best day for big smallmouths...

[Al Agnew]

Finally, warm weather! You just had to figure the fish would start getting a little active, and I had planned all week to go fishing yesterday. I won't even name the river...suffice it to say it's an Ozark stream, not too far from home. I put the boat in about 9 AM and ran just a quarter mile upstream before starting to fish. Water clarity was about 4 feet visibility, level normal, temp gauge on the depth finder said 45 degrees.

I started out with a jerkbait and a tube, alternating the two as I slowly fished up through a long, deep pool. I caught a 14 incher on the tube. Then I decided to toss a crankbait for a bit. I had hand-painted and modified some Wiggle Warts, and wanted to try one. About the third cast I got a good strike and set the hooks in what felt like a heavy fish. It actually came up and jumped, unusual for big cold water smallmouths. I measured it when I got it in...19 inches. Hey, the day was already a success!

I picked up a couple smaller fish through the rest of that pool, and then put the trolling motor on high and went up through the rather deep, slow riffle at the head of it, into the next pool. This one is a proven big fish hole, where I'd caught big ones before. At one spot there is a big, slow eddy, just off faster current, with an almost invisible log lying in it, well off the bank. It's a spot that isn't obvious, and thus seldom fished. I dropped the tube next to the log, and immediately had a pick-up. Set the hook, and felt both the fish and the log. I gave it slack for a second and then put the pressure on...yes, the fish was free of the log. This one was a bit smaller than the last big one, but not by much...18.5 inches.

I fished several pools on upstream, catching fish rather consistently. Then I came to another proven big fish pool. Fished all the good spots, catching only smaller fish. But at the tail of the pool, where a rocky bank began to shallow, I hooked another big one on the Wiggle Wart. This one was 17.5 inches.

A bit later on, I came to a spot that had produced a bunch of fish back in November. It was not a typical wintertime spot...pretty fast, deep current along a rocky bank. When the fish hit, it was after the Wiggle Wart had come off the rocks, through the fast current, and into slower current on the inside of the curving run, over a sand flat about 6 feet deep. This one was the biggest yet, and the first 20 inch plus smallie I'd caught in over a year. Another cast to the same spot, and another big fish. This one was 17 inches.

By now it was getting late, so I went back down to where I'd caught the second big one, and there I caught one more good fish, 16.5 inches.

Five smallmouths from 17 to 20 1/4 inches in one day! I haven't caught that many big ones in a single day in a long time.

Here's the first one...19 inches

The second one...18.5

The third one...17.5

The biggest one...20 plus

[Fish Bork]

I want to go fishing... I want to go fishing... I want to go fishing...

[Flysmallie]

Very nice Al, very nice.

[Dan Pemby]

Al

Good to hear the bigger ones are out there. Nice fish!

[Phil Lilley]

Thanks, Al.

The cool thing is you don't have to offer up the river to give a great fishing report. You should be able to take your information to any Ozark stream in the mid south and be successful... well if you're as good of angler as Al

Thanks for taking a camera along for us.

[hank franklin]

Beautiful, Al. Your reports give hope to frustrated smallmouth anglers everywhere!

[Danimal]

Very impressive.Thanks for sharing the pics. Dan-o

[Gavin]

Wow! Good for you!

[BrianK]

I recognize that river by the water in the background and the markings on the fish!!

I'm happy with anyone of those fish in a whole summer! Still have yet to land a 20" smallie...good to see they're out there and FAT.

Thanks for the report.

bk

[Mark]

Minnith???