Ish Monroe caught the giant smallmouth pictured above during practice Tuesday. He estimated it as a 6-plus pounder. He didn’t have a scale to weigh it, but he measured it at 23 inches in length.
“I couldn’t get it in selfie (photo),” Monroe said. “Usually you can hold the fish out, but I had to pull this one up right next to me to get it in the picture.”
Here’s what’s particularly interesting about that 23-inch smallie: Last week a new Michigan state record smallmouth was caught from the Indian River. It weighed 9.98 pounds. It measured, wait for it, 23.10 inches long. And it didn’t have a huge bulging belly. It was shaped about like Monroe’s fish.
For the record, Minnesota’s state record smallmouth is 8 pounds even, caught in 1948 from West Battle Lake. I’m not saying Monroe caught a potential state record Tuesday. But I am saying that old Minnesota smallmouth state record could get challenged this week at Mille Lacs.