This weekend I caught a Smallie that was over 24 inches long but only weighed 4 1/2 lbs- less than an inch wide on the bottum of the belly (looked more like a small mouth snake fish. There were 2 others weighed in that looked like the twin to the 1 I caight, the heaviest of which was .12 lbs heavier than mine. The smaller brown fish weighed in were all really fat and healthy, but a number died really quickly after being caught. The lake has been high for an extended period of time, and the smallies have been shallow for about a month which is pretty uncommon for Texoma during August, and ther is tons and tons of really healthy 2-5 inch shad EVERYWHERE, so what gives. What would make the big uns' so poor, and the smaller 1s so fragile?

Number one, if you are catching smallies over 24" long you are having a good day. A smallie at over 24" and only 4 1/2lbs sure does not seem right to me, especially given your description. If it was one fish, it happens, more than one fish with these characteristics should raise a red flag that your water has a problem. Smallies over 20" can vary greatly in weight. Time of year, river, stream or lake, forage availability, area genetics, etc. You need to contact your local fisheries biologist and report this. If he is not already aware of this situation, he needs to be.