TnRiver46

Got out from about 7:30 to 12:30 this morning. Caught lots of tiny spots, a little smallmouth, and a 15.75 inch largemouth. All on rage tail menace 3/16 oz texas rig. Water was fast and about 67-69 degrees

You might want to move to Florida! The sky is falling in your neck of the woods

That’s a bruiser! Nice job

https://www2.tntech.edu/wrc/DuckRiverManual/Small_Mouth_Bass_tech.pdf Every body of water has different population dynamics but what they have going on in the st Lawrence appears to a casual observer to be some of the biggest healthiest smallmouth bass in the world . And they’ve been hosting those fishing tournaments and eating bass for decades Some places have slot limits too. Flowing rivers in TN have a protected length limit of 13-17”

I wonder why biologists set limits that protect only small fish and allow harvest of only mature adults then??

That’s a good spot!!!

Must have been! Pretty wild looking

@LrgmouthShad, can’t help but notice you caught it off the millennium falcon

That’s specific to my area but I wouldn’t doubt it’s nearly universal. Old animals/fish of any species hit a point of diminishing returns. A 5 lb smallmouth is basically a grandma, not exactly in peak reproductive shape. They still nest but the number of healthy eggs starts to diminish. Peak breeding occurs in the “prime” years this is why almost any fish has a length minimum for keeping. Once they are over a certain length, they have successfully bred a few seasons. If the oldest fish were the best breeders, the biologists would let you keep small fish and not big ones

Haha! Goodness gracious

I’d go a little higher than 20 lb braid for a texas rig

Link or it didn’t happen………

Yeah I’m just saying they “could “ have legally eaten them all. No clue why they put them in a dumpster instead of on ice

I want all my time back from reading and answering your minnow questions………. just kidding buddy!! Glad you’re getting after them. But don’t retire the bait bucket forever, both live and artificial have their place

Yuk. Bet that stunk. that was July 2019, the st Lawrence is still the best SMB fishing maybe on earth. harvest is actually beneficial, but nobody will ever admit it

No the gas is the antiseptic. Sugar does the clotting!! (Or corn starch) reminds me of the time my cousin treated my poison ivy with clorox

It was just a drum , you should have seen that with your binoculars!!! Hehehe

This is the “wiped out” area, 5 bass limit of 19 lbs get you 21st place we should all be so lucky to fish in a wiped out area

I’ve got 3 all somewhere around the same size (8 lb class)One when I was about 15, one when I was 22, and one when I was somewhere around 25-27. I only have pictures of 2. Kind of wish I had measured the one in the top photo, looks bigger now haha. The hat never changes biggest smallies have all been around 5-5.5 lbs and I’ve gotten them sprinkled throughout the past 15 years

I like the bomber long A quite a bit

I don’t know why honestly, I don’t throw them

I’d say you’ll be fine but there’s only one way to find out

I usually launch at the dam/marina but I’ve fished around tsali a few times as well. Fontana is definitely not a destination lake as far as big bass, I just love deep clear water and mountain lakes Douglas has the best largemouth fishing near gatlinburg, probably not even much of a contest

I use them to catch bass!! They are deadly in winter on a jig head fishing rock bluffs

I rarely hear about them being used/successful after April but I bet they would still work year round, especially because everyone else quits using them. no Doubt they absolutely smash fish in winter