Leech Lake Question

[BDawg23]

A buddy of mine claimed his dad caught 2 smallies on Leech last weekend fishing Walleye's. He said one of these was a 7 pounder! I have not seen pictures of this fish and have not heard of many smallies coming out of Leech. What are your thoughts? Has anyone else caught any smallies on Leech?

[TravP]

Leech has a few smallies. I'd like to see a picture of a 7 pound smallie, that thing would be an absolute beast!

[thatoneguy]

i caught one near Bear Island last year...i've heard that the number of smallies is starting to grow a little, but they still aren't real common.

hard to say without seeing a pic, but i wonder if it's one of those "seven pounders" that's really a 5 pounder once you weigh it

[RK]

Smallies do show up in Leech on occasion, usually on the east side around Boy Bay, where I suppose they come in from the Boy river. Many of the other Boy River Chain lakes have smallmouth populations that range from moderate to good.

Why Leech has so few smallies has always been kind of a mystery to me (and others too I know). Some of the lake looks ideal. Maybe with smallmouth numbers increasing in general due to a variety of causes, they'll get going in Leech someday. Who knows. All I can say is it'd take a long time to fish Pelican Island with a tube...

[Meat-Run]

smallies?? theres no smallies in Leech just big rock bass that look like smallmouth bass...

mr

[RumRiverRat]

I doubt it was 7 pounds.

Reminds me of the picture that was posted here of the guy that claimed to have caught and released the state record smallmouth in Mississippi from shore in Monticello.

[BTL]

Smallies do show up in Leech on occasion, usually on the east side around Boy Bay, where I suppose they come in from the Boy river. Many of the other Boy River Chain lakes have smallmouth populations that range from moderate to good.

Why Leech has so few smallies has always been kind of a mystery to me (and others too I know). Some of the lake looks ideal. Maybe with smallmouth numbers increasing in general due to a variety of causes, they'll get going in Leech someday. Who knows. All I can say is it'd take a long time to fish Pelican Island with a tube...

I wonder the same thing about Ottertail lake. I assumed it was because there are so many walleyes and the smallies couldn't compete.

[Turbodog]

I would like to see the pic! But it would not suprise me that someone caught a 7lber from leech if the pop. is low most likely there are more mature fish than juvenile ones!

[BDawg23]

I was asking for a picture myself. Take it for what it's worth but he claimed it was 7lbs 2oz according to the digital scale. Like the others said, the boy river chain has some good smallie fishing so I would love to see Leech's smallie population continue to grow.

[RK]

I wonder the same thing about Ottertail lake. I assumed it was because there are so many walleyes and the smallies couldn't compete.

You and me both. I know there are more largemouths in there than people give it credit for, and even a muskie or two (love to know if they came in through the ottertail or the creek that connects to West Battle when the water's high...) I doubt it's that they can't out-compete walleyes. I suppose it's just a matter of whether or not they get a critical mass of fish numbers that's enough to sustain and grow a population. OT is another weird one for sure - there are several lakes very close by that are good smallie lakes.

[joneshat11]

I was asking for a picture myself. Take it for what it's worth but he claimed it was 7lbs 2oz according to the digital scale. Like the others said, the boy river chain has some good smallie fishing so I would love to see Leech's smallie population continue to grow.

I would believe it, but then again just a fishing story. But this time of year you got to wonder how much a full belly of eggs add to the weight. I remember my Dad caught a smallie just under 23 inches while trolling raps on Mille Lacs during walleye opener. Thing was a beast with that egg belly to bout. Fun to watch my old man catch and release and knowing she was going back to make more her size!!