I have to say Chelan, Washington, Whatcom. Top 3...... Honorable mention to Riffe, The Priest Rapids area of the Columbia River (near Desert Aire). I think any of these waters are more than capable of producing a 9 pound smallie. Hell I have seen a couple in Lake Sawer that I am sure were in the eight pound class. Maybe it should get an honorable mention as well.

Oh man, Rev.  That hurts just reading it.  I can close my eyes and see myself netting that big fish for you. 

Thanks for the links, Glenn. I am a member of your site as well and did a search and found those very articles.  It IS the most comprehensive site on Bass fishing on the Web.  Thanks for your hard work on it.

Oh man!  I feel your pain as I read that, Rev!  OUCH!!

Last year on the Columbia I thought I had that record fish.  It took me about 10 minutes, chasing it with my trolling motor on high.. nursing it... careful with the drag...OH THERE IT GOES AGAIN!!!  On my knees, praying the line won't break... oh please... oh please.... here it comes to the surface, maybe I'll get a glimpse...  LUNGE!  Down it goes again into the depths!!  AGGGH!

Finally, after what seemed like an enternaty, it surfaced.

A Big...

giant...

SALMON!!   

About 25lbs worth!

Crap... all I wanted now was my lure back.  So I tried to get him to the boat.  Nope!  The bastard kept lunging back into the depths every time I got it near the boat.  Until finally it broke the 12 lb line!

Oh well !!!  That's fishing!  Sometimes they win, sometimes you don't.   


Oh, and about the certification thing, here's a few articles I have about that on my site, written by a trophy bass hunter:

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/certify.html
http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/Record_fish.html
http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/be_prepared.html

Read up and gear up, Kirk!  And Good Luck To You!  It would be an honor for the State Record to come from a WBC member!!

You can take this for a tall tale... or see it as a hard earned lesson... I repeat it only to my own shame.  I believe I caught the state record and lost it on Lake Washington one rainy and cold winter day 6 or 7 years ago.  I was fishing "the gravel bar" and accomplishing nothing but turning blue.  I decided to take a deep diving crankbait and troll it across the 24 foot deep flat before leaving.  Sometimes a big ol'crank bouncing off the rocks is more than a turned off fish can take.  On my third and final pass, the crank went off the edge of the flat out into deeper water and wham!  My rod was driven to the gunnels.

I'd been fishing 5 or 6 years at that time for smallies and one thing was for sure - this was too big to be a smallmouth.  My fireline had my rod bent in two and the fish plunged again and again to reach the bottom.  "Damn, I'm cold, I'm wet, and here I am fighting some huge carp - probably hooked in the side!"  I was not happy!

Hoping to pull the hook loose, so I could go home, I put everything into getting that fish to the top.  My line was singing, but I kept tightening my drag.  I didn't come for carp and I simply wanted my crankbait back!  I don't know how long it took - seemed like for ever, but I forced that fish to the surface way before it was ready. 

When it came to the surface besides the boat - I stopped breathing!  Rolling on it's side was the largest smallmouth I have ever seen in any fishing magazine I have ever read!  Before I could even think about loosening the drag, that monster took one strong tail whip - and bing!  That line snapped like cotton thread and all I could do was watch the trophy of a lifetime swim away with my favorite crank in it's mouth. 

Needless to say, I couldn't move for an hour.  I sat in the rain muttering words that turned the air blue (yep - I some good ones!).  It was all a surreal event where one wishes he could go back and do all over again - but sadly that moment came and went... and my stomach still knots when I remember it.

To this day, I don't care if I hook Jimmy Hoffa's remains, I plan on playing it like it was a giant smallie until I see it near the surface.  Learn from my mistake:  if it feels too big to be a bass - fight the temptation to horse it in - it could be the chance of a life-time.  Excuse me while I go throw up again...

Kirk, don't forget John Holland who is living in the Tri-Cities now.  He would be a great contact.  I was just talking to him last night and he killed the SM's on Sunday.  Since he moved there he has spent a lot of time fishing.

Why don't you try him?

Smitty

Good point to consider. If I wasn't sure at the moment I caught it, I would get a hold of Fish and Game immediately. I'm sure they would help out in some way. Or grant you permission to transport the fish for verification.....or something. Being a state record possibility, I can't see them turning their backs. I will email them after Kirk reports back if needed.

I was hoping someone would research that angle since I wouldn't want to kill the state record after I caught it.
RB

Yea, Larry, I am looking into that right now.  I will let the forum know what I find.

Okay...you have caught your record Smally..it is fat and happy in the livewell.....you stop shaking.......NOW WHAT?
The state does not allow transportation of live fish........

Is there someone to call to have the fish verified?

I believe IGFA goes by what your state mandates and to date I have not heard of a fish that was not dead when verified so it could be certified on a butcher scale.
Anybody?

In all honesty, I think that Chelan is the place to go, for many of the reasons that all of you have mentioned.  Furthermore, it is fairly close to home and I have many more contacts in this area than in tri-cities area.  I dearly love river fishing, but I gotta agree with Rob on his angle.  I am looking forward to more research prior to next season.  I will also be making multiple trips in to Chelan this summer.  I plan on documenting every step and writing about it as well.  Maybe a future best seller!  Since I am no longer coaching HS basketball, I need something to be obsessive/compulsive about or I will drive my wife crazy!

I think I heard Spectacle Lake by Lake Palmer also has some toads in it. Either that one or the other one next to it called Wannacut or something like that. Seems the Okanogan could be the place to go.

Oh yeah, for the State record LM.  You may want to try Chambers Lake on Ft. Lewis if you can get access. (An army fellow in Lacey who is in Iraq right now told me a guy from Florida came to the base to visit family and he caught a 10lb. 1oz. LM)

Another, Long Lake (Thurston County) I fish that lake often, biggest I have known caught is just under 10lbs., though I have seen fish that are definetily over 12lbs.
Actually WDFW electrofished 2 years ago and got a 14.1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another honorable mention, Chambers Lake(Thurston County)
Old timer who lives on lake caught a 10lbs. 14oz. about 20 years ago! on a 1/2 oz jig with a big Jumbo Pork on it!
                 

If I can remember there was a story in The hunting and fishing new about a 9lbs. Smallie caught out of some lake near Shelton. It was when a dad and his kid were trout fishing and reeling in a trout and the 9 pounder just exploded on it, right next to the dock. they netted it and didnt even know what it was!!! but a neighbor saw it and told em it was a hawg smallie. He brought a Berkely scale down and measure somethin like 9lbs. 4oz. I believe. It was a couple years ago and I remember reading that little article in some WA Mag. But its some lake in or Near Shelton.

Its true, just cant remember what lake!

I remember someone telling me that Boyer told them he has definately seen the state record in Chelan. Maybe it was Gonzy last year. Anyhow, it was in the area you and I started Kirk from what I can remember. That's why I went there last year and this year. Plus with all the 5's caught last year, I would put this first on my list. Plus great weather. I wouldn't doubt any stretch of the Columbia, though I think the lakes are easier to fish, especially navigating. I would think a fish would get bigger in a lake not using energy on swimming in current. I would want a big, fat, lazy smallmouth with no exercise plan and plenty of extra calories. I believe Washington holds a record class fish also, but the sight fishing approach will be better at Chelan for obvious reasons.

I think Chelan or Hanford Reach are your best bets.  I've fished Palmer numerous times (see my pic), and while it does have some quality bass, I don't think the record lives there (not enough habitat, forage base, and too many squawfish).

If you fish Chelan and Hanford area, I think you'll find the odds in your favor, Kirk.

Good luck!