Question for Dwight, A.J., Roadwarrior, and anyone else in the 7 lb. Smallie Club.

[Swamp Girl]

I don't expect I'll ever catch a 7 lb. smallmouth, so for those of you who have, could you please answer these questions:

 

1. Did you know right away that the fish was special?

 

2. If she jumped, she must have made a heckuva splash. Am I right?

 

3. What was the strike like?

 

4. Did she run out line like a pike or just bulldog the bottom like a heavy walleye?

 

5. Were your hands shaking after the catch?

 

6. Anything else you'd like to add?

[A-Jay]

I am on the road but will respnd here in a few hours. Btw, I managed to get my PB brown bass on video.

Stand bye.

A-Jay

[Swamp Girl]

I watched that video. Twice! It makes my heart race just thinking about it. 

 

FYI, for any in the Six-Pound Club, feel free to answer the same questions.

 

Sincerely,

 

A member of the Measly Four-and-a-Half Club

[roadwarrior]

 

 

<--------  The fat fish was 8 1/4, the thinner one was 4" longer, but a pound lighter.

 

My PB was caught on the Tennessee River in January, 2005 on a shiner. She struck

hard and ran about 20 yards before coming up. She ran in front of the boat, dived

and staged. When I finally got her moved, she ran against drag and broke surface

again. My partner manned the net and we were both exhausted, in a good way,

when we finally landed the monster.

 

 

[TnRiver46]

Half night crawler and a tiny jig head that later snapped. Cheap flemsy rod, 6 lb mono just trying to avoid getting skunked. 6 lb class fish, thank you backreel 
 

Also captured that catch, which was  PB on video, at least the landing part. I catch a decent amount that same length but when I saw the girth on a jump I got nervous. Yes hands definitely shaking. The facial expression says it all 

[Swamp Girl]

5 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Half night crawler and a tiny jig head that later snapped. Cheap flemsy rod, 6 lb mono just trying to avoid getting skunked. 6 lb class, thank you backreel 
 

Also captured that catch, which was  PB on video, at least the landing part. I catch a decent amount that same length but when I saw the girth on a jump I got nervous. Yes hands definitely shaking. The facial expression says it all 

 

I love your face! And I'm glad your hands were shaking. The shaking shows how much the fish meant and big fish should be caught by those who love them, aka The Worthy. 

[TnRiver46]

1 minute ago, ol'crickety said:

I love your face! And I'm glad your hands were shaking. The shaking shows how much the fish meant and big fish should be caught by those who love them, aka The Worthy. 

I just found a few pics of her and added them, that was this year February 12 

[Swamp Girl]

13 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

 

 

<--------  The fat fish was 8 1/4, the thinner one was 4" longer, but a pound lighter.

 

My PB was caught on the Tennessee River in January, 2005 on a shiner. She struck

hard and ran about 20 yards before coming up. She ran in front of the boat, dived

and staged. When I finally got her moved, she ran against drag and broke surface

again. My partner manned the net and we were both exhausted, in a good way,

when we finally landed the monster.

 

 

That 8.25 fish look like it ate the biggest smallie I ever caught! 20 yards? Whoa! Your drag must have been singing like the fat lady in the opera. 

1 minute ago, TnRiver46 said:

I just found a few pics of her and added them, that was this year February 12 

Where do I find those pics?

Never mind. I found them.

[roadwarrior]

#4 Yo-Zuri Hybrid. The drag is always set light.

[Swamp Girl]

10 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Half night crawler and a tiny jig head that later snapped. Cheap flemsy rod, 6 lb mono just trying to avoid getting skunked. 6 lb class fish, thank you backreel 
 

Also captured that catch, which was  PB on video, at least the landing part. I catch a decent amount that same length but when I saw the girth on a jump I got nervous. Yes hands definitely shaking. The facial expression says it all 

That fish is soooo healthy. It looks...perfect. Just perfect.

1 minute ago, roadwarrior said:

#4 Yo-Zuri Hybrid. The drag is always set light.

F-f-f-four pound test? OMG!

 

[Dwight Hottle]

My first entry into the 7lb club went 7-6 caught on a Rapala tail dancer ticking bottom in 20' fow . I knew when I hooked here she was going to be special. Solid weight from the get go. She jumped once & then bull dogged to the bottom until we got her in the net. When she was laying on her side in the net on the bottom of the boat I thought she might go 8lbs before weighing.  

My second entry went 7-7 3/4 caught on a Smithwick Rogue DD occasionally ticking bottom. She just stopped the bait & felt big. She also jumped once & continued to try but I kept the rod tip down in the water to stop her. The rest of the fight she burrowed to the bottom until I could get her up to the net. When I saw her in the bottom of the net & knew she would go over seven because of her girth. Both fish pulled drag but didn't run like a pike will do. Both were caught on 10lb braid with a mono leader & came out of Lake Erie. 

 

 

[Swamp Girl]

2 hours ago, Dwight Hottle said:

My first entry into the 7lb club went 7-6 caught on a Rapala tail dancer ticking bottom in 20' fow . I knew when I hooked here she was going to be special. Solid weight from the get go. She jumped once & then bull dogged to the bottom until we got her in the net. When she was laying on her side in the net on the bottom of the boat I thought she might go 8lbs before weighing.  

My second entry went 7-7 3/4 caught on a Smithwick Rogue DD occasionally ticking bottom. She just stopped the bait & felt big. She also jumped once & continued to try but I kept the rod tip down in the water to stop her. The rest of the fight she burrowed to the bottom until I could get her up to the net. When I saw her in the bottom of the net & knew she would go over seven because of her girth. Both fish pulled drag but didn't run like a pike will do. Both were caught on 10lb braid with a mono leader & came out of Lake Erie. 

 

 

I love the markings on the top fish. Thanks for the details, Dwight. I have to catch my monsters vicariously because my tagline is "Quantity first. Quality second." ?

Dwight, have you ever had a bass break your ten-pound braid? 

[TnRiver46]

51 minutes ago, ol&#x27;crickety said:

I love the markings on the top fish. Thanks for the details, Dwight. I have to catch my monsters vicariously because my tagline is "Quantity first. Quality second." ?

Dwight, have you ever had a bass break your ten-pound braid? 

I break 10 lb braid every time I try to tie a hook on the end of it 

[Dwight Hottle]

1 hour ago, ol&#x27;crickety said:

I love the markings on the top fish. Thanks for the details, Dwight. I have to catch my monsters vicariously because my tagline is "Quantity first. Quality second." ?

Dwight, have you ever had a bass break your ten-pound braid? 

No on the breakage. But I have had a few big bass break me off when the leader has worn through on the rocky bottom. 

[TnRiver46]

15 minutes ago, Dwight Hottle said:

No on the breakage. But I have had a few big bass break me off when the leader has worn through on the rocky bottom. 

Rocks covered in zebra mussels too? 

[Dwight Hottle]

18 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Rocks covered in zebra mussels too? 

 Almost all rock bottoms in Erie have some zebra mussels but the gobies eat them so it's diminishing. 

[roadwarrior]

This is my largemouth PB

 

 

 

[redmeansdistortion]

I got mine on a 3/8 white tube jig on the St. Clair River delta back 20 years ago.  My setup for the flats then was a 9' Guide Series ML 1/8-5/8 steelhead rod with a Daiwa SS Tournament 1300 and 8lb mono.  I really loved using the steelhead rod for that specific area because it was shallow and wide open and I could cover great distances.  Back then the water was shallow enough that you could wade nearly the entirety of Muscamoot Bay.  Me and my friend Anthony used to fish that area hard at that time, take the ferry to Harsens Island, drive to the end of the point, wade out in the reeds and drag tubes.  There are seriously huge fish back in there all season long.  I perch fish it often and I've caught a lot of 4lb+ fish while throwing small paddle tails for perch and gills.  If you want to catch big smallies consistently, that is definitely the place to go.  The only thing that makes them shy is when the tuna boats come out in fleets around midday.

 

The fish I caught was 7lb 2oz.  I was fishing the reeds and doing a slow hop across the bottom, then all of a sudden my rod tip lurched down and it was game on.  The way the fish hit, I thought it was a pike or small musky at first as those are very common in that area as well.  Twice I got the fish out of the reeds and it made a run for it right back in.  The fish didn't take to the sky but it was a really good fight, a very scrappy one. One thing about those lunkers is they are smart and will try to find whatever to break you off.  Unfortunately, I couldn't keep the fish because it was a couple of weeks before possession season.  

[Eric 26]

On 8/4/2022 at 5:12 PM, ol'crickety said:

Ha!

A-Jay, you are great at describing the play-by-play and thrill-by-thrill of catching the great fish. Thank so much for telling your tales. 

Couldn’t have said it better myself. I feel like I’m right next to him when he’s telling the story ?.  They’re several members on here who make me feel that way through words or pictures. Thank you @Glenn

[Dye99]

On 8/4/2022 at 6:49 AM, ol'crickety said:

I don't expect I'll ever catch a 7 lb. smallmouth, so for those of you who have, could you please answer these questions:

 

1. Did you know right away that the fish was special?

Not really, just a heavy fish.

2. If she jumped, she must have made a heckuva splash. Am I right?

I would NOT let her jump!

3. What was the strike like?

Threw a senko, letting it fall and my line just went hard left.

 

4. Did she run out line like a pike or just bulldog the bottom like a heavy walleye?

Every time I got her close to the kayak she would dive again, for 4-5 minutes.

5. Were your hands shaking after the catch?

Yes!

6. Anything else you'd like to add?

She was bigger than my net so I had to shovel her in the yak. I weighed her and she was 6.9. I then took a pic and put her back in. Thats when I noticed a large perch half digested in the boat that she spit up when I landed her. That bait fish was at least a quarter pound! If she wouldn't have puked it out I would have been over 7...

 

[Blue Raider Bob]

On 8/4/2022 at 9:42 AM, ol&#x27;crickety said:

I watched that video. Twice! It makes my heart race just thinking about it. 

 

FYI, for any in the Six-Pound Club, feel free to answer the same questions.

 

Sincerely,

 

A member of the Measly Four-and-a-Half Club

Four and a half is NOT Measly! I just got there Sunday before last and I'm still smiling! Well actually I was just short at 4 lb 7 oz

A-Jay just uses an air pump to make his fish look bigger. They float when he throws them back!