6.5 lb. Smallmouth Bass caught by Marcus Dismas in Washington, United States on 06/22/08

wemt to this place Washington State U students and locals know as "the rock" and went to my traditional little hiding hole aside of the rock, and completely invisible from the road and set to jigging the vertical structure underwater (in 50ft+ deep).
at the point i hooked this largest catch, i had already neared my limit on entirely 2lb+ smallies.
it bit hard and fought long. i actually thought i'd lose the fist when she went deep into an area i knew (from the 'drawdowns' to have a rater deep and long crevasse filled with old trees and other snag hazzards. i was pleasantly relieved whe the fish itself actually free itself of these.
it took better than 15 minutes to bring it to shore.
the snake river 'drawdowns' (as pushed by the enviromaniacs) were an enviromental nightmare given the topographical subsurface structure on these reservoirs. it was meant to help the salmon fingerlings get to sea easier, but instead it left them high 'n' dry upon the 'shelfs' all along the river. it nearly wiped out entirely ('extinted') the snake and salmon river runs...because small salmon (like most other fish) stay in the shallows. this is what happens when you let extremists effect policy.
it also wiped out what possibly was the finest smallmouth fishery anywhere...or at least in the west. it also damaged the cafish populations too. the only thing it didn't hurt were the suckers and the carp...because they feasted on all of the dead frish and shellfish as the water rose and returned to normal.
this fishery is only just beginning to recover some 10+ years later. fishermen, remain silent no longer or this could happen to you!

Posted by Marcus Dismas about 1 month ago