Same fish, year later... Old Hickory 4/1/19
 

So I fished Old Hickory yesterday, and decided to fish bluffs for smallmouth... I only caught a few fish but the smallmouth I did catch was worth it. I caught the same exact fish that I caught last year in the same exact spot... pretty crazy, if you compare and look closely you will realize it is indeed the same fish and clearly much fatter... she was spitting up shad while I was reeling her in.

I caught her last year in late July and she was a hair over 3LB... this time at the very beginning of April and it felt like she gained a pound (19.25" I didnt weigh her)... Caught her on a jig, 10FT of water.

Mmmmm <'TK><
 

Mmmmmmm.. Tyler next time notch a fin ..etc .. I don't think even Dr. Jason Bull would take on this case ... But both are great fish ..I bet they were fun to catch !! ......... :eek:

Why don't you think it could be the same fish?

Here is why ..
 

I see similarities but unless you marked or tagged the fish it’d be really hard to know 100%. Nice fish regardless and a cool story.


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Cool!
 

First off nice fish. Beautiful fish! Second off I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that's the same fish. Like that is 100% the same fish and such an awesome story. How did you come to the realization that it was the same fish? What made you look back at an old picture. That's just really cool to me. I would be skeptical if just one characteristic was the same, but I see several that are identical.

Thank you! I studied the pictures for hours, I have no doubt in my mind either. When I said the exact same spot, I mean she was in the EXACT same spot as last year... I checked back on some old pics cause I was trying to estimate the weight and compare to some of my smallmouth from last year.. the color and size are clearly off due to time of year but they have identical markings. I have caught the same bass in a creek before but never in the lake.

Sorry Charlie
 

http://www.fishingtn.com/attachment....6&d=1554261028


The top fish has 2 vertical stripes with a very pronounced diagonal stripe across 3rd vertical strip. I do not see the pronounced diagonal in the second fish. However a lot of the markings are in the right places... I'd say a better chance of the fish being from the same brood of eggs or same female.



Like TnWalker suggested maybe notching or nipping a fin ever so slightly where only you would notice

I'm certainly no fish biologist or anything but c'mon it's so obvious to me. The tail fin is identical. That alone would be enough for me to conclude it's the same fish but then there are like 5 other markers that are a perfect match. I'm not trying to offend anyone and I may be an idiot but I couldn't be more convinced.

This makes me remember a pretty cool story from a couple years ago fishing a bass tournament on lake Barkley. During practice my fishing partner caught a 10 inch spotted bass that was so fat it was unbelievable really. I mean twice as fat as any bass you can imagine. It looked like a mutant fish or something. I woke up the day of the tourney in the hotel and told my partner that I had a dream that I caught that little spotted bass in our tournament and it won me a brand new truck and boat. Well wouldn't you know it we fished that same bank in the tournament that day and I caught that same fish in the same spot my partner did a few days before. If I had not told him about that dream that morning there is no way he would have believed me if I told him afterwards.

The sunlight and different coloration makes it hard to see but I do see what looks like a diagonal stripe along the 3rd bar.

I wasn't trying to get everyone fired up, and im definitely not trying to argue with anyone. I just feel like its pretty obvious that this is the same fish... I'm not going to notch the fin on every fish I catch just to make sure I can identify it if I catch it again... I wasnt trying to catch this fish again, it just so happened that I did in the exact same spot that I caught it last year... I've been looking at this picture for 3 days and have not found one thing about it that's different. The only difference is the lighting, time of year, and angle of the picture. It's literally what a smallmouth looks like in the spring vs summer.

I believe you and stranger things have happened. ;)

Same fish, year later... Old Hickory 4/1/19
 

I have caught the same fish on same day. One instance a fish dropped off w my jig still in the lip.
Caught the fish later w the jig still in the lip.
That is not really uncommon.

Man, I thought I was reading forensics files for a moment. Tyler, if you want it to be the same fish, so be it. It's YOUR fish story, and believe me, I've heard some doozies on this forum. :rolleyes:

I would advise next time to do a DNA swab of the slime, save it for comparison for the next year. :D

Great smallie, both times around! LOL