I think folks talk about river smallies and lake smallies down at Dale Hollow all the time.

The assumption is that we won't get bigger fish because the original Obey river smallies are not present in the huge numbers they used to be.

As far as differences, I've noticed colorization and other stuff that make me think there are differences.

Also, the fish up in Canada seem to be FOOTBALLS, all the time .

Other than that, just speculation.