Eating Fish...

Ohhhh that hurts.

[Mitch f]

I would probably eat it. Replicate the lords supper with me and KVD, Jimmy Houston, Virgil Ward, Roland Martin, Tom Mann all sitting around the table as my disciples. Have a friend snap a picture of me lathering it in tartar sauce and taking a mouthful, and then get a replica made of this feast scene. Maybe mount it on drift wood flotsam, or glitter fiberglass or a neon Budweiser. Something very classy like that. And sell it to Bass Pro. I could see it doing well in their catalog. $249.95

The one with Dale Earnhardt as the Messiah goes for $350. It also comes with 2 Billy Bass mounts and a DVD featuring Crowbar Russell noodling for flatheads!

[Gavin]

I want that crowbar print,especially with a number 3 on it! lol!