Good sized brown

[Gavin]

20" Smallies are rare in comparison to 24" brown trout. Great catch!

[Ham]

7 hours ago, Gavin said:

20" Smallies are rare in comparison to 24" brown trout. Great catch!

Really? I guess I need to up my Brown Trout game. I’ve gotten a 20 inch Smallie at least 8 times in 11 years and have exactly one Brown Trout 24 inches or better. 

[Johnsfolly]

8 hours ago, Gavin said:

20" Smallies are rare in comparison to 24" brown trout. Great catch!

With the triploids in Taney getting to the right age there seems to be more possibility of some large browns coming from that lake for years to come.

1 hour ago, Ham said:

Really? I guess I need to up my Brown Trout game. I’ve gotten a 20 inch Smallie at least 8 times in 11 years and have exactly one Brown Trout 24 inches or better. 

I haven't caught either. @Ham has seen my PB smallie and it was not 20". Closest I have come was 23.75" on a brown trout. Just couldn't stretch it to 24"

[curtisce]

Great fish down here 20" come along I have not seen one bigger though. Have to head north for those. Strange how a nice fish can alomost be a disappointment when you're not fishing for it.

[Gavin]

24" brown trout are not that hard to come by. Get on the water before dawn and fish a  4.5-5"  jerk bait for a couple mornings in a row and you will probably catch one.. Be stealthy and make your first cast count. Don't waste your time flogging the same spot. Cover it quickly, then sneak on over to the next high percentage spot. The bite is usually over when the sun hits the water. Dusk into the gloaming or night fishing can be good to, but its not consistent like the morning bite.

I usually catch several river smallies in the 17"-19" range every year but not many over in MO. Better odds of a 20"+ up north or if you lake fish for them. 

 

[Johnsfolly]

21 minutes ago, Gavin said:

Get on the water before dawn and fish a  4.5-5"  jerk bait for a couple mornings in a row and you will probably catch one.. Be stealthy and make your first cast count. Don't waste your time flogging the same spot. Cover it quickly, then sneak on over to the next high percentage spot. The bite is usually over when the sun hits the water. 

As I mentioned haven't caught a single 24" brown trout. I have caught 9 browns over 20". Nearly all of them on jerkbaits similar to what Gavin describes. However, I would say that at least five of those fish were caught between 10 am and 2 pm. I have always wondered if that if they were just more active at that time or if I just got to a hole or stretch of the river that most people don't get to and those fish were less disturbed.

[Gavin]

Getting there first, or being there last helps a ton. I wont fish a spot like Tan Vat on the Current if someone is already there, and I'm usually done and gone before most arrive. 

[snagged in outlet 3]

Never caught a 20" smallie, 19 is the best so far but I'm working on it.

Too many 24 inch trout to count including browns.  But then again I've been at it the trout game a long time.  And it helps when your dad takes to the best trout fisheries in the country since I was able to walk.  Most were caught on the Norfork and The White.