Finally caught a damn fish

@BizSuitStacy very nice

@BizSuitStacy 5-6 pounder! They are so beautiful. And fight really hard.

@TexChik Oh yeah. They don't take off and run like big trout. They go toe to toe with you and pound it out. They will absolutely taco a 7 wt fly rod and not give up. Awesome fish.

@BizSuitStacy I wish we could raise them but we arent rocky enough and possibly a tad too warm and they said that they would devastate the giant blue gills ...so we let that idea go.

@TexChik The fish in the photo is from a lake about 5 miles from my house. There is a creek that feeds the lake. And about 2 miles upstream is a salmon hatchery to maintain the Kokanee fishery. In spring, when there is a really good flow of water, they release fingerlings. Then around 1980, WA fish and wildlife got the idea to plant smallmouth in the lake. Now, when the release the fingerlings, the bass and squawfish hang out at the mouth. It's like D-Day for the baby fish. The lake turned out to be a great smallmouth habitat, and they thrived. So much so it just about wiped out the Kokanee and made Bassmasters top 100 lakes in the US. Now, fish and game wants to bring the Kokanee back has been culling the smallies out of the lake. I get why, but I really enjoy the smallmouth.

@BizSuitStacy The trout guys consider smallies aggressive trash fish and want them killed off. They love trout!

@TexChik Awww. Nothing trashy about small mouth, and I'm a trout guy first.

@BizSuitStacy Trout are special and delicate, I get that. Small mouth are the bullies on the block.