MidTennFisher":3pv6i6h8 said:
That's a good Smallie anywhere but especially on the Harpeth! I know that river is full of them but from what I gather, not much size to speak of. Congrats!
They are in there, but tough to figure out and even harder to land!!
I used to live right on the harpeth in grassland and would fish it four or five times a week. The first year I lived there I couldn't really figure them out. After a year or two of losing BIG smallies, I changed my tactics, gear, and learned the more productive water and patterns of the fish. Sometimes the giant smallies will be in spots you wouldn't expect such as heavily fished areas and main access points. Floating the river was the least productive for me as far as big fish cause more often than not it took lots of time in one hole to pizz em off enough to get them to smash it.
Fish aggressively and don't think just cause you've casted in the same spot 100 times that the 101st cast won't be when she flies out and drills it. For the last three years I lived in the area, I was able to land several MONSTER smallmouth a year.. 22-23"+ fish with some weighing over 5, 5 1/2lbs!! No crap!!
The bigger smallmouth in the harpeth are some of the hardest fighting, and high flying fish (as far as bass) I've ever caught. They will put your gear to the test!!
Oh yeah, btw great fish!!!
