Quote Originally Posted by jwp View Post
A 19.5 inch LM from the river is a special fish. Congratulations. Yes, those river fish can fight!

That large, thick and wide fish with a white belly was likely a drum (another name is white perch). They love a crank especially on rocky banks. I've caught them up to about 7 pounds. When they first hit, you're thinking (hoping) you've got a huge smallie... But they won't come up and jump and don't go on those high-speed drag-ripping runs... they're slow and stout like a mule. Fun to catch.
I'll second that about drum. I caught one about a month ago that was probably 3 lbs or so on ultralight tackle out of my kayak. I thought I had a nice bass for the first 10 seconds or so.