Fall 2022
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BREAKING THE SEVEN- POUND SMALLMOUTH MARK
Out of all the bass species, smallmouth are my favorite and have a special place in my heart. I’m blessed to live in the Pacific Northwest, with many places to catch trophy smallmouth, and I have spent thousands of hours targeting them back home and also in the Great Lakes region.
I’ve been blessed to catch many over 5-pounds, six over 6-pounds and now have two over 7-pounds to my name after a great fall fishing back home.
My new personal best is 7.03-pounds after one of the craziest hours of fishing in my life, where three over 7-pounds came into the boat in one hour of fishing.
A buddy’s 7.54-pound PB followed my personal best, and I caught another 7.01-pound smallmouth to conclude the
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flurry while fishing a blade bait in deep water with water temperatures in the low 40s.
The theme for these fish, as well as all of my previous biggest smallmouth, was obviously fishing somewhere capable of producing giants, but the weather was also a significant factor.
Each of the trophies I have caught was during cold weather situations, both in the early pre-spawn and late fall. Fishing during the times when others have already stopped fishing for the year or haven’t begun yet for the season has proven to be the best way to catch the biggest smallmouth of my life. It was December in the rain with air temperatures in the 30s when I set my new personal best.
Everyone loves catching bass, but catching big ones is much more fun. As a lifelong bass angler, I’ve spent my life obsessed with targeting them and will continue as long as I live.
While I wouldn’t consider myself a true trophy hunter, I emphasized catching bigger fish this year and it worked out. Now, the bar has been raised, and I’ll have to try even harder now if I hope to break my new PBs set in the past year. •