Brother-in-Law and I hit the small, local lake last Saturday in the rain. We caught about 10 Largemouth before the weather started to get annoying. I decided to end the short trip using my new Jackhammer and Yamamoto Zako along a steep bank. 1st cast was a 3lb Largemouth then after 4-5 more casts a fish nailed it on the drop. To my pleasant surprise it was a decent smallmouth.  The species isn't even listed on DNR site, but there are a few. People asked me if I was BS'ing them because they have never caught one in 20 years lol.  I feel vindicated for taking out a 2nd mortgage and buying a Jackhammer! 

 

Nice 👍 

Last week as I was launching the boat and talking with 2 locals about the fishing, I noticed quite a bit of grass and lilies along the shore line.

Asked the 2 guys if there were any Snakehead in the lake.

They said nope, nadda, not here.you just never know.

4 hours ago, Retiredguns said:

The species isn't even listed on DNR site, but there are a few.

 

Mathematically speaking, unless there is a sizable population of a species of fish present, its unlikely that a sampling program of any particular fish species to show up in the data, depending on the sampling gear used.  Gill and trap nets are used here in MN almost exclusively, but they rarely catch bass species in them.  Electrofishing is a much more efficient way to gauge bass species.

 

A smallmouth of that size would lead me to think that they've been there a while.  I don't know what kind of tributaries that lake has, but during high water periods fish have been known to migrate through them.  We've had a lot of rain here this spring, I am not sure about Illinois.

 

A bucket biologist could also be to blame.

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

A smallmouth of that size would lead me to think that they've been there a while…A bucket biologist could also be to blame.

If it’s an impoundment, there was probably a healthy population when the river was first flooded. As lakes age, they often become more hospitable to largemouth, which tend to outperform smallmouth in most stillwater environments. It could just be that the remaining population of smallmouth has decreased significantly since the lake was first impounded, and only a few fish are hanging on in whatever suitable habitat they can find.

 

Or I could be off base; I don’t know that particular body of water whatsoever.

The lake was a gravel quarry until 1961. There is a very small feeder creek at one end and a spillway at the other. I think the above statement about diminished numbers is correct as largemouths are pretty abundant. Where I caught the smallie, the lake goes from1 to 24 feet in about 25 yards off the bank.