Twenty Inch Smallmouth.... Edit: Finally Did It!

[Fredrick]

Congrats Dave you definitely put your time in to catch this one

 

[csoult]

Nice fish congrats! Looks bigger than your dog

 

[JF_]

Way to go Dave, that's an amazing fish, and great story.
John

 

[jayL]

Dave,

I know how badly you wanted to meet that goal. I'm very happy for you. It was only a matter of time. What a beauty!

 

[ryguyfi]

I saw the thread updated in the WW forum and literally said out loud "He did it!". Awesome Dave. Only after that thread did I realize that my smallie I caught a few years back was about a 1 in a million chance for me to get. I rarely fish for smallies, and to catch that one was just amazing.


Nice fish you got there. Looks like you'll have to do another replica mount now ;-)


Congrats once again.

 

[trowpa]

Congrats Dave!!!! What a great feeling it is to catch those "milemarker" fish!

 

[gfen]

I think that fish outweighs Benny.

 

[afishinado]

Congrats Dave. Well deserved. Bennie should get an extra biscuit for finding that one for you. ;-) :lol: int:

 

[goodfortune]

Congratulations on catching that beautiful fish...I know that it's a goal you have had for quite awhile.

Be careful Bennie - she's almost as big as you are :-D

 

[Fishidiot]

afishinado wrote:
Congrats Dave. Well deserved. Bennie should get an extra biscuit for finding that one for you. ;-) :lol: int:

The Incredible Fly Fishing Weiner Dog celebrates the big catch. :-D

 

[jay348]

^ dave, that just made my day

 

[Fredrick]

Fishidiot wrote:

afishinado wrote:
Congrats Dave. Well deserved. Bennie should get an extra biscuit for finding that one for you. ;-) :lol: int:

The Incredible Fly Fishing Weiner Dog celebrates the big catch. :-D

LMAO dave that is classic

 

[MattBoyer]

Congrats Dave! You know now that you've hit the goal you'll catch 3 or 4 next year, right? ;-) Seriously though, I'm glad you hit your goal and can think of none more deserving of that fish.

Boyer

 

[brookiesRfun]

Dang man that fish is as big as the dog looking at it! I have only caught a couple close to that size and one I bet would be 20.
Hope ya get a few like that next summer!

 

[midgeman]

Fantastic fish Dave!!!! Hoping my jet gets fixed soon so I can get myself one on the fly Seeing that fish makes me want to give up trout fishing completely lol. What a trophy!!!!!!

On a side, did you ever check out the place I told you about?

 

[albatross]

Congratulations Dave. Great accomplishment!

 

[deaddriftx]

I have been avidly fly fishing for smallmouth for close to ten years. I am in a good area for it though. The allegheny river, the clarion river, and redbank creek are all close to home for me. I have caught a handfull of 20 inchers but they don't come easy. My biggest to date is 22 inches i caught last june out of the allegheny. Most fly fisherman look at me like i'm crazy when i say i fly fish for smallmouth. I love my trout fishing and always will but there is something about smallmouth that just can't be matched.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

Congrats Dave! This summer was the first time I really pursued the SMB on the fly. Nothing that big though!

I can't wait til summer. Long evening, trout in the spring creeks and cooler waters, and the SMB move up into my locally stocked "trout" stream. Being 5 minutes from a great SMB stream is awesome. I've missed so much by not chasing SMB.

 

[Fishidiot]

Thanks for the kind words and encouragement fellas.

SMBs are indeed great fly rod game. As I've often said: "think outside the trout box."

Looking back on this particular catch, I'm not surprised that it came from the river it did and the time of year. Many of the largest bass I've caught in the last couple decades have come from this stretch of the J...and usually in the late fall or pre-spawn. I also probably sound like a broken record in pointing out the rarity of a fish this size and the many years it takes a fish to get this big (well over a decade). Take a look at the PFBC electrofishing surveys of our state's big rivers: 20+" SMBs are very rare.

 

[Fishidiot]

MattBoyer wrote:
Congrats Dave! You know now that you've hit the goal you'll catch 3 or 4 next year, right? ;-) Seriously though, I'm glad you hit your goal and can think of none more deserving of that fish.

Boyer

Well Matt....whoda thunk it.

Second one in a few months: Caught today on a Clouser fished from shore. Twenty inches exactly, and very heavy.