The fishing was pretty slow for the weekend of October 1st and I wasn't pulling in anything really sizeable. On literally my last cast of the night I thought, "I wonder if something is hiding behind that boulder that is set away from the rest of them..." BOOOM! Water explodes and this hog comes fully out of the water and then gives me a fight I will never forget. I included the picture on the paddle for some scale. I am guessing 22 inches and about 6-6.5 pounds.

Your boat, your measurement...

Nice anyway!

Nice. Did he end up as part of supper?

Looks like you could measure that portion of your paddle now and get pretty darn close.

He was supper. I havent had a chance to measure the paddle yet, but that was why I took that pic for future reference.

Sounds like a fun story and a welcome jolt of excitement for you. Very nice Smallmouth. Fall fishing can be hit or miss for sure.

Hard to tell from a picture how big fish are but I'd guess more like 19-20" and 4.5 pounds. No way that fish is anywhere close to 6lbs, it'd have to have a lot more girth to weigh that much. Its hard to say from 2 pictures though, just throwing my guess out there.

Yeah I thought in the 6 range because is was so FAT. I have never pulled in a smallmouth that fat before, and I have caught my share. Gonna measure my paddle tonight.

For comparison, here's a measured 19" bass. Note my elbow is behind my head to draw the bass as close as possible to my body and I'm nearly 6' tall. I'm guessing it weighed four pounds. Maybe 4.5 pounds.

Now, here's another 19" bass, but slimmer. However, this time my arm is mostly extended, making the fish look longer. I don't think it weighed four pounds. Too skinny.

Nice fish!

Southeast LLC has some beasts.

Here's a 14" bass, but a bitsy brute. You can see the extra ounce in its teeny buffalo back.

Here’s a 22 incher from Hungry Jack Lake A 22 incher from Basswood both of these fish were 6

missmolly: "Here's yet another 19" bass and a brute. You can see the weight in its buffalo back.



"

20 - 2 = 18. But in your boat it's your measurement.

bobbernumber3: "

missmolly: "Here's yet another 19" bass and a brute. You can see the weight in its buffalo back.



"

20 - 2 = 18. But in your boat it's your measurement."

I erred. It's 20 - 6 = 14. My boat, my measurement.

bobbernumber3: "

missmolly: "Here's yet another 19" bass and a brute. You can see the weight in its buffalo back.



"

20 - 2 = 18. But in your boat it's your measurement."

That fish looks like it should go 20 if it had a tail/backend. Maybe it is the photo angle but the backend doesn’t look right.

T

timatkn: "

bobbernumber3: "

missmolly: "Here's yet another 19" bass and a brute. You can see the weight in its buffalo back.




"

20 - 2 = 18. But in your boat it's your measurement."

That fish looks like it should go 20 if it had a tail/backend. Maybe it is the photo angle but the backend doesn’t look right.


T"

It does have a full tail, T. It's lying in water and the water is bending the light. The bulk of the tail is underwater. Look carefully and you'll see it. It's a 19" fish. I was just joshing bn3 because he likes subtraction.

Nice fish bumabu!

Basspro69: " Here’s a 22 incher from Hungry Jack Lake A 22 incher from Basswood both of these fish were 6 "

That first bass is deformed with fat, which is the best way to reach 6 pounds.

missmolly: "

timatkn: "

bobbernumber3: "

missmolly: "Here's yet another 19" bass and a brute. You can see the weight in its buffalo back.





"

20 - 2 = 18. But in your boat it's your measurement."

That fish looks like it should go 20 if it had a tail/backend. Maybe it is the photo angle but the backend doesn’t look right.



T"

It does have a full tail, T. It's lying in water and the water is bending the light. The bulk of the tail is underwater. Look carefully and you'll see it. It's a 19" fish. I was just joshing bn3 because he likes subtraction. "

Okay I see it now. Ya know officially you are supposed to pinch the tail. I think if you did that it would be between 19 1/4 and 19 1/2. Might make 20 with a fish stretcher or if you have the MN DNR do the measuring :)

T

Where do you buy one of those "fish stretchers"? :)

timatkn: "

bobbernumber3: "

missmolly: "Here's yet another 19" bass and a brute. You can see the weight in its buffalo back.




"

20 - 2 = 18. But in your boat it's your measurement."

That fish looks like it should go 20 if it had a tail/backend. Maybe it is the photo angle but the backend doesn’t look right.


T"

I missed seeing the tail as well. Never second guess another fisherman's measurement...

bumabu: ",,,,Gonna measure my paddle tonight. "

Well. What did it measure? Or just stick with the 22"?

bobbernumber3: "

timatkn: "

bobbernumber3: "

missmolly: "Here's yet another 19" bass and a brute. You can see the weight in its buffalo back.





"

20 - 2 = 18. But in your boat it's your measurement."

That fish looks like it should go 20 if it had a tail/backend. Maybe it is the photo angle but the backend doesn’t look right.



T"

I missed seeing the tail as well. Never second guess another fisherman's measurement..."

It's a horrible photo. I was so proud of my plan to measure all fish on that trip on the tape, but a third of them moved as I took the photo and all the photos look horrible because of the water and canoe clutter.

T, I don't do those fractional measurements. For me, a 19 and 3/4 inch fish is a 19 inch fish.

missmolly: "T, I don't do those fractional measurements. For me, a 19 and 3/4 inch fish is a 19 inch fish. "

You should. There's generally a huge difference between a 20" and a 20 7/8" smallmouth...

bobbernumber3: "

bumabu: ",,,,Gonna measure my paddle tonight. "

Well. What did it measure? Or just stick with the 22"?"

I know such an amateur move…just say 22…don’t mention you haven’t measured the paddle…certainly don’t give a timeline for measurement :)

T

ericinely: "

missmolly: "T, I don't do those fractional measurements. For me, a 19 and 3/4 inch fish is a 19 inch fish. "

You should. There's generally a huge difference between a 20" and a 20 7/8" smallmouth..."

Did you see the "Length and Weight" thread with the link to the biggest Texas smallmouth? A shorter fish can outweigh a longer fish, which is why I give more weight to backs and bellies than length.

missmolly: "T, I don't do those fractional measurements. For me, a 19 and 3/4 inch fish is a 19 inch fish. "Remember your grade school math!
19.5 you round up always. 19.4 and you round down!

Finally measured my paddle and the fish taped out to 20" on the nose. My brother who is an avid angler said that he would guess the weight at 5.5 pounds considering how thick it was. So that's what I am recording it as. No matter what, it was by far the funnest smallmouth I have ever boated and was the largest by a little bit. Seeing that fish explode completely out of the water and tail dance has to be my greatest fishing memory to date.

Good fish! Thanks for the update.