24″ smallie

Any of you guys ever hear of/see/catch a true 24″‘ smallie out of the river? I’ve heard of 21″ and a few 22″s……I might even believe a 23″……but 24″ is just too much of a strech

I’ve got a guy at work claiming to have a 24″er on the wall……I called BS until I see pictures with the fish along side a tape…..he says he doesn’t have pictures, but I’m more than welcome to come over with a tape and measure him myself (of course he say’s this knowing that I never will) .

I saw pics next to a tape and the mount of a true 23″ fish.

Years ago I caught one out of the Mississippi River that was 24 inches……it was HUGE. You can ask my borther John I the site also…he was with.

I would call him on it. Go to his house. Sounds like fun!

I seen an article years ago about the stretch of the mississippi river between roylaton and rice. This article was about Dan Gapen and him fishing smallmouths on that stretch. He said he thought that the next worlds record was in that strech of water and would come from there. He said he has pictures and mounts of 7 and 8lb smallies. I don’t know what a 24″ fish would weight in prime condition but it would be up there.

I think a 24″ Smallmouth is definitely a possibility. That being said I also believe all the right conditions have to present to grow such a fish.

I doubt very much you’ll see a river Smallmouth from a pool like 7 or 8 over 22″.

Sorry Chad, John says it was just over 18.

a 24 inch smallie would easily weigh 7-1/2 pounds, maybe more if it had good girth.

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Sorry Chad, John says it was just over 18.

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Easy now – I am just saying it was really big – I don’t remember what the tape said anymore… this was like 10+ yrs ago. I do remember it went back to swim another day though. We might have some photos back at home

My biggest to date is 19 3/4″ and im guessing it was around 3 1/2 pounds from a local creek, nice coloring too. My first 5lb’er is going on the wall except if she full of spawn.

I have a true 23 incher on my wall and that was caught in May along the spawn and it went 6 pounds 2 ounces…a 24 incher wont go over 7 pounds…but I wont doubt if 24 incher was caught in the mississippi

i don’t no about that there are alot of people that go out on the river and don’t no any better and just take fish that may not be to there full potential this is why we need to practice C&R, but i guess i would beleive that some one got lucky enough to find a fish that no one has taken out of the river

I have caught a few 19’s…But knowing the size of other fish the river can grow…I could see a smallie getting to World record size. I can believe a 24″er.

Take your tape to the guys house.

Yes, I’d really doubt a 24incher would go over 7 lbs from the Mississippi. They’re in there somewhere. All the ones I’ve seen are very healthly, but underweight compared to lake living smallmouth. This spring I had a 19 inch smallmouth on a lake that weighed 4lbs 15 oz. Quite a bit wider, deeper, and fatter than the Mississippi ones caught anytime.

The river ones fight a lot harder.

You guys can believe me or not because I do not carry a camera in my boat….I know I caught this fish about 4 years ago whenI took a week off after my Dad had passes way. 24.75″ smallie went ~6.5 lbs on an old DeLiar. It came off an obscure wingdam which I had never seen anyone fish before or since. Trolling a #5 Craw color Shad Rap. When it came up to the boat I only saw the mouth and thought it was a greenie. When I got it in the boat I was surprised to see the red eyes and stripes by the eyes. I might have even mounted this fish or had a replica made, but it was just not a very pretty smallie…fins were well worn and the coloration was “dull”. Because I wasn’t going to do anything I measured, weighed, and released as quickly as possible.

So yes, those monsters exist. I don’t expect I will ever see another one that big in my boat form the Miss.

well i guess i am a little off then huh…lol. I have read posts on other websites about largemouths that weighed 7 pounds at 23.5 so i just figured that it would be around there on a smallie…then again, these bass that i have seen are taken down south in farm ponds and they are extremely fat. To me, if i catch a fish in a pond, it doesnt count!

When we were kids(around 13?) a friend of mine caught a 7 1/2 pound smallie on the Mississippi river right in the cities. We had it weighed at a grocery store near the spot we were fishing. I have no idea what the length was, and I wouldnt try to guess.. but it was the biggest bass I ever saw of either specie.

That was caught in a culvert on a nightcrawler fishing for carp.. I thought it was a carp when it was coming in.. even when I seen it in the water I thought it was a carp at 1st.

That fish made a fish fry for his family.. keep in mind, this was 20 years ago when we didnt know better.

My dad caught a 23 3/4″ Smallie in the Wisconsin River two years ago…if someone tells me how to post a pic…I will put it on here.

save the pic on your computer, then when you type a post, make sure that the box for preview/attach file is checked. click browse on the part for the attachment and select it off your computer. It works for me…or just email the pic to one of moderators on the site and they might post it for you..just keep trying, thats what i had to do and eventually, it worked.

Dustin,
If u can’t get it, just e-mail it to me and I will get it posted for u.

We’ve had good discussions about this on another site, I dont think they are there! I caught a 21.5 last year that looked to be about as old as the river itself, a 24″ smallie in the river would have to have awesome genetics and a crawfish bufft infront of it 24/7! A true 24″er would be a freak!

Here is a picture from IDA’s Basshog of a very nice smallie that his dad caught. Dustin will fill everyone in on this nice catch, the fish was released and a replica was made

Here is the replica.

This smallie was caught in the Wisconsin River in the middle of summer during the heat of the day in water so shallow my dad’s 15′ Aluminum Lund got stuck….Fish was caught on a live nightcrawler with a 5′ Ultra Lite Rod with 6 lb mono in HEAVY current. Before seeing this smallie, we thought it was a big carp!

THEY DO EXIST!

(Fish was released)