5lbs 12oz on a hot August day from the John Day river in Oregon....from a drift boat!

 

8 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Well i guess i have never caught a river smallie according to this thread so my new answer is 0 lbs 0 ozs. In a state without natural lakes nonetheless....

Every drop of water in the whole state is behind a dam, some just further upstream than others

You would be correct. A river is a river, not an impoundment. If you weren't fishing in the river, not a TVA lake, you were not catching river fish. 

21 minutes ago, Drew03cmc said:

You would be correct. A river is a river, not an impoundment. If you weren't fishing in the river, not a TVA lake, you were not catching river fish. 

The upper end of Several TVA impoundments are miles of shoals and rapids. You would just have to see it all to fully understand. I’ve caught hundreds of smallies all throughout dozens of rivers in Tennessee but if you go downstream far enough there’s always a dam. I would also consider fishing a tail water right below a dam a river but if that’s crazy oh well. The water is super fast and its a narrow meandering channel so I think it fits. 

21 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

The upper end of Several TVA impoundments are miles of shoals and rapids. You would just have to see it all to fully understand. I’ve caught hundreds of smallies all throughout dozens of rivers in Tennessee but if you go downstream far enough there’s always a dam. I would also consider fishing a tail water right below a dam a river but if that’s crazy oh well. The water is super fast and its a narrow meandering channel so I think it fits. 

If you're referring to the extreme upper end, depending on where and what, that may qualify, but is all situational.

6 minutes ago, Drew03cmc said:

If you're referring to the extreme upper end, depending on where and what, that may qualify, but is all situational.

I agree, and saying there’s a definite line where one ends and the other starts is impossible. This is the upper end of lake Cumberland, I’d call it a river ...... this is also very similar to what the upper end of fort Loudoun lake, Norris lake, Douglas lake, Cherokee lake, watauga lake, south Holston lake, Boone lake, and several others all look like. There’s even some portions of water that flow into the famous chickamauga lake that are class 5 whitewater 

My best was a 4lbs 8oz on the Sauk River in MN.

5 pounds 9 ounces from the New River. 

I don't think you're going to get a fish much over 5lbs out of a river because that bulk is drag they have to spend energy constantly fighting the current. I've broken 4lbs but the fish are always very long (21"+) and skinny compared to lake residents.

 

I suppose if you've got a fast water river that dumps into the upstream end of a large reservoir you stand a chance at a 6+ if you found a lake resident that happened to make a run up into the fast water for some reason.

2 hours ago, onthewater102 said:

I don't think you're going to get a fish much over 5lbs out of a river because that bulk is drag they have to spend energy constantly fighting the current. I've broken 4lbs but the fish are always very long (21"+) and skinny compared to lake residents.

 

I suppose if you've got a fast water river that dumps into the upstream end of a large reservoir you stand a chance at a 6+ if you found a lake resident that happened to make a run up into the fast water for some reason.

I agree, that’s what makes that 9 lb Virginia river smallmouth such a rare beast!

I just remembered two more river monsters from the same day about 10 years ago. In a $60 inflatable kayak on a 10 mile float ....... The bottom fish was tied for my longest smallmouth ever at 23"  (skinny though) and my buddy got a replica mount of the top fish 

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

I just remembered two more river monsters from the same day about 10 years ago. In a $60 inflatable kayak on a 10 mile float ....... The bottom fish was tied for my longest smallmouth ever at 23"  (skinny though) and my buddy got a replica mount of the top fish 

Nice, did you determine how much the 23 incher weighed?  

1 hour ago, FryDog62 said:

Nice, did you determine how much the 23 incher weighed?  

No but I was guessing not much over 4 lbs as snakey as it was (it hit a buzzbait in rapids!) I think the one my buddy had that same day pictured above was a good bit heavier.  The fish in my avatar was also very close to 23” but again no weight. I would guess 5

21.25" but I don't know what it weighed.

 

Allen 

6 hours ago, FryDog62 said:

I agree, that’s what makes that 9 lb Virginia river smallmouth such a rare beast!

There’s a river that flows out of Virginia into Tennessee that has stocked trout and there are rumors of monster smallmouth (and largemouth) in it.......... heard tale of smallmouth at 8 or better and I think there was a documented largemouth not far shy of 15 a few years back 

I dont know how much she weighed but she was a big'un . Caught on a popper ..

5 hours ago, scaleface said:

I dont know how much she weighed but she was a big'un . Caught on a popper ..

You mean you didn’t have a battery powered scale in your pocket while swimming? Nice fish!!!

Mine wasn't weighed, but I'm guessing between 3 and 4 lbs, my PB.  I had a 5lber up to the boat this year on the St. Lawrence, but it spit the hook.  Most of the non-river bodies of water in my fishing neighborhood don't produce smallies anywhere near what the St. Lawrence does. (Lake Ontario and Lake Champlain are just a shade too far for me to regularly fish.   A 5 lb smallie is one of my goals for next summer.

The fish in my avatar is the biggest river Smallmouth Bass I have caught.

 

Got her on a bone colored Whopper Plopper last year from the upper Hudson River NY She weighed in at 4lbs even. 

Almost forgot a nearly 22 incher that my son caught on the Mississippi near the headwaters that weighed 5 1/2 lbs.  

20 1/4 inches in August 2018. I usually catch a couple 19-20 inches every summer. Frydog knows what river I catch them from.

19" 

 

Kiskiminetas River in Western PA. 

I catch several 18 and 19 inchers every year on a small river, some would call it a creek, but the biggest one has only weighed 3.1 lbs. It usually doesn't get more than 2 feet deep either.

Virginia is a Smallmouth heaven I guess as I catch several citations every year.

 

White spinnerbaits and cotton candy Zoom lizards and there no trouble to catch......no experience needed with SM.

One of the better river stringers I’ve had, caught by my friend Steve and I... again, near the headwaters of the Miss where the water gets skinny..

Smallmouth are beautiful ain't they ?