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  1. #25
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    Re: 8lb Brownie out of Dale??

    Quote Originally Posted by BigSmallie View Post
    I talked to another guy Friday that said he caught a 8 lb 1 oz Smallmouth. It was not the guy in the article. Myself, I caught a 5 and 5 lb 9 oz smallmouth friday.
    That's a nice day, way to go.....

  2. #26
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    Re: 8lb Brownie out of Dale??

    Quote Originally Posted by tacoma View Post
    7.5 lb officially weighed on certified (not merley digital) scales in front of witnesses is still pretty rare for smallmouth even at Dale.
    Well, I'm not sure I can agree with that because many of the fishermen on the lake now-a-days practice catch and release. Are they rare because 7+ smallies really are *rare* or is it just because fewer fisherman are bringing them to the scales?

    I wish we had a polling feature on this board. So here's a poll I made for readers of this thread. What would you have done had you caught that baby? It's all anonymous LOL

    http://tinyurl.com/2cz9ha

    ...BillH

  3. #27
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    Re: 8lb Brownie out of Dale??

    Quote Originally Posted by hartmacw View Post
    Nice fish... too bad the line that says, "The fish is now with the taxidermist".

    Now the real question - I started fishing the hollow about 20 years ago. At that time a 7 lb. smallie didn't raise a lot of eyebrows, especially at the dock where locals saw these fish all the time. Getting over 8 caused some stir. The picture is of a nice (awesome, actually) fish, don't get me wrong, and better than I've ever caught, but does it say anything about the quality of fish at Dale when we're publishing articles of 7½ lb. fish? So, are fish over 8 still in the Hollow? Elsewhere? Is the record 12 lb'er swimming in the Hollow? Elsewhere?
    I have met and talked with Bobby Westmoreland, Billy's Brother, and also talked with Steve Headrick many many times on fishing Dale Hollow past and present. Bobby tells stories or truths, whichever you believe, of him and Billy going out and catching 10-20 fish over 5lbs in a day. Bobby made a comment that he was the biggest poacher around for he would keep the fish and sell them for money as a kid and that is how he made part of his money back then. Bobby can't remember how many fish over 7lb that he has landed and he did not fish NEARLY as much as Billy so you can only imagine how many big girls Billy caught out of Dale Hollow back in the day, (never heard a word of Billy poaching for the record). Years ago, 7-8 pounders were about as common as 3-4 pounders are today. Muskie was stocked in the lake regularly and they impacted the amount of baitfish back then and too many big Smallies were taken out of the lake. Catch and Release was not practiced and people ate these fish for supper. There were several years where the quality of fish suffered by today's standards much less 20 years ago. Several years ago they stopped stocking Muskie, they increased the number of trout stocked in the lake, and imposed the slot limit on Smallies allowing only 1 fish over 21" and 1 fish under 16" per day to be kept and all others had to be released. I know people don't always follow this rule and have first hand knowledge of some guys from Missouri that got busted back in Winter of 2005 for poaching Smallies ( I know because I watched the game warden pull them over, then he called in the troops and they searched their houseboat that had MANY MANY fillets in the freezer) Catch and Release, not stocking Muskie, increased the stocking of trout, and the slot limit has brought back Dale Hollow to what it is today and what it will be tomorrow. Another 3-5 years of the same and I think you will see a lot more 7 pounders caught out of the lake. I have seen a noticeable difference in the quality of fish that I catch out of the lake from December 2004, when I first fished the lake to this past winter. I have caught 2 over 6, 1 that was 5-15 (6-0 if I held her into the wind), I guess another 20 or so over 5 and no telling how many 3 and 4 pounders in the few trips that I go every winter FNF fishing. A 5 pounder is an excellent fish, but around Dale Hollow today nobody really brags on the fish until it gets over 6lbs. The guides and people around Dale talk of keepers over 21" more than weight. I saw a fish that went 4 1/2 lbs and was only 18 1/2 inches long and another fish that was just under 5lbs caught on a Shiner that had a 10" rainbow trout in its gullet MINUS the head. There are pictures on a particular guides website of him holding the Smallie in one hand and the trout that he removed in the other. This trout had to be 12" long to begin with and was still eating to be caught on the shiner, amazing. There are plenty of 7 - 10 pounders in the lake and more of these will be caught in the future. There is even a 12 pounder swimming in Dale and she is waiting on me to get healed up and get back down to Celina to make my acquaintance. Good luck in your quest for the big smallies in Dale Hollow and rest assured the lake is coming back to its storied hayday. With all the fishing pressure, high tech electronics, high tech baits and other stuff, it may not get back to catching 10 - 20, 5+ pounders a day but I will say(Not trying to be cocky or anything) that I expect to catch at least 1 - 5 pounder plus every day that I put my boat in Dale Hollow. I have certainly caught my fair share and maybe more than my share but I love it more than anything on this planet next to my wife and kids and can't wait until my 3 year old has his first tangle with a "Big Ol Brown Fish".

  4. #28
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    Re: 8lb Brownie out of Dale??

    Well said Woody. The only thing that I can add is that I think all the grass at Dale has a lot to do with the quality and numbers of BIG smallies. I personally am not very accomplished at fishing the grass, and I don't troll with live bait, so I am limited to catching my dream fish on the fnf. Btw,that fish in the article was a bute. I know that thanks to Woody and a lot of people on this board, my views of keeping a wall hanger have changed. I now carry a digital camera and tape measure to get all the info I need for a replica(can you say jinx).

  5. #29
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    Re: 8lb Brownie out of Dale??

    Quote Originally Posted by jeremys View Post
    7lb and 8oz was the offical weight. The is a article in the Courier-Journal about it. It is a HOG!!!!!
    Talked to Strange Bait and Tackle.. it weighed 7 pounds 2 ounces at the store and was 24 inches long.. When it made the paper it had grown by an inch and 6 ounces.. LOL..
    Fishermen and their stories..
    Jim Dicken

  6. #30
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    Re: 8lb Brownie out of Dale??

    Quote Originally Posted by fishbum View Post
    Talked to Strange Bait and Tackle.. it weighed 7 pounds 2 ounces at the store and was 24 inches long.. When it made the paper it had grown by an inch and 6 ounces.. LOL..
    Fishermen and their stories..
    Jim Dicken
    That's what I meant by how many TRUE seven pound plus bass have been caught over the years. I've been doing this a long time and I truely believe the number of that size fish are not as great as some believe.

  7. #31
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    Re: 8lb Brownie out of Dale??

    I can believe that. I know if I ever caught a smallie of that size, I would probably think it was at least 9 pounds because I haven't (yet) caught anything close enough to compare it to. I once caught a hybrid at Barren that I would swear went 12 pounds, but when weighed it actually was slightly over 9 LOL. Then again, it is my story and I am sticking to it!

  8. #32
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    Re: 8lb Brownie out of Dale??

    Most of the tournaments I see there are just for an example 50 boats X 2 anglers X 8 hrs on the water. The large fish at most of the major tourneys is usually under 6 lbs that I have seen. I'm not talking about the local clubs. So that's 800 hrs total fishing to land a big fish of usually the upper 5 lb range sometimes over 6 (usually a largemouth) I could be wrong but that is what I'm seeing at Dale. The big tourney they had on Cumberland last year no Smallmouth over 6. Big fish is usually 5.5 to 6 lbs. I could be wrong but thats a lot of hours to come up with a fish this size and these guys are proffesionals. If there are some truly huge smallmouths in Dale which ther very well may be as many boaters that are fishing live will eventually catch one. I love Dale but I'm not seeing the super large fish at any of the MAJOR tourneys. Maybe a local club claims7-8 pounders . I know there are some 8+ but I've seen very few.

  9. #33
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    Re: 8lb Brownie out of Dale??

    McClintock caught 2 Smallies over 8lbs each in Dale Hollow in the winter of 2005/2006. Both fish were caught about 40 feet deep over 60 feet deep river channel trolling 12" Trout imitation plugs fishing for Muskie. I have spent time talking with him and he TARGETS trophy Smallies out of Dale on certain guide trips when that is what the client wants. He told me that he fishes river channel bends with tail spinners in about 50 feet of water, vertical jigging when targeting Giant Smallies. He was also suprised at the number of Smallies I have personally caught over 5lbs on FNF including my 2 over 6. He stated that very few of the ABSOLUTE GIANTS ever come shallow enough to be caught on FNF and those that spawn, move up and spawn and back down deep they go in a matter of a day or so. He even said that the ABSOLUTE GIANTS will spawn in water that is deeper than normal. All good points for they did not get that big for any reason. A certain guide that works Dale year around told me that he personnally saw the world record smallie live and within about 15 feet when he was scuba diving the lake a year or so ago. Said it looked like a 4x12 and about 28" long. He said it was the biggest he ever saw by a mile. I certainly will fish Dale until the day I die in hopes of hooking the 12 pounder and will take all the 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 and 11 pounders that I can land until the 12 shows her big beautiful face. I still say, when and I do mean when, the record is caught it will not be by anyone targeting Smallies. My guess is 7' Heavy Rod with 17-20lb test line, trolling for Muskie with a huge Rainbow Trout plug is the person that catches the record. The biggest line I ever use year around is 10lb test when night fishing for Smallies on my 7' MH Loomis/Curado. I don't think I really have a chance or landing her on this outfit much less my FNF rod with 4-6lb Flouro leader.

  10. #34
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    Re: 8lb Brownie out of Dale??

    You'd better get her before 4/15 'cause that's when I'll be there for 10 days and she doesn't have a chance. But I promise if I catch her I'll release her alive at the Star Point marina.

  11. #35
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    Re: 8lb Brownie out of Dale??

    Elnuts;
    I had the creel survey officer on Dale tell me a few years ago, he thought the next record would come from Pickwick, he said there has been more 9 pounders caught there in the last few years than any place in the world. Not sayin that she aint swimmin in the Holler, just repeating him.

  12. #36
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    Re: 8lb Brownie out of Dale??

    Lots of 9's but no 10's EVER.. 3 or 4 10's from Dale Hollow..
    Why?
    Rainbow Trout in Dale Hollow not in Pickwick.
    Just my take on it.
    Jim

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