Smallmouth bass are hands down my favorite fish to target. Their looks, curiosity, habitat and ferociousness are a few reasons why they top my list. To put it simply, they’re just bad to the bone. Growing up, I mainly fished small creeks and rivers for bronzebacks. Anything over 16 inches was a dandy in my eyes and a new personal smallmouth bass record. Since then, I’ve been fortunate enough to fish throughout the upper midwest chasing smalljaws in some truly world class fisheries.
Here’s a full breakdown of all of the word class smallmouth bass fisheries in the country, and the records they’ve produced. Here are all of the smallmouth bass records by state. Which are you going to try and break this season?
State Weight Location Angler Date Tennessee 11 lbs 15 oz Dale Hollow Lake David L. Hayes 1955 Kentucky 11 lbs 15 oz Dale Hollow Lake David L. Hayes 1955 Alabama 10 lbs 8 oz Wheeler Dam tailwater Owen F. Smith 1950 North Carolina 10 lbs 0 oz Hiwassee Reservoir Archie Lampkin 1951 Ohio 9 lbs 8 oz Lake Erie Randy Van Dam 1993 South Carolina 9 lbs 7 oz LakeJocassee Terry Dodson 2001 California 9 lbs 13 oz Pardee Reservoir (Amador) Harold Hardin 2007 West Virginia 9 lbs 12 oz South Branch David Lindsay 1971 Idaho 9 lbs 11.5 oz Dworshak Reservoir Dan Steigers 2006 Michigan 9 Lbs 15 oz Indian River Robert Bruce 2016 Wisconsin 9 lbs 1 oz Indian Lake unknown 1950 Washington 8 lbs 12 oz Columbia River – Hanford Reach Ray Wonacott 1966 Nevada 8 lbs 11 oz Sheep Creek Reservoir Curtis Ockerman 2010 Pennsylvania 8 lbs 8 oz Scotts Run Lake Robert T. Steelman 1997 Maryland 8 lbs 4 oz Liberty Reservoir Gary Peters 1974 New York 8 lbs 4 oz Lake Erie+ Lake Ontario Andrew C. Kartesz + Patrick Hildenbrand 1995 + 2016 Oklahoma 8 lbs 3 oz Lake Eufaula Steve McLarty 2006 Massachusetts 8 lbs 2 oz Wachusett Reservoir Barbara Sasen 1991 Virginia 8 lbs 1 oz New River Donald S. Eaton, Jr 2003 Maine 8 lbs 0 oz Thompson Lake George Dyer 1970 Minnesota 8 lbs 0 oz West Battle Lake John Creighton 1948 Utah 7 lbs 6 oz Midview Reservoir (Lake Borham) Alan Iorg 1996 Arkansas 7 lbs 5 oz Bull Shoals Lake Acie Dickerson 1969 Indiana 7 lbs 4 oz Twin Lake Dana Yoder 1992 New Jersey 7 lbs 2 oz Round Valley Reservoir Carol Marciniak 1990 Georgia 7 lbs 2 oz Lake Chatuge Jack Hall 1973 Missouri 7 lbs 2 oz Stockton Lake Kevin S. Clingan 1994 Mississippi 7 lbs 15 oz Pickwick Lake – Yellow Creek Arm Thomas Wilbanks 1987 Texas 7 lbs 14.88 oz Lake Meredith Timothy Teague 1998 New Hampshire 7 lbs 14.5 oz Goose Pond Francis H. Lord 1970 Oregon 7 lbs 14 oz Henry Hagg Lake Kevin Silver 2000 Connecticut 7 lbs 12 oz Shenipsit Lake Joseph Mankauskas Jr. 1980 Iowa 7 lbs 12 oz West Okoboji Lake Rick Gray 1990 Nebraska 7 lbs. 4 oz Missouri River Dennis Swanson 2000 Arizona 7 lbs 0.96 oz Roosevelt Lake Dennis K. Barnhall 1988 New Mexico 7 lb 3 oz Canadian Reservoir Cale Sanders 2006 North Dakota 6 lbs 13 oz Lake Darling Bruce Elberg 2007 Vermont 6 lbs 12.96 oz Lake Eden Issac Spaulding 2003 South Dakota 7 lbs 3 oz Horseshoe Lake Lyal Held 2016 Kansas 6 lbs 8.8 oz Milford Reservoir Frank Evans Jr. 2010 Colorado 6 lbs 11 oz Aurora Reservoir Raymond Ong 2011 Illinois 6 lbs 7 oz strip mine lake Mark Samp 1985 Montana 6 lbs 6.6 oz Fort Peck Reservoir Mike Otten 2002 Rhode Island 6 lbs 4 oz Wash Pond B. Ferris 1977 Wyoming 5 lbs .94 oz Flaming Gorge Reservoir Bubba O’Neil 2003 Hawaii 4 lbs 15.68 oz Secret Location Chad Boteilho 2004 Delaware 4 lbs 15 oz Brandywine River Jerry Proffitt 1989 Louisiana N/A N/A N/A N/A Florida N/A N/A N/A N/A Alaska N/A N/A N/A N/A
