What happened up there.

[22RangerZ520R]

Lot's of things make me KNOW it isn't real.....

A fish of that magnitude is SUPER rare. Not saying there aren't 9lb smallies swimming around LSC/Great Lakes, but there would be more 7lb-8.5lb smallies caught in my opinion if there was a 9lb swimming around LSC... It seems the weight for a "giant" LSC smallie is in the 6lb-7lb range, and every half pound or so over say 7lb is even more and more rare/scarce. There are two photos of TRUE 9lb+ state certified smallies that were caught recently and they are in a whole different class than this guys supposed 9lb... Both of the TRUE 9lb+ pics of the state certified fish look way longer and bigger than his supposed 9lb.

The "ratio" of weights for largemouth are roughly double those of smallies (the world record largemouth is roughly double that of the smallmouth world record). So with that, catching a 9lb smallie would be like catching a 18lb largemouth and to only have two lousy photos of a fish that size is absurd!!! A high teen largemouth is rare even out in Cali and those guys would have taking tons of pics and multiple videos of a 15lb+ largemouth!!!! There's NO way any other die hard bass fisherman would have caught a fish of that size and only take two pictures of that fish - one weird super up close selfie type pic and another pic of a $20 Berkley scale not showing the full fish (he could have been pulling the tail for all we know, waves on LSC effecting the scale or his scale is "off"). I don't care if it was catch and release season or not, I would have thrown her in the livewell for a few minutes and "gathered myself" and got out my measuring tape and set up a video of it then cut her loose. I thought I saw where he had a buddy with him in the boat, but if not and he was solo, I would have called over the nearest boat and have them do a video of me measuring the length, girth and weight of that size of a fish (not just snap two lousy pics and tossing her back....)!!! I would have also asked for someone else's scale to "double check" the accuracy of my scale and if one wasn't available I would have done a separate video of me showing the accuracy of my scale with a 5lb or 10lb dumbbell after I got home... Both my PB smallie and largemouth I have video of length and girth along with scale pics (I used a IGFA certified 15lb Boga grip, not a $20 Berkley scale) and tons of other pics.

And being on a couple fishing shows doesn't "improve" his credibility with me. Just because you're on a fishing show doesn't mean you know what you're doing....

If he would have properly documented his catch there would be ZERO discussion on all these forums because there would be ZERO doubt that his catch wasn't legit. It's 2018, not the 1700's.... there are plenty of fish measuring options on the market to verify your catch including video. And IF he's been on all these TV shows and has "street credit" with them, then he should have KNOWN that he should have got better documentation of that sized catch, it's not like it was grandpa with a worm and a cane pole who caught this "9lb" and didn't know what he had caught. The only reason there's buzz online about it is because everyone and their mom is questioning/arguing over the legitimacy of his catch (some naive people are taking his "word" for gospel truth).

A simple short 30-60 video of him measuring length/girth and then a full shot of the fish on the scale along with a "calibration verification" of his scale follow up video would have squashed all doubt of the legitimacy of his catch...

There's some guys out there that "stretch" their fish catches to generate interest/buzz on their social media accounts/YouTube channels, etc to increase their popularity with both their "sponsors" and the general public.

I'm ain't buying his 9lb story! FAKE NEWS!

And I didn't even touch on this guys supposed "sketchy" past.....

My .02

What makes you think it isn't real?

This is just me and my thinking here... Yes photos can be doctored, yes more pictures would be nice but I can't say what I'd do in that instance if I caught a 9 pound smallmouth. After reading all the comments last week on the thread you referenced particularly the one about him sinking his friends boat, it peaked my interest. I Googled him and voila! He's been on with Dave Mercer a few times, Pete Maina a few times, so obviously he's a pretty good angler if these guys trust him to produce. He's a pretty good musician (not my taste of music) with a record deal with Madonna's record label. According to him he received a phone call from Randy VanDam to congratulate him on the catch. Mr. VanDam holds the Ohio state record, so obviously they know each other and if he was a shady dude I can imagine that conversation would 've happened.

So why would this guy with some much to lose and nothing to gain (after all it wasn't certified) come up with this story? I know in your line of work you see stuff everyday that would contradict my thinking here I'll give you that, but I don't think for one second it's fake news. I did like that I use it all the time.

This is just my opinion, lets hear yours.

[12poundbass]

Like I said I don't know this guy, never heard of him until this fish popped up. In not a social media person this is as close as I'll ever come to it, so I don't know what generating traffic to your site does not do I care. You do make some good points about pictures, videos, and measurements. Honestly I can't tell you what I'd do. My mind tends to quit working when the adrenaline gets pumping, with your line of work you have no choice but to think strait when the adrenaline starts pumping.

One point I disagree with you on is there aren't enough big fish being caught close to that caliber of fish to says it's possible. There was a guy on another forum you and I are on who caught a 7-4 smallie I think was the weight, in northern Michigan. He fishes that lake all the time and usually catches 3-4 pounders with a few 5s thrown in then he catches a freak of nature who looks like he swallowed a bowling ball! You're suggesting (if I understand correctly) that shouldn't have been in there because he's averaging we'll say 4 pound smallmouth. The freaks are out there and if there's a lake that's going to produce a giant it's LSC.

Another thing and I know I'm going out on a limb here because it seems like the human race as a whole is devolving and the reason I brought up him being on shows and his record deal was if this is indeed fake it would be career suicide for him. I know I know people do it all the time.

We'll probably never know one way or another, and I guess who cares really. It's fun to debate about it though.

[castforcash]

I wish some of you would dig into this a little more so you could discover the real truth about this individual! He is a master schemer/scammer to benefit personal gain and notoriety via social media. He has a very bad reputation up here when it comes to tournaments and fishing in general. IT WAS NOT A 9LB. fish, not even close. I hope you guys coming up have good weather good fishing and enjoy your trips.

[castforcash]

12pound, his music career is nothing to write home about, it's not like he's making a nice living from it, but rather just ekeing out a living. He doesn't even own a boat! I will say his music isn't my cup of tea, but he is semi talented in that regard/kinda cheesy in my opinion.

[22RangerZ520R]

The points I've made about pics, videos and measurements are the "smoking gun"!

When I caught both my PB smallie and largemouth, the first thing I thought of (after my adrenaline dump) was to get it documented/"proof"... With this age of technology (video/cell phones/etc) it's absurd not to be able to document and "prove" a catch with measurements, etc.

And I'll stick by my opinion of not a lot of 7lb+ smallies are being reported/caught. I just got back from there from a 8.5 day trip at LSC and I had 27 smallies that were over 5lb+ (including two that were between 6lb - 6lb 2oz and one day catching a 27lb 12oz five fish smallie bag myself... I had 4 days with a five fish bag by myself that was 25lb 12oz or bigger!) and my fishing buddy had about the same amount over 5lb, together we had almost 50 smallies over 5lb... We fished hard, sun up to sun down the whole 8.5 days and I think we would have ran into a 7lb+ if they were "plentiful" in LSC. Like I said earlier; I'm not saying they aren't in there, but a smallie over 7lb+ is SUPER rare in LSC or the Great Lakes and to catch a 9lb+ is SUPER rare X 1,000,000... I just said that earlier about not a lot of 7lb+ smallies being caught to magnify just how rare a 9lb+ smallie is.

And yep, we'll NEVER know the truth about his "9lb" catch because there's NO PROOF...

Two lousy pics (one showing scale without whole fish in pic and one weird up close selfie) isn't PROOF.

I'm calling BS.... FAKE NEWS!!!

You do make some good points about pictures, videos, and measurements. Honestly I can't tell you what I'd do. My mind tends to quit working when the adrenaline gets pumping, with your line of work you have no choice but to think strait when the adrenaline starts pumping.

One point I disagree with you on is there aren't enough big fish being caught close to that caliber of fish to says it's possible. There was a guy on another forum you and I are on who caught a 7-4 smallie I think was the weight, in northern Michigan. He fishes that lake all the time and usually catches 3-4 pounders with a few 5s thrown in then he catches a freak of nature who looks like he swallowed a bowling ball! You're suggesting (if I understand correctly) that shouldn't have been in there because he's averaging we'll say 4 pound smallmouth. The freaks are out there and if there's a lake that's going to produce a giant it's LSC.

We'll probably never know one way or another, and I guess who cares really. It's fun to debate about it though.

[12poundbass]

12pound, his music career is nothing to write home about, it's not like he's making a nice living from it, but rather just ekeing out a living. He doesn't even own a boat! I will say his music isn't my cup of tea, but he is semi talented in that regard/kinda cheesy in my opinion.

Oh trust me from on of the songs I choked down for 30 seconds it's not my cup of tea either and I'm no record exec. But I'm not counting on him blowing up the charts anytime soon. Like you said he is talented so much so he got a record deal, probably not huge but enough to make some money doing it. Again I don't know this guy and I didn't dig too far into his past or reputation nor do I care too. If he's a con then karma will take care of that.

I'm just the type of person who gives you benefit of the doubt until I know different. I don't quickly jump on the negative train until I have reason to. Some of the things I've heard after his picture came up is having me think a little more I won't lie.

[22RangerZ520R]

The reason for me to jump on the negative train were the pics.

I knew INSTANTLY that it wasn't 9lb 7oz, or even remotely close for that matter...

Doesn't take a FBI detective to figure this one out...

I'm just the type of person who gives you benefit of the doubt until I know different. I don't quickly jump on the negative train until I have reason to. Some of the things I've heard after his picture came up is having me think a little more I won't lie.

[PolarKraft195]

My biggest smallie is a” true” 7lb 14 oz, and it dwarfs that fish! It’s BULL!

[1BADAIR]

Jesse Meyers remembers the 7-11 that my partner caught in a tournament . I netted it and he said that’s like 6 1/2. Lol I told him to lift it the rest of the way out of the net! Pics can be deceiving but that one looked way bigger than the 9

[jessemyers]

Jesse Meyers remembers the 7-11 that my partner caught in a tournament . I netted it and he said that’s like 6 1/2. Lol I told him to lift it the rest of the way out of the net! Pics can be deceiving but that one looked way bigger than the 9

I do. A giant. The biggest smallmouh I have seen in person. I hope to crack the 7 lb. mark this year hopefully.

[SCHRAM]

Our club was there 2 weeks ago. Hundreds of boats with guys posting about 100-200 fish a day. Some guy caught a 9 + pounder when we were there. Heard about it at one of the bait stores. We all did really well. We even went to the river and caught some walleye to bring home. Now I see very few reports. Did they spawn and head back out to the lake. Glad we were there when we did. See ya'all next year.

So a friend of mine told me about this forum and this post. I am the angler who caught the 9-7 smallmouth. All I can tell you is that myself and my partner weighed the fish 4 times over and it read the same thing. I don't believe that a broken scale would do that. As far as haters throwing around accusations lol...all I can say is that those replies should not even be considered. You can easily tell when somebody is jealous apposed to playing devils advocate like some have in this post. I've held MANY 6lb #smallmouth kn my life and my personal best of 7lbs before this fish. My fishing partner took the pics and we got what we could in the quick amount of time that I felt we had. I don't care HOW big a fish is the rules are the rules and I follow them. Because that is what a real sportsman does. I got a great pic of the fish I love it. In fact I texted the pic to The current OH state record holder Randy Van Dam and he called me immediately. It was good enough for one of the VERY few fisherman who has ever even SEEN a fish like that but all of the sudden smallmouth pic experts come out saying not even close?? Hmm next they're all going to say that Randy is full of it lol. I have a pic on the scale as well as another pic of the head to belly. Again i didnt take the pics my buddy did who is new to bass fishing so i got what i got. Thank you for all the congrats on my smallmouth of many lifetimes. I don't believe I'll ever see another in my life

[Walleyeguy456]

Mr Shcram. My post was not to question of take any side in the fish you caught. Sorry if it came out that way to you. Was kind of shocked to see the negative replies. Our club does a yearly trip up there. We monitor FB and a couple other sites to get fishing reports. Around the time we were there reports were of huge numbers catches then the reports slowed down. Was just inquiring what had changed. We all had a great time. I see now the Huge numbers are back so there must have been another wave of fish.

Michigan's catch and release is a good thing.

[opaleski]

We all need to beat our chest---Geez time to get over it and move on.

[Schammer]

[castforcash]

LMAO

[22RangerZ520R]

A certified slaunch donkey!!!

[Hez]

In here too

[basscat tyler]

This shit is pathetic. If I didn’t know better I would think half of the people on this forum were 12 year old girls.

[raisinrat]

We fished Lake St Clair. Launched at 9 Mile and Harley Ensign. The bait shop on Jefferson on the way to Harley was very helpful. We will be back.

Glad we could have been of help here the shop and thanks for stopping by.

[Walleyeguy456]

Kind of sad I ask about fishing reports and get all this Negativity and Hate about someone. Don't know him or care. Wish I could delete this thread so you kids could go Hate somewhere else.

I do recommend Sportsmen Direct. But you guys will probably find fault with that.

See ya next May.