GamblerFL

The page I found wont let me copy and paste but they were talking to Jim Dayberry who is a Ranger at Dixon Lake. He was talking about a 21 pound 7 ounce bass taken out of the lake. It is a 70 acre lake that has 60 acres that can be fished. Here is what he said. "The lake is going to produce the world record bass, Dayberry said, We feed more trout to these bass than any other lake in the country" http://www.seewald.com/california_state_record_largemouth_black_bass.htm

If I filled my pool with lake water and stocked it with bass 10 years from now it would be a natural enviroment for those select fish. Thats a given. The point of this is that the record will fall. Thats a given. But I dont know if the way it will fall is the way it should. If you have the bassmasters artical read it. You will see this is the California "big bass program". They study these fish, they shock these fish, these fish were put in for one reason. To become very big fish. Yes I agree they stock other lakes with trout. I dont agree that these other lakes are used the same way as these lakes we are talking about. They have hours on many of these lakes, they shut these lakes down from time to time. They have times where these lakes can only be fished a few days a week. Some of these lakes only allow so many people fishing on them at a time. This is for the most part a controlled enviroment for these fish to grow. I live in Florida. I know people outside of Florida feel there are huge fish caught here year after year. It isnt that way. I would be more than happy to change my views if someone comes up with a true reason why these fish are "natural". I agree they are natural for the fish in those lakes but in the big picture they arent natural as far as why they are that big. Take away the Florida strain of bass and take away the trout if those fish get anywhere near the size they are I would be impressed.

I agee with the way they keep records but in the begining when the rules were set up did they know this was going to happen? I agree bass have been stocked before, but I'm not sure they have been stocked in this manner. Numbers tell the story and the fact that with all the lakes and rivers in this country, when 21 of the top 25 bass are coming out of a select few lakes in the same area with the same type of bass (Florida) eating the same type of trout, you have to feel there is something wrong with it. When a record has held for 73 years and over a 20 year span it has been challenged and it is from the same area you have to feel there is something not natural about it. Look at it this way. There have only been 12 bass ever caught over 20 pounds. Think of all of the people that have fished since 1923. Only 12 20 pounds or over have ever been caught. One was in Florida in 1923. One was in Georgia in 1932. One was in California in 1973. 8 of the final 9 have been caught in the same lakes with 7 being caught in the last 15 years. I have nothing against the people catching these bass but I have to feel there is one reason why so many big fish are being caught in one of three lakes. If I had a pond and stocked it with bass and fed them with something that would make them really grow, would it be a record if I caught one over 22 pounds 4 ounces? How big would my pond need to be before it would be a record?

I think you missed the point. Ok it is a 22 pound 10 ounce bass... But thanks for the info, I didnt know it had to be over 2 ounces.

Their natural inviroment wouldnt be a Florida bass in California eating trout. Plus I bet if you went out tomorrow and fished your own local lake and were to bring in a 22 pound 5 ounce bass and once you got ready to be in the spot light as the new record holder a guy from one of those lakes brings in a 25 pounder and beats your record before it gets on the books, I bet you and most people would question it. But hey, this is what a board is all about, how you feel about it. Thanks for adding to it. I found the 25 largest bass caught. 22 of the top 25 are from California and of the 22 only 1 of them was from a lake not stocked with trout. Of the other 3 bass 1 is from Georgia, the world record, the other 2 are from Florida. One interesting thing I found was the 2nd largest and 3rd largest were caught out of the same lake and believed to be the same fish. What I found was a write up that the bass had a black spot under the mouth that both bass had. The fish when it was 21 pounds 12 ounces was caught and let go. 7 days later a fish was caught that was 22 pound and a 1/2 ounce on the same lake with the same black spot. It was also let go. A few weeks later some guys fishing came across a dead largemouth bass. They brought the fish in and it had the black spot and was the same length. They took a scale off and it was believed to be the same fish that was caught twice before. 8 of the top 25 were caught on Castaic Lake in Ca. 3 of the 25 were caught on Dixon Lake in Ca. 4 of the top 25 were caught on Miramar Lake Ca. 2 of the top 25 were on Isabella Lake Ca. Funny if you read the list the lakes with the largest have caught dates not too far apart. Makes you wonder if it isnt the same fish several times. http://www.fishingnetwork.net/top25lmb.htm

I feel the same way. On the one hand, they are in lakes, but I dont believe these bass would ever have been this large if left alone. Also as I wrote above, these arent even native to California.

Here is what I know from the Bassmaster magazine... In 1959 California took 20,000 Florida large mouth bass and put them in a 20 acre reservoir. The off spring were gradually stocked throughout the region. They then found that the new Florida strain of bass were harder to catch than the native largemouth bass. They knew that the new strain would have a better change of growing larger because of this. Through the years these bass did get big because of the environment they were in. They were stocked in reservoirs that had clean water, very deep holes, and an abundance of forage. But one of the big reasons was because these reservoirs were stocked with thousands of pounds of hatchery-bred rainbow trout each week during the fall, winter and early spring. This is a quote from the article. "These high protein trout have an enormous impact on the growth of the bass". A 21 pound 11 ounce bass was caught on one of the reservoirs. They tested and found the bass was probably 12 or 13 years old. The same bass in Florida in 10 years would have been around 10 pounds. They feel that very soon the world record of 22 pounds 4 ounces will be broken from a bass out of one of the reservoirs. Here is my question... Do you feel that these bass should be recorded as a world record? We all know that the world record was caught in Georgia on Lake Montgomery in 1932. It was a native bass in a normal lake. Out of the 25 largest largemouth bass every caught, 22 have come from California. I don't know if all 22 came from these stocked lakes but I'm sure most of them were. In my opinion I think if and most likely WHEN the record is broken from that area, it should have an * telling the background of these bass. These bass aren't even a California bass. They also arent even eating what they would be eating if not for them stocking the lakes. By the way, The large bass being caught are being released back in the lake in hopes of the fish being caught again once it beats the record.

If it was me and I didnt want to spend a bunch of money I would head to eBay. You wont believe what you will find for a little money. Many tackle box's with a little of everything for a little money. I saw one the other day that had 21 spinner baits and 10 different shallow bombers with the box that sold for 29 dollars. Even with shipping the person still had under $1.30 a lure. They all looked pretty good.

1) Rat-L-Trap (silver green back) 2) Spinner bait (white) 3) Small crank bait (trout color shallow dive)---dont know why that color works for me but I think because it looks more white with a little color. Runner up- Rapala minnow...too many pike on the lake I usually fish to have luck with bass with it.

Welcome to the board...

Nice fish. Way to go.

I also met him at a fishing show here in Orlando in the late 80's. Seemed like a great man. Who will ever forget the Mann's grape jelly worms and the little George? Timeless...

boatless I'm in Orlando as well and I know what you mean about the weeds.

Living in Florida, I dont get a chance for a smallmouth. I have watched tv shows and I would really love to fish for them.

Subject: Never Lie to Mom Brian Hester invited his mother over for dinner. During the course of the meal, Brian's mother couldn't help but keep noticing how beautiful Brian's roommate, Stephanie, was. Mrs. Hester had long been suspicious of a relationship between Brian and his roommate, Stephanie, and this had only made her more curious. Over the course of the evening, while watching the two react, Mrs. Hester started to wonder if there was more between Brian and his roommate, Stephanie, than met the eye. Reading his mom's thoughts, Brian volunteered, "I know what you must be thinking, but I assure you Stephanie and I are just roommates." About a week later, Stephanie came to Brian saying, "Ever since your mother came to dinner, I've been unable to find the beautiful silver gravy ladle. You don't suppose she took it, do you?" Brian said, "Well, I doubt it, but I'll send her an e-mail just to be sure." So he sat down and wrote: "Dear Mother, I'm not saying that you "did" take the gravy ladle from the house, I'm not saying that you "did not" take the gravy ladle. But the fact remains that one has been missing ever since you were here for dinner. Love, Brian" The next day, Brian received an email from his mother that read: "Dear Son, I'm not saying that you "do" sleep with Stephanie, and I'm not saying that you "do not" sleep with Stephanie. But the fact remains that if she was sleeping in her own bed, she would have found the gravy ladle by now. Love, Mom"

I have never had an owl come after me but I have had one go after a bait. I walked out the back door one evening after changing the line on one of my reels. I had a spinner bait on and made a quick cast in the yard to see if a noise I was hearing in the reel was gone. I started reeling in and I saw the owl come flying down after the spinner bait. I pulled it so he couldnt get it but it really caught me off guard.

I would say with the fish finder. Thats about the only way I have been able to find them. One thing I started doing a while ago is watching the depth finder more. I usually fish one chain of lakes 90% of the time. What I started doing when I was done fishing is watching the bottom on the way in. Before I would finish up and blow across the water heading home. Now what I do is fast idle in different areas looking to see where the fish are. I might not always just idle in, but I will pick areas close to where I am fishing and take a good look before I take off. I just take note of water temp, air temp and time of day and year. Just doing this simple thing allowed me to find an area in the water that was holding fish last year. I have fished this lake since I was a kid and if not for looking a little before I leave, I would have never known about that area.

Rapala minnow. It might not catch big fish, but it will always catch something.

Salt water fish. I like grouper but a friend of mine had a way to cook mullet of all fish and I am here to tell you that was the best fish I have ever eaten. He would grill it with some sort of powder on it. Come to think of it, I need to call him!

Orlando, Florida...

I grew up on a chain of lakes here in Florida. My parents still live on the chain. I dont know when I started because I cant remember not fishing. The one memory that sticks in my mind is my grandfather spending about an hour with me, when I was a young kid, on the dock showing me how to use a hula-popper.

1) Fishin hole..just because I always have liked Jerry 2) Bassmaster Tour 3) Bassmaster University I like Bill Dance but it seems to me that most of his fishing seems to be on private ponds-lakes.

Believe it or not the most productive color of a crank bait for me is a trout colored. Rapala minnow is silver or gold. I have had luck with the gold but the silver seems to do better. Worms for me seems to be the motor oil or dark green with light green. Spinner bait is white. Seems to me that the color that seems to work for all baits ends up being the color you use the most.

As long as they are of legal size it doesnt bother me. I dont keep them but to each his own. As long as they eat them and not end up throwing them out from freezer burn. To me it is like hunting. I dont hunt but I dont have anything against people that do. I just dont understand all the people that kill a deer and dress it. Then they spend the next month trying to give the meat away. I told a friend of mine once, if you dont like the meat, then why shoot it.

I have fished the pool many times....never had a hit yet!!!!!