@ The Real Fish Ohio

Pending Wisconsin smallmouth state record. #Wisconsin #smallmouth #record Here's the story. "It was a grindy day, not many fish, but some big ones. Big ones being 5s. I found a small spot with some fish on it and caught back to back 5s. I wanted to get Austin in on the action so I grabbed a rod of his I preferred over the one he was using for that technique, tied on one of my baits and handed Austin the rod. I got him on the spot and said, “cast towards that.” I sat back and watched the biggest blob I’ve ever seen come towards his bait and he hooked up. I have never seen a 7 pound smallmouth so when I netted it for him, I thought that’s what a 7 pounder looks like. I put it on the scale and it went to 9.65. Before it locked, I took the fish off the scale because it had to be wrong. I zeroed the scale out and put it back on and sure enough. 9.65 pounds. We welled it immediately started making calls. We tried to get a fish biologist down to the landing to weigh and certify but 27 calls later, we couldn’t reach a biologist. In order to verify it as a state record under current Wisconsin rules, you have to take the fish. After we discussed, we decided that this fish was well enough above the state record that it was worth getting it on a certified scale. 9.70 on the certified scale. Unbelievable."