Small Mouth Buffalo

It looks like I may have forgotten to post this picture. I don't see it when I scroll down the page. Forgive me if it's been posted before, but even if it has, it was such a nice fish I don't mind posting it again one bit.

This fish was from a tough session this past fall of 2017. We tried a spot in the morning that didn't work out and then moved to another spot just before lunch. The wind was gusting to 30 mph at times and the conditions were pretty tough, although luckily it was a sunny day.

After losing a fish around lunch time, it was beginning to look like we'd end without a fish. My fishing partner threw in the towel around 3 p.m. and then about 20 minutes after he left, I caught this absolutely beautiful, flawless small mouth buffalo. This was the most pristine small mouth buffalo I have ever caught in this location. It weighed 16 pounds. Most of the bigger buff's look a little rough when they grow very big at all, but this one made me a happy fisherman.

Lake Erie

Update 12/4/17: After some additional research online, I'm beginning to think the fish in the picture below is not 100% small mouth buffalo. It looks to be a hybrid of some type. Black buffalo / Small-Mouth, Big Mouth / Small-Mouth, or something like that. Either way it's still a cool fish.

My favorite carp fishing spot over the years, which is near my home, easily accessed and a consistent producer did not let me down last weekend. I fished 7 1/2 hours with two bites and nothing landed, but as I started to pack up and head home I heard a few "beeps" on the alarm.

I picked up the rod and reeled gently and soon realized "fish on".

Very careful not to lose the fish, I kept the drag fairly loose. The fish started far right and ended up far left with the loose drag. I loosened it even more as the fish neared the net to be doubly sure there wouldn't be a hook pull once I say it was a very nigh small-mouth buffalo.

It turned out not to be a new personal best for me, but does rank 3rd on my largest small-mouth buffalo catches in the last 3 years.

This rig did not catch anything for me this time out,
but many people catch carp on similar rigs.

My personal best small-mouth buffalo is just over 21 pounds. This one was 20 pounds and a few ounces. It's a fish I am very
proud of. It saved a "blank" on a tough day of fishing and although you can't tell from the picture....it added a big smile
on my face when this fish was secured safely in the net.