yesterday
a beautiful fish ! ... rich dark green and gold back
It was pure dumb luck that I met these guys at a road crossing (I knew one of the 3 guys - he provided them with small yaks - but I was just there checking the water _ I arrived by wheels) ... then while I am there one of his guests catches this 'big' smallie ... which pulls him out of the side with little current .. and into the current ... then uses the current to try to break away from the line ... 'pulled' him about 150 feet ...(mostly from the current)
... thre guy was giddy with joy.
... thats the biggest bass I've ever seen come out of this small river.
(I caught a 12"er years ago)
Rains and high water might have brought more 'biggies' up stream from the lake.
Smallies
Barge, glad to read about your excitement over my favorite fish. If you are into smallie action, especially stream fishing from yaks, you need to check out riversmallies.com. You’ll find dozens of pics of smallies taken by yakkers from all over the country, several over 20". There are a couple thousand anglers from around the country that post on the site. Last year some of us had a get-together (we call 'em fishing Rodeos) on the Kalamazoo up your way and a few 20’s were landed. These guys are all CPR (catch, photo, release) so those brutes are still swimming and ready to be caught again.
DE
Smallies
I’ll back up DE on htis one, there are even folks who fish from kayaks from Canada, river smnallie fishing is a dangerous addiction.
FYI
In case any of my fellow smallie fans are unaware there’s a great site you should check out-Riversmallies.com
River Smallies
I like both versions, the ones you catch and the website. It’s actually the only other website I spend time on besides P.net. I go by “Ozarkpaddler” over there and spend most of my time in the watercraft area. I’ve always loved smallies, but catching them out of a yak has really added to MY enjoyment! WW
HEY!!
What are you guys doin over here??? 
Well
ya gotta admire loyalty WW…it’s a rare commodity these days.