From Ok News Release:
http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/wl_new...e_in_four_years

Very nice fish, anyone know anything about a Resorvior Strain SMB? Sunil? Cecil?


Smallmouth bass record broken for the third time in four years

For the third time in four years, an Oklahoma angler has broken the state record for smallmouth bass.

Steve McLarty now holds the record with an 8-pound, 3-ounce smallmouth bass he caught on March 4 on Lake Eufaula in east central Oklahoma.

McLarty, who lives in Broken Arrow, was competing in a Fishers of Men bass tournament when he hooked the big fish in a quiet, rocky cove.

“We actually pulled into the area on the way to another spot first thing in the morning. I was using a jerk bait and was hoping to catch a good smallmouth, but I certainly did not expect to catch one this big,” McLarty said.

The record fish measured 23.5 inches long and was 19 inches in girth . McLarty was using a Shimano rod and a G-Loomis reel spooled with 10-pound test line.

The previous record smallmouth holder was Karl Council, also of Broken Arrow, who caught an 8-pound, 1-ounce smallmouth bass in March of 2005 on W.R Holway Lake in northeastern Oklahoma.

While he may hold the bragging rights to the state record smallmouth, McLarty did not place in the top three of the tournament and the big fish award went to a 9-pound largemouth bass caught by another tournament angler.

“I heard the big largemouth was caught just about 100 yards away. That is just my luck to catch a state record smallmouth and not even win the big fish award. But I am certainly not complaining though, it is a real honor to catch a fish like this,” McLarty said.

Eufaula Lake, in east central Oklahoma, was first stocked with smallmouth bass in 1992 according to Garland Wright, central region fisheries supervisor for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. The lake was stocked with a reservoir-strain smallmouth bass that originated in Tennessee and Eufaula is now home to a self-sustaining population. The sprawling reservoir has a growing reputation as a first class smallmouth bass fishing destination.

In addition to Eufaula, Oklahoma is home to several outstanding smallmouth fisheries including Texoma, Skiatook, Lawtonka and Broken Bow lakes.

For a complete list of record fish and the procedures regarding certifying state record fish, consult the “2006 Oklahoma Fishing Guide.” If you think you may have hooked a record fish it is important that you weigh the fish on an Oklahoma State Department of Agriculture certified scale and the weight is verified by a Wildlife Department employee.

Caption: Steve McLarty now holds the record with an 8-pound, 3-ounce smallmouth bass he caught on March 4 on Lake Eufaula in east central Oklahoma. McLarty, who lives in Broken Arrow, was competing in a Fishers of Men bass tournament when he hooked the big fish in a quiet, rocky cove.

Reservoir strain fish? Hmmm... that's a new one. So this fish evolved in reservoirs over thousands of years?

I think what they mean is the original fish came from the TVA lakes. To call them a different strain is a misnomer in my opinion.

What can I say, some outdoor writers are dimwits. I know I was one of them. :p

Wow, Ric! Thanks for posting. I had not heard of that fish. Impressive indeed.

Like Cecil, I had not previously heard of the "reservoir" strain. However, those deep, cool, Tennessee resevoirs (e.g., Dale Hollow) have put out monster smallies for years. That must be the source of their stocked fish.

Ric - As Cecil and Dave have mentioned the reservoir strain of SMB would just be offspring of SMB that have been grown in reservoirs or lakes for quite a few years. Lake or reservoir SMB tend to have larger top end sizes compared to stream living SMB. This is probably due more to food availability than special or unique genes that promote larger fish. These fish are not recognized by the American Fisheries Society as an official genetic strain or subspecies of SMB.

Oh well, I guess it's just wishfull thinking there might be a SMB strain that was more suitable for spawning in still waters.

That's not limited to just outdoor writers, or to you, Cecil.

Ric, thanks for posting that story.

At 23.5" in length, and 19" in girth, that's a beautiful fish.

I've got some 20" SMB in my pond. I can't wait to see what they are like this summer.

All of my SMB were from a SMB Hatchery in Carbondale, IL. I had two stockings of SMB in the 3" to 7" range, and then a stocking of the Hatchery's brood stock (about 55 of them ranging from 15" to 19" in length).

These SMB have spawned in my pond. I can't say if I had much survival of frye though.

I believe if SMB are pond or lake raised, you can get them to spawn in ponds. Survival of the YOY is the question.

Wow Sunil - 20" in your pond. We need to talk sometime. That is impressive. Do you have them pellet trained and/or what is their forage base?

I was impressed that I had some up around 17-18". 20" is incredible!!

NEDOC, these SMB are pellet trained. They came that way from the hatchery. However, I don't feed on a regular basis, just some hand feeding from time to time.

My largest SMB have only been in my pond since early summer '05. Those were the 55 or so that were already 15" to 19" long when they were delivered. These were the brood stock (breeders) from the Hatchery.

As far as my initial SMB stockings of 3"/5"/7", I have some of those up to about 11" and 12" now.

The forage base is Yellow Perch, Golden Shiners, and Fatheads.

How big is your pond again, Sunil?

Those are some impressive fish, regardless of origin. They fight so hard and are such beautiful fish it's hard not to be jealous of you. I saw a picture of one of NEDOC's better smallies a couple of days ago and it had incredible coloration. I wish he would post a picture...or I'd do it for him if he wanted. Great fish. I think in the past these fish were considered to be a poor choice for ponds. They didn't know wht they were missing!!

Extremely interesting comments. When I was growing up, Tennessee was always kind of considered to be "the" smallmouth hotbed. I'm fascinated by the fish because in Eastern Nebraska we don't have appropriate habitat in our public waters, so we might go to Lake McConaughy in the western part of the state, which is a 30,000 acre impoundment and catch these gorgeous 2-3 pound fish that would jump like maniacs and bust up your tackle. They had almost a mystical quality.

...or is "mythical" the word I'm searching for. :rolleyes:

Bruce, go ahead and post the picture. Or if I have time today I will go through the process of learning how. I need to do that soon anyway.

You have to go with me to Lake Sharpe or Wilson in KS sometime for some smallie action. Lake Sharpe is unreal.

Another great thing about smallies is that they can be had with a flyrod. :p

Bruce or Nedoc - do either of you know of any sources for SMB in the 8-10" range nearby?

I grew up fishing the creeks in Middle Tennessee for smallies. A lot of people would look at these creeks and think there wouldn't be a bass in them the creeks are so small. The creeks in my area drain into Old Hickory on the Cumberland river which isn't a smallmouth reservoir by any stretch, so the largest smallies I ever caught in our creeks are in the 3 lb range about 4-6 miles upstream from the Cumberland. The main reason TN has such a great smallmouth fishery in the deep, cold reservoirs is that we are at the southern end of the smallie range, so ours enjoy a long growing season for a smallie.

Shorty - Try Bill Hale out of McCook or Richard Carlson out of Wayne. I think both advertise in the back of Nebraskaland. They may not have any available until fall.

My cousin at Blue Valley Aquaculture in Sutton 402.773.5617 stumbles across some once in a while as well.

This is a link to some photos from the Big SMB stocking from early summer '05. There are some pics from the '05 Bassmaster Classic also.

http://photobucket.com/albums/y159/RodNReel/

I have a few other pics at my home computer that I'll put up at the site which will show some growth in the SMB.

Bruce, my pond is 6-7 acres.

Robinson, I believe I can break that 5lb. limit for the SMB that you refer to. I'll have to work on it assuming that I've had survival through this past winter.

I don't know Robinson. I have seen some really big smallmouths out of small bodies of water. I have learned never to say never when it comes to nature. Maybe as a rule you won't get really large smallmouths out of small lakes and ponds on a regular basis, but I don't see why there would be a limitation on their maximum size simply by the size of the body of water. I would think if they can get big in small creeks they should be able to do say in ponds and lakes. My personal experience with the other species I grow out, is the size of the body of water is not as important as the water quality and food supply.

Maybe the fish are getting cropped easier in small bodies of water vs. larger systems?

Just respectfully disagreeing.

I love fishing for smallmouth and unfortunatley my pond won't support them. These are some picutes of some of them that we caught in the UP of Michigan. We actually lost two that were bigger than these.

Where did my post go? I think it was my best ever. Did I get moderated?

Bruce, not by me. I often forget to hit the Add Reply. Maybe you did it.

The odd thing was that it showed up in the "today's active topics". It just wouldn't show up on the actual thread. I was just kidding about best post ever, but it WAS pretty good.

Bruce not me. But I would like to read the post if possible.

Robinson,

I've see reproduction from the smallmouth in my .62 acre pond. Not saying it was a lot but I've definitely see some, and I've also seen smallmouth bedding. What I believe hurts the smallmouth in my pond is the precense of more aggresive largemouth bass.

Very nice pic's Sunil! I've got to get water in my pond those pic's drive me nuts!
I hadn't seen the tank pic's. Neat-o-cool!

My neighbor's pond is 0.3 acre #9(1/4") crushed limestone for a beach material and golf ball sized stone lining the banks down to 3 ft deep. Just SMB in that pond. Good zooplankton numbers. NO forage fish. He gets some YOY SMB produced each year.

Attack of the Sunil smallies!!!

Wow the markings on those fish really stand out don't they! I'm still finding dead ones and some with fugus on them in my pond. I've got a few hanging around the shallow water which is not a good sign. Hope there are more that are fine for Sunil.

What's the upper limit on water temp for Smallmouth survival?

Theo,

According to this source it's lethal limit is 95 F. I'm skeptical. Sounds pretty high to me for smallmouth.

http://aquanic.org/publicat/state/il-in/as-508.htm

Interestingly I do know a few years ago the IN Fisherman magazine had an article that stated the smallmouth being a cool water fish may be a misnomer. The theory is that the reason one finds them in deeper cooler waters than largemouth is they may not be able to compete with largemouth in the shallower warmer waters and are pushed deeper. I swear I remember reading an article in one of the first Pond Boss magazines that quotes a grower in the south saying they did just fine in 80 plus degree water.

Believe it or not they are calling the northern largemouth bass now a cool water fish now in aquaculture circles.

I had a grower tell me his smallmouth are the first to go off feed in the fall and the last to start up again. Odd for a fish that is supposed to want cooler water.

I rarely catch smallmouth bass icefishing in my pond but routinely catch largemouths.

That's the taxidermist/artist in you.

Some of the best smallie mounts I've ever seen were almost a little "over the top" when it came to painting those vertical bands. Beautiful, beautiful fish.

Here is the one I like from the Classic. Remember these SMB are smart -- they won the spelling bee against the Hollywood crowd.



Or this one:

Bruce,
Was it necessary to post that pic????
Now I can't open this post without turning green! :rolleyes:
You're right. Beautiful fish! And I'm gona grow some too!

These pics are from June '05. The large broodstock smallies went in to my pond in April '05 (I checked my records).


This is me:



This is my buddy, Dave:



These are two different smallies (the one on the left looks like an easy 5lbs):



I did not have a scale with me, but the Smallie in the second picture looks like a 5 pounder.

Nice fish Sunil, & looks like a nice pond too!

Sunil, June with windbreakers. And you get the first PB mag. Man am I jealous. Nice fish. Spawning in June?

My post that got lost earlier today was a rare combination of literary genius and biting wit. It was essentially Tolstoy meets Hunter S. Thompson. The reviews were coming in from coast to coast. Some were saying that it was one of the most insightful commentaries ever into the psyche of the smallmouth bass. I was preparing to sign a contract for the movie rights when BANG!, away it went, into the great heap of discarded 1's and 0's that make up our collective international trash bin. You could almost feel the air being sucked out of the universe. Alas, I've decided to recreate the post to the best of my ability. It went something like this.

"Smallies blah, blah, blah. (commentary on LMB vs. SMB) More blah, blah, blah. Oughta ask Willis something...yada, yada, yada. Then I interjected with something...can't remember what, but it had to do with Robinson's something or other that he said, and how I agreed with it and all, but maybe the smaller smallies and the bigger largies couldn't coexist, something, something, something".

The problem was your post was classified material and it was a security risk to put it on the Internet.

Using the world smallmouth and another one together is a code word for a future military operation. The whole post was instantly deleted for that reason.

I think it was these two words together:

smallmouth 01010101010101

Yeah Bruce, that's how my rare flashes of brilliance usually go. Forgot to hit "Add Reply".

Bruce:

It was a great loss to civilization. A sure-thing Nobel Prize for literature, disappearing in a puff of electrons. Unborn generations will weep incessantly and uncontrollably at the loss. A handful of lucky Pondmeisters will be able to tell their grandchildren "I once saw the greatest forum post in the history of the Internet, before it vanished for all time."

The moderator got moderated.

Wow - Sunil, those may be the most beautiful smallies I have ever seen. Congrats!!!

I hadn't thought of that. You're right.

Somewhere there's a Little Janie's Cake Bakeing forum with a profound post by someone named Bruce Condello that's got all the ladies scratching their heads.

LOL!

Cmon guys, if Mr Condomello was moderated, it was by him after a HUGE dose of the gas. Or, was it actually just punishment fer hyjackin my GH post? Also, Sunil, be carefull posting those pics. I know the travel route when ya get Cecils smallies. Bob-O

ROFLMAO!!

I think Bruce really posted that profound commentary at KoiPond.com, and he knows it.

Great post, Ric!

Ric :

Ye made me fall offa my stool and break me bones again. Bloody William Kidd

I own a 6 acre pond in nothern New Hampshire. The pond is not deep,maybe 10 ft at its deepest avrg depth maybe 5 feet. its spring fed with an additional small brook that empties into it. I get about 50 gal/min ave throughout the year. 4 years ago i stocked 140 redbreasts into the pond that before that had no fish in it. (ive owned the pond for 12 years) The pond has a sandy gravely bottom on 30 % of the bottom. The sunfish reproduced and are thriving. 2 years ago i put in 20 smallmouth @6-8 inches. They spawned 2 years ago the fish are doing great surviving and growing fast