Mattlures

Yeah that ones not even close.

Yes it would be normal and no suprise. My main point is that in order for a fish to reach its 100% potental it cant be kept at 95%. If sombody in TX or FL catches and keeps a 15lber they removed a potential 20lber. Verry few bass anywhare have all right stuff to get to 15lbs. and even fewer of those 15's can get to 20. I belive if Texas and Fl released all or even most of their teen bass we would see some hight teen fish coming out of those states. Trust me I realize how blessed we are with the size of these bass. I also hunt deer and we have some of the smallest deer in the country. I see those pics of monster bucks and I think thats exactly what those bass fisherman from other areas feel when they see the giant bass from here. My lifetime bass fishing goal is 20lber. I dont know if the WR is a realistic goal but I feel there is a small chance that I may someday get my 20

The dood that makes those is the best painter in the industry. I have no idea if his baits catch fish but they sure are purdy

I have a dog(weight with chains) and the telescoping pole. I keep them both in my boat. The one oictured is almost exactly the same as the one I bought but the screw at the end is a little different. I wrap a rag around it and the cloth catchess the hooks realy well. I use the pole a lot more then the dog. Generaly an angle change will pop out a deep lure but a shallower on on wood is a job for the pole.

Jaheff, Dixon aint easy!! I have never went to DVL but that would be where iwould go to catch a lot of good fish or even hodges. Dixon, Poway, Jennings, Murray, = hard but has a few monsters. Hodges, Otay, El Cap, San V, = easy but not many big fish. Otay is improving though. DVL has the best of both worlds. It hasnt produced monsters yet but it will soon and it has a lot of good fish in there

One thing I forgot to mention is In our small lakes with giant bass the fishing can be brutal. The fish are smart and super preasured and hard to catch. In contrast our bigger lakes are much easier. the bigger the lake = bigger population = easier fishing. Of course that how it is out here becuase the little lakes get just as much presure as the big ones.

Muddy they are not saying it, I am. The size of the lake is the least important factor as long as its big enough. Its actualy not that complicated. For a bass to reach its potential it needs...In this order #1 Genetics #2 inviornment It needs the right climate. It needs no competition from stripes or spots. It needs the right food sources in abundance #3 It needs to be able to live long enough to get that big. #4 Proper management. One of the reasons that the small lakes in So Cal produce big bass is they do not have large populations of bass. the spawns are not overly succesful and the populations are lower then our bigger lakes which helps big bass get bigger. We have bigger lakes that when they were young lakes produced giant fish, now they dont. To many small bass competing with the big ones. Ponds are ususaly bad for growing big bass because the bass usualy out compete thier prey and the pond becomes unballanced. It all depends on the ballance in your ponds. I assume that your talking about big ponds that have a good balance though. If you catch a lot of skinny fish there is a good chance that the lake is unbalanced and the big bass are on the decline.What you want is lower numbers of bass but you want them fat and healthy, thats where you should find some bigger fish. Dont go by lake records. Evey lake out here has a record of over 18lbs but many of them havent produced a 15lber in over 20 years. Base your chances on recent lake history

I disagree with a lot of you guys. IMO A nice guy is not a great bass fisherman. A great frend, father, partner, role model, ambassador, etc does not qualify sombody as a great bass fisherma. Neither does being able to catch multiple species. Those qualities make somebody a great person and being able to catch differnt types of fish makes them a great fisherman but to be a great BASS fisherman you have to be near the top of what you do. If your a tournament guy then you need to win or consistantly finish towards the top. If your a trophy hunter then you need to consistantly catch them. I think to be a great bass fisherman, you need to be great at what you do. If all you do is fish from a john boat and cacth and keep a limit every time then you would be great at that. consistancy and results classify you as great. Muhamed Ali is considered one of the greatest of all times, but he was not liked back then. OJ Simpson was a GREAT back I dont think anybody thinks he is a good person

Tilapia have almost the same nutritional value as trout. A tilapia food base could absolutley compete with a trout food base. Plus trout are only stocked for about 1/3 of the year. then the bass have to eat regular food. A lake that had year round Tilapia has a better food source then 4 months of trout. If Mexico has produced big fish but the general theory is that that they groy to fast and burn out. If this is true then a Tx lake that was managed for the sole purpose of growing worl class fish could produce a 20lb bass

i agree with WRB that striper will prevent DVL from being the giant fish factory that it could be. However this will take some time and I think that the first few year classes of bass have a chance at reaching 20+lbs but because of the stripers there will be a small window of time before the stripers keep the top end weight down

flechero of course there will be some delayed mortalty, but for the most part it is a verry small group of guys who consistantly catch these big fish. These same guys are the ones who rarley overhandle the fish. They catch them take some pictures and release them. Most are not even brought back to the ranger. The ones that are are let go right afterwards. They are not held waiting for SAL to pick them up. Dottie was a rare instance where the guys had to wait for the F&G but even then sh was put on a long stringer and put in deeper water while they waited, plus she was at world record weight. It is not by accident that these huge fish are caught more then once. I dont have the answer concerning the SAL program. I think its a cool program, I would love to have my name submitted in there a bunch of times and have a room full of replica mounts but the evidence shows its not working if the goal is 20lb bass. It seems to be working great for 10+lbers though. Most bass fisherman have a warped sence of conservation when it comes to catch and releas. they let all the little ones go and they keep a fish of a lifetime. This is absolutley the worst thing you can do to a lake if your wanting to grow big bass. You should keep the little ones and increase the food supply and let go ALL of the big bass. its pretty simple but soo many bass fisherman do the exact opposite >

we have discussed this many times. They dont all live. They dont all get put back. When your talking about the smallest percentage of the fish population and lose a percentage of that it has a huge impact on the very upper end class of bass. Think about it, in Tx an 16 lb bass is probably 1 in a million. If 3 of these are turned in each year and 1 dies and one is kept at the SAL program then only one is released. now its a 1 in 3 million fish. The SAL program is great for improving genetics but I am sure TX has all the genetics it needs by now. The SAL is is the worst thing for producing world class fish.

I have posted this 100 times but I will do it again. The biggest difference between Cali and everywhere else is we let our giants go so they become word class fish. This story about Dottie is the ultimate example of how that works. Mike caught her at 20 12 and released her. Do you think sh would have beeen released in TX or FL if sombody caught a 20lber there. Nope she would have been kept. Not only did Mike release her but then Jed released her at 21 11 and look what hapened......She grew to 25lbs. This is the biggest difference in Cali and the other possible staes. Untill they release all thier giant bass they will probably never produce a 20lber. This type of thing is common place out here in Cali. I honestly dont think a single person has asked me if I released my 17 lber. You know why? becuase they dont have to ask. Its a given that she went back. Its the same thing with all the trophy hunters. Do you think Mike keeps his fish? Of course not. Ok now answer this. If I 15-20lb bass was caught in Tx or Fl what are the chances of the angler just taking pics weighing her and putting her back?Probably extremely low. Its going to the SAL program or on a wall. TX cant get out of its own way. Thier motto should be "lets grow them big but take them out before they get too big"

five.bass.limit They knew she was in the lake. They probably didnt know she was up spawning. Kyle had found her the day before. I am sure that the guys who were at the lake that day didnt go home and tell everybody. They kept it quiet in hopes that they would be the first to get their the next morning. Plus Bizz is correct. Both Mike and John have wifes kids and Jobs. Mike runs a construction Co and John is a manager at a grociery store. They could not be at the lake every day like Jed and Mac could. However I am sure if they knew she was up they probably would have made an effort. The spawning season can last 3-4 months on a lake Even though you know she will come up you dont know when, plus you dont know is sha already did and you never know for sure if she is still alive. Prety much the only way to give yourself the best shot was to be the first one at the lake EVERY SINGLE DAY. That to me is not how I wanted to live nore could I afford it. I picked a few prime days each month and drove up there to look for her. I obviously never found her but I did find others and caught big fish. I also lost a monster while throwing a big swimbait that I will never know how big it realy was.

Its not a matter of knowing she was in there. We all knew she was in there. Those guys just worked harder then anybody else for their shot at her. They were there everysingle day during the spawning months. can you imagin that? It cost about $30 to rent a boat plus your daily permit. They were the first ones at the lake every morning Also about a week before Dottie was caught at 25.1 Mike caught one from the same lake at 21.5. He never reported it because he knew that was not the one he was after. He also said a scale sample showed his fish was older then Dottie. Mike also took a scale sample when he caught Dottie and I belive she was around 10 years old at 20lbs 12 oz Nat Geo asked Mike to use his picture of him and Dottie for this show but he didnt want to be in it.

An imbeded hook means that one hook of a treble hook is pushed into the plastic body while the other two hooks of the treble are exposed. This makes the hook less visable and more weedless. The IGFA states that all treble hooks must be free swinging

Muddy.....Yep you are correct sir. I consider myself a very good deer hunter. However we only have small bucks where I live I will never be in any record books. Paul You sir are also corect. For myself, I want to be the guy who catches it. Its not about the money. I dont think anybody would just hand over money because you catch the record. You would have to earn it by doing seminars and talking at shows ect. I wouldnt do that. I dont like being in the spotlight. I might do some interviews and maybe do some adds but that would be it. I dont think I would make much money off of it. For me its the hunt, the chase and wanting to be the guy who caught the biggest bass. I absolutley believ the record can and will be broken and certified. I think the IGFA wants the record to be broken(good for buisiness) It will just take it happening legitimatley. If Duclos would have killed his fish he would be the record holder. If Mike Long or John Kerr was on Dottie that morining I belive they would have broken the record. I also would have liked my chances. WRB You are correct sir. The IGFA has several rules about aditional hooks. I bleive you can have a single trap hook on the back of a jig as long as it does not extend past the skirt. I have several special bed baits rigged to give the best chance at landing a giant bass. However I keep one bait on hand that I know will be IGFA aproved. You bring up an interesting piont though. The spirit of that rule is to prevent lures being used to snagg fish. That is why all trebles must be free swinging. I wonder what would happen if somebody caught the WR on a swimbait with an imbeded hook. On the surface the catch would not be allowed but if it came down to that I wonder if the IGFA would budge? I think they would.

mattm please dont think that they ever said that they didnt foul hook it. They never tried to claim it was caught in the mouth. All I am saying is they didnt just give up the info that is was snagged. They didnt lie about it. We can only speculate what they were thinking and what thier intentions were. There were wittnesses so even if they had bad intentions they could not have gotten away with anything. Plus it is possible that they had no intentions of trying to claim she was caught legaly. If inocnet untill proven giulty then they are absolutley inocent becuase they in fact never lied about where she was hooked. You can form your own opinion. Now as for purposly snagging the fish. It is my opinion it was an accident and here is why. the fish was caught in the morning. They had all day to get her. They knew she was the fish. They were being watched. She was staying in the bed and letting them fish for her. I would think they would not try to snag her in those conditions. Again I only know what I read and heard and talked to people who were there. There is no way to know what they were thinking or what thier intentions were.

They didnt voluntarily give up the info that the fish was foul hooked. After they caught the fish they went out away from shore and talked ror 15-30 minutes. This is when they say they called their lawyer. Then they came back to the fishing dock which was farther away from the boat dock where the watchers were. Once to got to the dock and weighed the fish on of the guys said he knew they snagged it and they said what are you talking about. He said I saw the fish with the jig in its back and I saw it come up in the net sideways. Then (Ibelieve it was Mike Winn) said just let it go and they did. This is not hearsay. this is how it went down. I dont know their intentions or what was going through thier minds when all this happened so its all speculation as to if they were going to try and claim it was caught legaly.

I know there is a difference between 22.7 and 22 lbs 7oz.but I meant oz. Ok how about this The first time it weighed 22lbs 7oz. the next time when it was weighedit weighed 21lbs 11 oz. I am almost posative these weights are correct. All I can say about those guys is, the local opinion of them is not good. They may act friendy to the dock fisherman but try cruising around looking for fish durring the spawn. I dont know them, I have only interacted with them on the water and they will do anything to get a boat or a spot first. I have had them cut in front of me while acting as a team in seperate boat talking to each other on thier cells to make sure I couldnt see any freash water. I dont even dislike them, I just try and keep the facts straight.

Now Muddy that aint gonna cut it nobody will believe it. Here is what you do. Go out catch some fish and then kill them and take some pics of the fish floating. Then claim you talked to the local biologist and he said they are dying due to a disesse found only in LMB. If the fish you killed were big you could claim the biologist told you it only effects older larger bass. Then you post it on the local message boards. You will have to use an alias because it wont take that long for people to realize your full of it. But by then you already had your lake to yourself for a couple weeks. ;D Yeah I know some pretty strange stuff goes on out here. I dont blame you for thinking were all nuts. Your not exactly wrong.

WRB that is a 12oz difference. Paul Mike did find a big flaoter soo it wasnt nessasaraly lying. He was leading people into thinking the bass had died. he was also hoping to save the world record bass club from going under. Lyods of London Insurred them for the prize for a world record and they would not reniew the polocy after Jed caught her her at 22.7 / 21.11 Its soo competetive out here its rediculous. The guys in the know are very secrative and only share info ON PURPOSE or with thier closest buddies who they trust. Then there are a lot of wannabees who claim to catch alot of big fish when they might have caught 1 or 2. It can be difficult to weed thru the BS. I have a very close nit group and they know if they talk outside the group they wont get the goods anymore. I have had both Mike and John send me to fish. I have yet to pay them back because everytime I find something they are there. They have sothern Ca wired. Maybe this year I can put them on some fish.

WRB when Dottie weighed 25.1 it was on thier hand held scale. When Jed caught her at 22.7 she was weighed on the certified scale at the lake in front of wittnesses. Then later rewighed at 21.11 by the fish and game. Mudd Mike Long "killed off" that fish twice to try and lessen the preasure. Those of us who knew better backed up the story of the fish being dead. Mac and Jed took it as an insult and disputed the fish was dead. Mike found a big floater and said he thought it could be dottie after Jed caught her at 22.7. Mike was trying to keep the pressure awy but it dint work to well. You will see guys out here post big fish on purpose to try and draw attention awy from where they have found a bigger fish.

AGAIN for those that didnt read through alll the post THERE IS A CERTIFIED SCALE AT THE LAKE!!!!!!!!!!! The Salter is the scale I use.

This thread makes me want to go out and catch a small bass just so I can post a pic. Man I might have to dig out a crank bait or spinner bait or something ;D