Sorry I've been holding out.....

[Fish Chris]

I have some buddies who were afraid of increasing the pressure on our trophy Smallmouth Lk..... But whether they think so or not, I believe they are pretty much done spawning now anyway... at least the bigger ones.

Didn't get a new PB this year, but got some darn nice Smallies :-)

I got my first good Smallie this year, a beautful 6.2 lb'er on a Huddlebug, pre-spawn, just blind fishing an area that I know to be good. All the rest were sight fished.... But not like "easy to see, sitting right on top, fishing in an aquarium" sight fishing..... More like... find em' when its calm, and they spook away... mark the bed (or use land marks) come back later when its breezy and choppy (which it almost always is) and blind fish the bed fish, which you hope is still there.... with your boat swinging all over the place, and your anchor rope breaking free.... Urgggg. Pretty frustrating really.... but when you stick Smallies like these, it makes it all worth it :-)

Interestingly, all of the Northern Strain Largemouth's were caught on the Hud. They are almost impossible to sight fish in this lake ? But what the heck. You guys know me.... I don't care if I sight fish em', catch em' on a swimbait, or fricking nightcrawler ! As long as I get em' in the boat for photos and weighing, and then the release, it's all good :-)

Anyway, this was a beautiful 7.50 lb'er.... which might have been a male..... I still haven't found much info on the male / female size comparisons of Smallies, but I think they might be much closer than with Largemouths {BTW, this fish might have been the mate of my 8.50 PB from last year.... same spot.... plus, I hate to report, but I also hooked a HUGE, fat Smallie on this spot, fought it for like 3 solid minutes, and 4 big runs, when it simply came unbuttoned :-( :-( :-( Their goes my 9 plus Smallie :-(

This was sure a nicely built 7.60 lb'er :-) Not very thick across the back, but so tall, and long (for a Smallie) When it jumped, it had 9 lbs written all over it ! Still, I guess a 7.60 Smallie is a good one anywhere in the country :-)

And this one "WAS" 9 lbs+.......... the week before I caught her :-( She had a huge frame..... bigger than my 8.5 PB from last year for sure.... unfortunately, she was spawned completly out. Her belly was hollow, and narrow, plus her vent was slightly swollen and reddish. Anyway, even spawned out, she went 8.1 lbs.

And hey, I know this is the Smallie sections, but I caught these nice Northern Strain Bass on the same trips I caught the Smallies....

8.6 lbs..... Not a bad fish for the first cast of the trip :-)

9.0.... Not a bad way to end a great trip, with the last cast :-) BTW, this thing had a "wide" fat belly, it was just so firm, it didn't really sag.

And I caught my new my PB Northern this year :-).... 10.4 lbs. I swear this isn't a replica ! :-) Is she just almost too perfect to be real ? Not a scale missing. Not the tiniest split in her fins. And I'm telling you guys, she was 3/4's as wide as she was tall ! Looked like she was on steroids ! And she fought like it too ! Blasted a Hud, then did a complete summersault on the first jump ! Whooo Hooo ! :-)

So anyway, even besides my 17.10 lb'er, it's been a pretty great vacation :-) Took my last day off to rest.... and to go look at new trucks :-)

Great fishing to you guys,

Peace,

Fish

PS, I think all of these fish were caught on 3 consequtive trips. I made a few more trips, but just caught ho-hum 5 lb Smallies ;-)

[jrhennecke]

Fish Cris you are an amazing angler.  Great fish and photos!

[roadwarrior]

DUDE!

I don't think you have ever mentioned your occupation so I

don't know what you do for a living, but why aren't you working

for In-Fisherman?

8-)

[Fish Chris]

My job "is just a little thing I do on the side"....... Fishing is my life :-)

As a matter of fact, I have collected a few checks from I-F.... a couple for articles, and 1 for fish photos :-)

Peace,

Fish

[Grey Wolf]

YOU ARE TRULY AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bassnbrett101]

Hmmm....  All those fish look to be the same size as the so called world record.....

Those are amazing fish though and the fish look absolutely stunning.  Great Job Fish Chris!!!

[bpm2000]

6" Hudd huh?  I hope to replicate at least one of those fish this weekend!  Awesome as usual Chris.

[Tokyo Tony]

Chris, you neve cease to amaze me. Those are absolutely beautiful fish, thanks for posting.

I'm so glad you're into photography too - not only are your fish beautiful and gigantic, but the pics are crystal-clear!

Congrats, and I'm extremely jealous  ;D

[10_More_Minutes]

I second that. those are some great looking fish and some Beautiful photos. Outstanding!  

Out of curiosity do you use a DSLR camera?

[Fish Chris]

well actually, I did just buy a DSLR (it's an Olympus E510... best value on the market) but I decided a long time ago, that DSLR's were not a good choice for self taken fish photos.

I use the Canon A series 630 and 640 {and fixing to buy an A650 as a go everywhere car cam}. Their are several things about the Canon A series that I think make them ideal as fish photo cameras.

1) They have a flip and twist LCD screen, so I can see where I'm lining up in the frame, when I'm doing my self-taken (most of them) fish shots with a tripod. This is HUGE !

2) They use AA batteries. Sure, I still use high quality lithium Ion rechargeable AA's, which do have a pretty long shelf life (months).... However, I also carry a couple sets of old school alkalines, for my backup power, which have a superlong 10 to 15 year shelf life !

The problem with proprietary rechargeable batts is, even if you carry a spare, or two, the chances are good, that if the one in your camera has died, from just sitting around unused, so have your backups :-(

3) My Canon A series have a function / feature called the custom "C" mode. In this mode I can put the camera in manual {at home in the back yard, with all the time in the world} and get it totally dialed in.... exposure, manual focus distance, F stop, fill in flash, even the self timer.... and when I get it tweaked in just right, I hit the "save settings" feature, and it remembers everything. So the next time I stick a big one, I pull the camera out, put it on the tripod, turn it on in the "C" mode, and Bam ! It's good to go ! Heck, even if I had another angler with me, he wouldn't likely know how to use my camera like I do. So basically, my "C" mode is like having myself behind the camera, and in front of it too :-)

4) The Canon A series are small, and compact, and relatively cheap. I got mine for $200 and $240..... but they were really popular, and when the A650 came out "if" you could still find one, the prices spkied to like $300 and $350. But no worries, the A650 will do anything that these will (and then some), and can be bought for about $290

5) The Canon A series take very nice pictures. Some of the fanatics on the camera forums say that 10 mega pixels on such a small photo sensor is not a good thing, and they slam these cameras for it. But the thing is, as long as you shoot in sunlight, with an ISO of 80 or 100, "or" if you have to shoot and lower light, and don't mind flash, you will not have any problems with grainyness (digital noise) problems.

I've posted this before.... But my Pelican Box with my A630, my A640, spare batts, and my certified digital scale, is just about as important to my fishing trips, as are my poles :-)

Hope this helps,

Peace,

Fish

[10_More_Minutes]

It helps more than you know, I was going to buy a Nikon D40x this month, but for under 300 bucks I think I will give that a go. Appreciate the heads up. Sure is nothing better than those pelican cases. Nice set up Chris!  HERO!

Pop this into favs for future reference.

[Fish Chris]

I had said why the A series Canons were such good fish photo cameras, but I didn't say why DSLR's are not (and BTW, the Nikon D40 is an excellent camera for general photography, given a few good to great quality lenses, and assuming you are holding your camera)

DSLR's typically have a very short DOF (depth of focus) meaning that your focus distance is much more critical, and a lot more tempermental. {harder to get both you, and the fish, in sharp focus}. Furthermore, if you try to use the self timer, it will 1) focus, 2) Count down, 3) fire. The problem with this order, is that you will not be in position holding your fish yet.... So it will focus on the other side of the lake... then you get into position, but its already incorrectly focused, then it counts down, then fires > an out of focus shot :-(

In all honesty, my A series Canon "would try" to do this too.... which is why I set a predetermined focus distance manually, then save it in the "C" mode. Along with the fact that fixed lens cameras have much deeper DOF's, it almost always takes tack sharp photos :-)

Peace,

Fish

[Andrew Coleman]

AMAZING

I dont think i've ever seen a smallie that big!

[Yakfish]

AMAZING

I dont think i've ever seen a smallie that big!

Now you have. This guy is unreal.

All hail the grand, high, exalted, mystic ruler!

[Phishin Fillip]

I think chris may just be a very very small man and all the fish he is catching are average size, making it seem like they are bigger than they really are  ;D

[Fish Chris]

they finally figured it out..... Okay fine. So I'm only 3ft 2 ! It's not my fault I never grew ! Maybe I don't eat enough ;-) LOL

Fish

[brittlab]

wow those are some of the most beautiful fish I've seen

[alarcher]

WOW!!! Fantastic info. Thanks so much, I know what I want for my pictures and I'm really liking the Pelican Case.

Amazing fish man! I'm new to this site but love every second I spend on it! You and Road Warrior are my new fishing idols!

Keep the fish pics coming!

[X-Rap]

You are my hero!

[SenkoBasser]

Badass right there. You should definately have your own show. What are you using?

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

Bunch of runts,....what a rookie  : :-? ;D

Photography is spot on as usual.