I didn't catch any big smallmouth in 2022, but I did catch some plump, healthy ones while fishing for largemouth. I don't know if the five above were the biggest, but they're representative.

 

I also caught three smallie doubles, i.e. two smallmouth on one lure. I also caught one largie double, which was my best double, as the the two bass were 19" and 17". I count that as a 36" largemouth bass, so I win the Biggest Bass Trophy.*

 

 

* I deserve the trophy because it was dang difficult duct taping those two bass together, mouth to tail, for the photo. 

18 hours ago, GaryH said:

Absolutely incredible ???? You deserve it. If you see a boat following you around next year just ignore it. 
Congrats 

Make that two boats and a canoe!

C'mon, Bob, make that two boats and TWO canoes!

 

I've had boats park next to mine on Lake Michigan and on the Mississippi. They'd see me hauling fish over the side, drop anchor, and stare at me. I've even had boats troll around me. It's maddening. Lake Michigan is so friggin' big that there's no reason to come within a hundred yards of another boat. The Mississippi is huge too. 

The way I had it figured was I would follow Gary towing you in your canoe because no way my antique 1977 Monarch is going to keep up with A-Jay. Gary would text me A-Jay's coordinates and we would all meet to watch A-Jay catch all the hogs and expose us on video as fish-less followers!

2022 was my 3rd year bass fishing, primarily for smallies, and I ended up w/ a total of 20-6: 4-10 (PB), 4-7, 3-14, 3-12, and 3-11. I fish Lake St. Clair from shore most Saturday mornings for a couple of hours as I don't have a bass boat yet and have a young family. One of my goals for 2022 was to catch a smallie over 4# and I was able to do that twice. In 2023, I'd like to catch a new PB over 5# and have my top 5 smallies all be over 4#.

 

That's a heckuva top five from the shore!