Hey Zero, that is a 6" Huddleston trout. Great sight fishing bait for big Smallies, or Largemouths too, for that matter !

Fish

I love the 6" Hudds.  Great bait up here.....

Hey Zero, that is a 6" Huddleston trout. Great sight fishing bait for big Smallies, or Largemouths too, for that matter !

Fish

ok thanks theres some spots in my home that have clear water and big smallies, i'm thinking about giving those a try

how do u fish them ?

My personal best is 8.3.(cheap scale) I caught her on Erie in the Fall of 2002.23" and a 19" girth. I have been fortunate to catch a 7 or better every year since. I had a 6.14 at the FLW out of Presque Isle and didn't even win big fish. I had 21  pounds in that tournament and it was a four fish limit.

If you don't follow the crowd you will get one

Trying to find the pic now.

My personal best is 8.3.(cheap scale) I caught her on Erie in the Fall of 2002.23" and a 19" girth. I have been fortunate to catch a 7 or better every year since. I had a 6.14 at the FLW out of Presque Isle and didn't even win big fish. I had 21 pounds in that tournament and it was a four fish limit.

If you don't follow the crowd you will get one

Trying to find the pic now.

Joe, is that you?

http://www.flwoutdoors.com/bassfishing/afs/tournament/2010/6490/lake-erie-coangler-results/

My personal best is 8.3.(cheap scale) I caught her on Erie in the Fall of 2002.23" and a 19" girth. I have been fortunate to catch a 7 or better every year since. I had a 6.14 at the FLW out of Presque Isle and didn't even win big fish. I had 21 pounds in that tournament and it was a four fish limit.

If you don't follow the crowd you will get one

Trying to find the pic now.

Joe, is that you?

http://www.flwoutdoors.com/bassfishing/afs/tournament/2010/6490/lake-erie-coangler-results/

Yes it is. Who is this?

My personal best is 8.3.(cheap scale) I caught her on Erie in the Fall of 2002.23" and a 19" girth. I have been fortunate to catch a 7 or better every year since. I had a 6.14 at the FLW out of Presque Isle and didn't even win big fish. I had 21 pounds in that tournament and it was a four fish limit.

If you don't follow the crowd you will get one

Trying to find the pic now.

Joe, is that you?

http://www.flwoutdoors.com/bassfishing/afs/tournament/2010/6490/lake-erie-coangler-results/

Yes it is. Who is this?

I sent you a PM

I labeled the pic as a 8 pounder. But I could have swore they said 9. My memory could be better.

This picture was taken about 2 miles from where I grew up. Sure was nice to grow up with-in site of the Tn river there.

I have to say, looking at all the great brown fish posted here, I'm jealous! My quest for the big brown fish continues. Let's not hide it, and call it what it is---an addiction!

Here are two of the biggest from this year. First one is my PB, which went just over 6. Was caught at the last BR Roadtrip to KY Lake, right near the dam. Rapala DT-6, helsenki shad. Roadwarrior was on the boat with me at the time and we had a great day but spent a great deal of time battling the wind... The second picture is from Florence, AL in early APR. This prespawn female went just at 6, full of eggs. Live bait drifting. I was quick in letting this big girl get back in the water!

Man, I remeber that day like it was yesterday!

Nice fish. Who took that pic?

This one is my PB from Sturgeon Bay, WI – May 2009 . My partner and I almost died when she surfaced. It was the typical story... the snag that moved. Caught one day before open season. 22in estimated at 6.75 - 7lbs, full spawn.

Well fellow brownie addicts--- I made the 7 lb club last Friday!

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/93731-pickwick-partner/page__st__93

I too, am with you MaineBassMan[in another life I owned a camp on North Pond in Maine]. I'm still looking for that 5 pounder and I've been at it for nearly 50 years.

Being in wisconsin i get to fish Sturgeon bay a lot, this year over memorial day weekend, we caught 17 fish total the first 2 days, 3 were under 5lbs, the biggest being 6lbs 8oz (fish in avatar) I've never broke 7, but have numerous over 6, its quite a barrier to break!

Here is one more, this one is 22" just spawned out. Those 2 above were both just under 21. Have caught these pigs on the exact same bait for the last 5 years!

Nice Bass bigfishbk86 love that spot in your first photo! This one in my avatar came off a spot in the same area. I have always caught bigger fish there.

7.60 from a club tournament. Caught on an X-Zone slammer on a dropshot.

Man, those are some fine brown fish!

Well Lucky Craft, I have caught 6 Smallies over 7 lbs, and 2 over 8 (a totally spawned out 8.2 lb'er, that should have been well over 9 lbs) and my PB that you see in my avatar, which was an extremely fat 8.5 lb'er.

Here's the thing though >

It's NOT that I am such an awesome Smallmounth angler, but rather, 3 years ago (going on 4 now) we had a lake up here in Nor Cal, which was just going stupid crazy, with HUGE Smallies ! In 2007 alone, this little 1100 acre lake produced no fewer than 30 Smallies over 8 lbs, and maybe 5 over 9 lbs ! And then, just for icing on the cake, it kicked out a 9.7 lb'er, which crushed our 30 year old state record of 9.1 lbs !

Unfortunately, the cycle for Smallies in this lake peaked in 07', and has quickly fallen ever since :( Now, you'd be pretty lucky to get a 5 lb'er or two. I never caught a legit 6 lb'er there last year

On the other hand, this same lake has a great, and seemingly growing, number of 8 to 10+ Northern strain Largemouth's !

......which, of course, are great Northern Strainer's, right ?

And it's beautful lake too, with crystal clear water, tons of wildlife, NO water skiing (I love that part )

I just LOVE fishing that place.

The only problem is, without the draw of a HUGE, potentially record breaking Smallmouth, I kind of feel like I'm just spinning my wheels their nowadays

I just know their are much better places for me to hurry up and catch 11 more double digit Largemouth's (I need 11 more to hit 100). Pretty much "only" places with Florida strain bass, and hatchery trout.

Hmmmm....

Oh, here are some pictures for you

A nice, wide 7.5 lb'er, that photo'd well...

Believe it or not, this is the 8.2. What might look like a little belly fat, is actually a totally empty, sagging gut. This fish had such a huge frame, and head. I hate the photo, but....

A nice, long, strong 7.5 lb'er.

My 8.5 actually had a much smaller frame than the 8.2 above, and no bigger frame than the long, strong 7.5.... but she just had that HUGE gut

My 8.5 was SOOO strong too ! She fought me the whole time I was trying to take photos... never rolled over in the livewell, and would snap her mouth shut tight, to try to keep me from lipping her. She finally realeased with an explosion that drenched me

Again, pretty much anybody fishing this lake, in 07', as much as I did, would have caught fish just like these, and maybe even more.

I was sure lucky to be one of the guys there doing it when it was ON !

Peace,

Fish

Your 8.5 is a brute! Sweet fish, and the way the sun shines on it, it makes the coloration almost look like a spot... Not many people have caught fish, let alone smallies, that huge.

My favorite fish pic of all time!

Woo-Hoo!

There is a lake in central PA where the fish commision stocks fingerling brown trout every year.. i have never once saw a trout in this lake.. it also contains rainbow smelt and yellow perch. i have caught about 15 smallies over 5lbs in this lake... your not allowed boats there and your not allowed in the lower half of the lake, its a water supply resorvoir in the mountains... it kinda seems like my own personal playground no one ever goes there and anytime i talk about it people say "oh i didn't know you could fish there"

There is a lake in central PA where the fish commision stocks fingerling brown trout every year.. i have never once saw a trout in this lake.. it also contains rainbow smelt and yellow perch. i have caught about 15 smallies over 5lbs in this lake... your not allowed boats there and your not allowed in the lower half of the lake, its a water supply resorvoir in the mountains... it kinda seems like my own personal playground no one ever goes there and anytime i talk about it people say "oh i didn't know you could fish there"

Nice. Gotta love the goldmines

I'll join you guys that can't break 5. My best SM is 4 1/2. I'm having nightmares about it.

I have yet to reach that 7 pound mark as well, but have numerous fish in the six pound range caught out of Jordanelle Res. I wish I had my pictures still, but my Cpu crashed about six months ago and away they went. I had about tens years worth of pictures

My first entry into the 7 lb club came on 12 Sept 2017.

She choked a big Biovex Spinnerbait on a vast grass flat.

Got the video running just in time to capture the last part of the fight,

the net job and the jubilation that ensued. 

 

https://youtu.be/IsGq2UNY_K8?feature=shared

 

My second entry into this most prestigious club, came this spring,

6 years, 7 months and 11 days later, on 22 Apr 24. 

Sunny but super windy afternoon but the bite was nuts. 

She clobbered a Megabass Vision 110 Jerkbait in 10 feet of water.  I had already released several 5 lb fish and a beast of a 6 lber.   But 'this one' felt different right from the start.

I dream about an 8 lber just about every night.

A-Jay