Very Nice , how old?

Whoa!!! Attaboy.

BeautiFUL! Great specimen.

Sweet!

I'm thinking this one hatched in 2011, very likely one of TJ's babbies.

Certainly looks a lot like TJ.

I see the resemblance.

Great fish Shorty! Im jealous... So by the age of that fish I have about 3 yrs before my larger SMB will look like that! Bet that fish was a real hoot to reel in!

Go Big Red! Today's pregame SMB.

Sweet hog!!

Nice smallie! Some day, I hope to be as fortunate!

Wow. That is really impressive.

Shorty,
Have you eaten any of your SMB? Just curious.. How are they?

I hope that isn't sacrilege.....

A few from late this afternoon.





and this fat 8" YP, I assume this one has been hitting pellets hard recently.

I have eaten a few, they are delicious.

+1

My bride prepares SMB and LMB like she did sea bass when we lived in Asia. Scaled, gutted and gilled then steamed (head still on) with Thai spices on a platter. Absolutely fantastic! The eyes are a special treat we give to dinner guests!...you only want to eat the outside of the eyes as the center is kind of like a #2 pencil eraser!

Bill, our Hong Kong exchange student cooked LMB exactly the same way. I couldn't imagine how good it turned out!

Shorty, you will need to get a larger board for next year!!!

My 12" SMB put up a great fight. I can't imagine a 17". Must be fun. One of there days..

It has been fun!

I have been catching most of the larger SMB on a green pumpkin chatterbait with 4" green pumpkin senko trailer, the bait has a 5" profile. I have been burning the bait along the edge of the pond in 3ft of water. Water temps have been right around 60 degrees all month long. I have also caught a few 17" SMB on my ultra light while RES fishing with an 1/80th ounce micro jig, those are a blast.

You're gonna need a bigger measuring board!!!

Excellent, Shorty! That's one brave, and greedy, yellow perch!

WOW Shorty those are very nice (well conditioned) fish. Nice work !!!!

I'd be interested to see if that YP had a belly full of pellets or something else.....

To me, it looks a bit thin if it was eating pellets like that all the time.

I agree. I don't see many perch eating pellets in the summer and they do have a lot of RES and GSH competition. I suspect this one has been getting more pellets once the RES and GSH slowed down.

It was 38 degrees here this evening and I managed to catch a small 13" Thanksgiving SMB. Looking at the forecast this might be my last open water fish of the year.

Halftime, NE v. IA. 6lb test, 1/64 oz jig, no. 8 size hook with half a nightcrawler slowly jigged off the bottom. I am guessing 17"+.

Shorty - Your management efforts have produced some very nice smallmouth bass. We look forward to what your fish will be growing to next year.

Another beauty Shorty!

Nice work !!!!!!!

This might be my last open water fish of 2016, from last night after work. Not a big one but the fight was sluggish. My pond is 99% skimmed over with ice this morning.

Beautiful fish. We've got some pretty cold temps coming in. I suspect the next time I get to the farm, I'll have ice. I bought a ice auger last year, but my ice never got thick enough to support me. I am a little on the heavy side, ha!