# 27" New River Smallmouth



## Walter Adkins

I am finally going to use the icon for big fish. To my knowledge I have never used it before but this on deserves it. 

Spent last weekend from Wednesday night until Sunday evening down at the cabin with Spencer (aka Bigchessie), Don (aka twospots), and Tony (aka well he just goes by Tony). We fished the Greenbrier and New River for four days and one night. Lots of small mouth caught by all with some nice ones brought to the hand each day. As soon as I get the pictures from the guys I will post more. But I do have at least one of my fish. 

I was down there two weeks ago and landed a nice (I am guessing because I can not guess weight) 6lber from this same spot on the New River. But on to my new best smallie. 

Spencer and I were in my canoe when I hook into a solid fish. About the time I tell him this is a real nice fish it jumps. I think something like "holly cow, holly cow, holly cow" came out of my mouth. Spencer could probably give a better description of what I said. We floated way down stream while I was fighting this pig before I told Spencer to grab the paddle before we hit some rapids. After a few jumps this big girl went down and stayed down for the longest time. I was finally able to get my thumb in her mouth and take a huge sigh of relief. 









After getting pictures and measurement I slid her back into the river. Then I was doing this,  well I am still doing it. It was not until the next day that the four of us realized that I had a state record. So naturally the guys, brother and father have been giving me some well deserved kidding about not having her certified. But I know where she lives. 

Will add photos of the other guys fish after I get them. If you get the chance to fish the New or Greenbrier jump at it. Just stay away from my rock pile.


----------



## jcustunner24

Walter - congrats - but I can't see the fish. Only a little red X that's taunting me.


----------



## fishingfoolBG

Sounds like a great trip, the picture is not showing up, can't wait to see it!!!!!
Haha I was thinking the same thing jcustunner24


----------



## Walter Adkins

I do not what was going on with the picture. I guess she did not want the world to her and me together.


----------



## crittergitter

I can see the picture. That's a beautiful smallie! Congratulations!!!!


----------



## jcustunner24

Now I see her. Nice fish!


----------



## 2percent

excellent fish makes me wanna go fish the new again ain't been there in quite a few years


----------



## LMRsmallmouth

Nice fish for sure....my only question is did you post the right one? Not sure if it is a mistake or not but that fish is no where near 27". Looks like a avg sized 20" piggy to me. Maybe 4 pounds or so. To put it into perspective, I will attach a 20.5" smallie I caught in the new last year. Still a very nice fish, especially compared to around here, but that is just an avg New Piggy, we catch em like that every trip to VA. When I saw this post was from Walter I figured it had to be true, but I was shocked when I saw the pic, figured it was a mistake. anyways...here ya go


----------



## andyman

Like LMR, I head to the New once or twice a year. Virginia and West Virginia stretches. Heading to the exact same area Walter was in in less than a week.
I've seen a whole bunch of 20" fish, some 21" fish, and was with a guy who landed a 22 1/2". 
I've seen 22" fish photograph in a way that made them look shorter.

And I've seen a bunch of different photos of a particular fish that came out of the New at 24". A legitimate 24" fish. And in every single photo that thing just looks like a monster. A friggin' freak of nature...in a while different kind of category than 20-22" fish....almost like a larger sub species.

I was REALLY excited to see a picture of a legitimate 27" smallmouth. And I know Walter knows his way around some smallies. I couldn't quite imagine what it was going to look like. 
Great fish, no doubt, but possibly I was too excited and my expectations were too high...


----------



## k_redball

great fish there...but if it was 27 inches it would be pushing the world record...I believe the record is 11lbs 5 oz...and 27in...


----------



## misfit

> great fish there...but if it was 27 inches it would be pushing the world record...I believe the record is 11lbs 5 oz...and 27in...


actually in length only.the world record is 11 lb. 15 ounces,not 5.
but state record is 9+ at 25 1/2 inches.
there is also another one listed at 24 3/4 i believe,and 7+ pounds.so there's a good bit of weight difference in those two fish.
that is still a great looking fish.
that said,i try to not play fish police,but i just can't see that pic being of a 27 inch 10 pound fish.
i know we all have our fish stories,but walter's history on this site is not one of habitual "embelishment" of his stories.given that,i think he posted the wrong pic or i need to see the optomotrist soon

will the real :B please stand up


----------



## andyman

1234567890


----------



## bkr43050

That is a great fish Walter! And I am sure you have been around here long enough to know that when someone posts a big fish with numbers applied to it it often gets closely scrutinized. So I am sure you were ready to hear all the naysayers. That being said, if I were to have to put a guess on length I would probably go with somewhere around 20-22". But I didn't have the fish or tape in my hand so my guesstimate is merely just that.

Nevertheless that is a real pig. Congrats!


----------



## ttoutdoors

I'm sure he meant to put 20.7" not 27". If not, I don't know what to say.


----------



## thebige22

For those of you that are not aware, Walter is 9'-6" tall and weighs 450 lbs. That's why the fish looks smaller. Right??????


----------



## peple of the perch

Maybe it was a typo and he meant 17" and not 27.

here is a 27" walleye


----------



## bgrapala

That thing is a friggin pig!! Based on the way he's holding it...and my guess that he's about the same size as me I'd say at least 24". He's not holding it out to "cheat" it so I just measured shoulder to shoulder on myself and added an inch for good measure. Maybe the "pinched tail" did the trick? I know I've added up to an inch and a half doing that. It's a darn nice fish thats for sure!!! CONGRATS!!!


----------



## bkr43050

Hopefully all of these comments have not scared Walter away from posting from here on out. It is easy to sit here and dispute one's numbers but what does it really accomplish? Regardless of the tape measure that is a very nice fish. Congrats again Walter. It sounds like you guys had a very nice trip.


----------



## BigChessie

You can take it for what is it worth. I WAS THERE and have nothing to gain with a lie. The fish Walter caught was a true 27.5" (twenty-seven and one half inches) The old record was set in 1976 and was 25.5". The funny thing about this thread is "we" talked about how everyone and their brother would doubt his fish. AMAZING! A guy catches a record fish but......wait........no way _that_ thing is big enough. Sorry to say that you would have to actually KNOW Walter to understand but Walter has caught more "Big" fish than anyone I know. He would never have to embelish ANY of his fish to try to impress anyone, that is just not his way. As a matter of fact, this may be the second record fish that I have watched him catch. The other being a 55 lb fish on 4 lb test. So I guess I have no other way of looking at this other than not only myself,twospots andTony but even Walter are all a bunch of liars!


----------



## seethe303

BigChessie said:


> You can take it for what is it worth. I WAS THERE and have nothing to gain with a lie. The fish Walter caught was a true 27.5" (twenty-seven and one half inches) The old record was set in 1976 and was 25.5". The funny thing about this thread is "we" talked about how everyone and their brother would doubt his fish. AMAZING! A guy catches a record fish but......wait........no way _that_ thing is big enough. Sorry to say that you would have to actually KNOW Walter to understand but Walter has caught more "Big" fish than anyone I know. He would never have to embelish ANY of his fish to try to impress anyone, that is just not his way. As a matter of fact, this may be the second record fish that I have watched him catch. The other being a 55 lb fish on 4 lb test. So I guess I have no other way of looking at this other than not only myself,twospots andTony but even Walter are all a bunch of liars!


is the fish in the pic in the first post the 27" fish?


----------



## misfit

BC,i don't think anyone is calling anyone a liar(at least me and several others).so don't get so defensive.most of us just want to know the answer to this question.


> is the fish in the pic in the first post the 27" fish?


i don't think even you or walter can look at it and honestly say it looks like a 27 1/2 inch, 9-11 pound fish.
i mentioned in my earlier post that i think he posted the wrong pic because he doesn't have a history of bogus reports.
i take him(and you) at his word,which is why i think that pic is not the fish in question.


----------



## andyman

I'm with Misfit. Obviously the wrong picture got posted.
I just learned from one of the guys who was with Walter, that there were multiple pictures taken on multiple cameras, so hopefully all this will get cleared up shortly.


----------



## andyman

Congrats again, Walter.
I know I am very, very excited to see some more of these pictures.

I've seen up close the replica of the New River state record from Virginia, and that was an absolute MONSTER.
I know a place along the New called Big Z's has a 26" fish...a true freak of friggin' nature...in a completely different league than anything I've ever seen before in my life.

The thought of this thing being a full inch longer...like I said, I can't wait. It's gotta be HUGE, like MONSTER huge. Like big enough to eat the one that LMR posted.

Very anxious. (and super excited as I'm heading there next weekend.)


----------



## misfit

> Some of you guys are kidding right? You cant seriously think that fish is anywhere even REMOTELY close to 27 inches


i didn't read anywhere that anyone thought that pic was a 27 1/2 inch fish,so you must have read between the lines.people just aren't ready to call walter out on his story just because of the pic.as was mentioned,it's more of a question of the wrong pic being posted,not the actual fish itself.so please take your own advise and don't turn this thread into a joke.


----------



## topwaterdevil

It's hard to say for sure, but there may be some close to record size in the New. It flows South to North, which keeps it warm year round, and many parts of the river are very difficult to access (Class V Whitewater), which limits the pressure that most places see. You never know.

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/...lor&page=g_col_Wilson_smallie_record_turns-50


----------



## SConner

Walter, congratulations on an awesome fish!


----------



## redhawk fisherman

It has been reinstated as the world and TN record. Fraud was comitted by the people crying "fraud."

http://fishing.about.com/od/bassfishing/a/smallmouthrecor.htm



topwaterdevil said:


> The world record 11lb. 15 oz. from Dale Hollow was disqualified by IGFA, the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame, and the states of Kentucky and Tennessee due to suspected fraud.
> 
> So the recognized world record is a 10lb. 14 oz. Dale Hollow Fish. It's hard to say for sure, but there may be some close to that size in the New. It flows South to North, which keeps it warm year round, and many parts of the river are very difficult to access (Class V Whitewater), which limits the pressure that most places see. You never know.
> 
> http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/...lor&page=g_col_Wilson_smallie_record_turns-50


----------



## DaleM

Walter,
Great fish man. Funny, some people seem to think the are experts when it comes to catching and measuring fish. I've know bigchessie quite a long time and if he says it was that size I will believe him. 
Why must some people be critics every time someone posts a picture.
I posted a largemouth I caught in Canada that was just under 8 pounds, even showed a picture of the scale as he hung on it and still got people to say it wasn't that big. Unless you were there don't assume you know what it weighed. I have also caught a 7 1/2 pound smallie up there but won't bother to post pictures, as I'm sure our experts would doubt that also. At 60 years old, I'm past stretching the weight or length. I'll leave that to the youngsters.
I'm too old to play games. In almost 40 years of fishing Canada I've seen many smallies well over 7 and even 8 pounds caught and released. They are there to be caught, you just have to get out and find them. Again, great smallie.


----------



## Fisherman419

Nice fish man


----------



## salmon king

I don't know if I can trust ya Big Cheeesie you being a Michigan fan and all? just kidding!!!!!!!!nice fish I belive you


----------



## seethe303

DaleM said:


> Walter,
> Great fish man. Funny, some people seem to think the are experts when it comes to catching and measuring fish. I've know bigchessie quite a long time and if he says it was that size I will believe him.
> Why must some people be critics every time someone posts a picture.
> I posted a largemouth I caught in Canada that was just under 8 pounds, even showed a picture of the scale as he hung on it and still got people to say it wasn't that big. Unless you were there don't assume you know what it weighed. I have also caught a 7 1/2 pound smallie up there but won't bother to post pictures, as I'm sure our experts would doubt that also. At 60 years old, I'm past stretching the weight or length. I'll leave that to the youngsters.
> I'm too old to play games. In almost 40 years of fishing Canada I've seen many smallies well over 7 and even 8 pounds caught and released. They are there to be caught, you just have to get out and find them. Again, great smallie.


seems like most folks were waiting to see if the pic in the original post is the 27" fish. 

Walter? BigChessie? can we get a confirmation?


----------



## ttoutdoors

That's the problem. No confirmation.
If you want me to believe that the posted pic is the 27.5" fish, my intelligence is sufficiently insulted. I don't care if you've been fishing for 100 years and caught 10 world record fish with your teeth. THAT fish in the pic is not 27.5". Period.


----------



## Walter Adkins

Funny how a simple pic is truly worth a thousand words, good or not but still words. Misfit had closed this thread after comments started going south. I asked him to reopen it just so I could add to thread. Thanks Misfit.

As for the fish in the pic. It is the 27" fish not 27 and a half just 27" not 8 0r 9lbs (stated in the past I can not guess weight so I don't unless I am almost postive). I have a few other pics that do the fish a better justice. But they still would not satisfy most so I will not be posting them. 

I even went as far as to take a pic of me holding up a yard stick in the same way and distance just to show where 27" came to across my chest. But then when my 9 year old son walked in and asked "What are you doing dad" in a sarcastic way I realized I was just being a big kid. 

As for hind sight, yep I could and should have done things better. I could have keep the fish and had it recorded as a state record. I could have taken tons of pics of the fish. I could have paddled over to shore so that we could get a few pics that were not from 17' away. I could not have posted then no one would have even known about my catch but those with me. Yes I could have done things different but then again that would have not been me. 

I let a fish of a lifetime go swimming away after an awesome fight with out even a thought about keeping it. I took a few pics so that the fish could be put back into the water quickly after it's tiring fight. Those are the things of what I am. 

Have I been offended by anyone's comments? No. Please feel free to comment away, just do not expect me to answer any mean comments. I knew most would not believe the story but with nothing to gain I still posted. Heck I do not even have a screen name. I gain nothing from posting except disbelief from others. I started this thread in respect to a great day of fishing and a great fish. 

So now with that being said. At anytime anyone wants to head down to float the New or wade the Greenbrier just let me know. Have cabin already there along with canoe and I will even do the most of the paddling. But I will not promise I will not be fishing also.


----------



## seethe303

thanks for clearing that up! very nice fish, indeed.


----------



## andyman

What did you measure the fish with?


----------



## misfit

> What did you measure the fish with?


give it up andy.that question doesn't even deserve an answer


----------



## LMRsmallmouth

> "I could have paddled over to shore so that we could get a few pics that were not from 17' away."


ahh....that clears it up now......didn't realize you were in a 30 foot canoe......now it makes sense, awesome catch then....


----------



## misfit

if anyone else has negative comments,please do yourself a favor and keep them to yourself.walter has responded to all,so there's no need to continue to argue the point.if you don't believe him,that's your choice,but at this point your sarcasm and negativity only serves to show your true intent.


----------



## SConner

Walter Adkins said:


> So now with that being said. At anytime anyone wants to head down to float the New or wade the Greenbrier just let me know.


I personally would be honored to have this opportunity. Would also love for you to show me how to catch smallmouth in the dead of winter in a local river as I have yet to figure that puzzle. Please don't let this keep you from posting in the future as I have always learned and enjoyed reading your entries. Best I can tell only thing wrong is we don't hear from you enough.

Awesome job on the CPR!


----------



## jcustunner24

Walter Adkins said:


> I started this thread in respect to a great day of fishing and a great fish.


And that is all that matters! Thanks for sharing the pic, the story, and I'm sure the company you kept far outweighs the negative comments.

I repeat, NICE FISH!


----------



## 2percent

I still say thats a great fish and would love to see the other pics And there are monster fish in the new u just gotta catch them and Walter did just that congrats


----------



## fishslim

Great catch Walter sounds like it was a trip you will always remember. As for the notoriuos few who always spout off when a picture of a smallmouth shows up just be quiet for once and go to your gallery of big fish and LOOK AT YOUR AWESOME CATCHES AND LET IT GO!!


----------



## andyman

misfit said:


> give it up andy.that question doesn't even deserve an answer


First of all, I have not had one negative comment in this thread, nor is the question "What did you measure the fish with" a negative question. So why my particular question would get singled out as one not even worhty of an answer is beyond me.

Chessie very specifically said is was a "true 27.5" fish", he even spelled out twenty seven and one half inches. He also accused many of us of calling him a liar, yourself included, that he saw the fish measured. But "27 1/2 inches" certainly implies some degree of accuracy.
Walter disputes this as the fish was only 27", and not 27 1/2", again implyin some degree of accuracy.
Two spots says he saw the fish measured on a 20" cooler with fish hanging off both sides.

I was trying to ask, without connotation, simply how the fish was meaured. 

I think this is a reasonable question as 27.5" is the longest ever recorded smallmouth caught in the world and I am an avid smallmouth fisherman.


----------



## NorthSouthOhioFisherman

andyman said:


> First of all, I have not had one negative comment in this thread, nor is the question "What did you measure the fish with" a negative question. So why my particular question would get singled out as one not even worhty of an answer is beyond me.
> 
> Chessie very specifically said is was a "true 27.5" fish", he even spelled out twenty seven and one half inches. He also accused many of us of calling him a liar, yourself included, that he saw the fish measured. But "27 1/2 inches" certainly implies some degree of accuracy.
> Walter disputes this as the fish was only 27", and not 27 1/2", again implyin some degree of accuracy.
> Two spots says he saw the fish measured on a 20" cooler with fish hanging off both sides.
> 
> I was trying to ask, without connotation, simply how the fish was meaured.
> 
> I think this is a reasonable question as 27.5" is the longest ever recorded smallmouth caught in the world and I am an avid smallmouth fisherman.



Andy you sure have a good head on your shoulders

I'm surprised you even visit a site like this lol you should be in the $$$ 

Nice fish Walter
How could I not believe YOU 
BC on the other hand


----------



## misfit

> Two spots says he saw the fish measured on a 20" cooler with fish hanging off both sides.


maybe it's my eyes,but i never saw that posted anywhere

but if it was posted,then why ask the question?


----------



## Smallmouth70

Just thought I'd throw this out there:

Hayes all-tackle world record smallmouth bass is 27 inches long with a girth of 21 and 2/3 inches. After disqualifying the Hayes fish as the all tackle world record, the IGFA recognized another Dale Hollow Lake smallmouth as the all tackle world record; a 10-pound, 14-ounce fish caught by John Gorman in 1969.

The Gorman fish had a length of 26 and 1/4 inches with a girth of 21 and 1/2 inches. 

From this article: http://www.southeasternoutdoors.com...icles/smallmouth-world-record-reinstated.html


----------



## Smallmouth70

Oh and Walter, that's a nice looking smallie you got there!


----------

