Fish Chris

I've caught quite a few of these fish, but mostly smaller ones, on crawlers. On the other hand, when your throwing a swimbait for trophy bass, you really aren't thinking about much else, besides "trophy bass". Granted, you sometimes get smaller bass, and once in a blue moon, a big catfish..... But none the less..... So I'm on a big bass spot. I make a long cast with the Hud. Start a slow, steady retrieve.... and POW ! I get blasted ! I swing and the rod loads up heavily ! Yea' buddies ! This has got to be a DD ! But after a few pumps and cranks, it just basically gives up, and I slide it straight to the boat..... at which point I'm like, "Ahhhhh.... It just a darn Squaw fish" :-( Basically a big ol' Minnow. Ate the heck out of my Hud though. On another forum we were discussing these fish. They are occasionally caught by Bass fishermen, in many different Nor Cal lakes and rivers, and apparently, they can get really big.... like 25 to 35 lbs ! This one was 29" and although I didn't weigh it, I would guess it was between 8 and 10 lbs. That's the thing about fishing though, right ? As long as you have a line in the water, you never know what species my grab it.... or, how big it will be ! :-) Peace, Fish

Hey Matt, you really think that bass (third pic from the bottom) was not a teener ? I mean, I know you have seen / caught a lot of big ones, and of course, you saw these fish in person, while I'm just looking at photos.... But still, I have "never" seen a bass which was that pot bellied, and bug-eyed, which "wasn't" a teener ! Like I said, I'd be "on a mission" to stick that one again ! Heck, even aside from these big ones, it wouldn't hurt my feelings too bad, if I went back to a place like that and stuck a bunch of "different" big ones :-) Peace, Fish

I'm always sorry to hear about tradgedies such as this. Prayers go out for these people and their loved ones. Please, everybody who reads this, buy yourself an auto-inflating PFD, put it on at the ramp before you go out, and take it off at the ramp at the end of the day ! BTW, if you go back through my big fish photos, you will see that the only one lately in which I "wasn't wearing a PFD", was the last one...... Why ? Because I had already pulled the boat off of the water, and had went back down to fish from the shore. "I just don't want any one of the members here, to have to have their tragic story posted for them" ! Fish

Back when I was a kid, yes probably. The ironic thing is, I have learned that private ponds "ALMOST NEVER" produce the biggest bass. Ponds are ususally good for good numbers of nice fish. But if you want to catch a true giant, your much better off fishing public waters that get hammered on a lot more. The increased harvest leaves more food, and more space, for the fish that are left. Here's a (typical) case in point; Ya' know that 14.40 lb'er I posted a while back ? Okay, the lake record from that place is 18.7... and my PB from that lake is 16.5. Now, just up over the hill from that lake is a totally private lake, and I can't tell you I'm not intrigued by the place ! Heck, just by the clear blue water I can see from the satelite images, if nothing else. However, I know of several guys, mostly young guys (kids) that have snuck onto the place, and have stuck ALL kinds of nice bass, but nothing over 8 lbs.... ever. Now this might seem just totally awesome to a lot of you guys, but you must remember that at the public pond that I fish at, a few miles away, I won't hardly even bother to take a photo of a bass if its not 10 lbs. One kid was actually bragging to me about how many, and how BIG of bass they had been catching from there, to which I told him, "Alright, check it out... Why don't you show me a photo of the biggest bass you catch from that place this Summer, and I'll show you a photo of the biggest bass I catch from totally legal, public waters". I never heard back from him :-) Anyway, if your going to fish private ponds without permission, you need to understand that being arrested would be a "lucky" thing, as opposed to being shot. Think twice. Act once. Peace, Fish

Hey Senile1, I hear what your saying, and I somewhat agree. For those people who won't ever change their minds, I think we should just forget about them and move on, directing our attention in the direction it will do the most good. But hey, when you said > but if he is sticking pigs like this it would seem that he is a knowledgeable fisherman. < Hmmmm. Depends on how you look at it. Honestly, I think I could grab just about any dummy off of the street, put him on the right Cali trout pond, at the right time of year {either with a swimbait, or a small, soft plastic Bluegill pattern} and teach him the bare basics of what he needs to know, to catch a giant bass. And along those same lines, I do believe that sometimes, "especially nowadays, with the Internet", people sometimes learn too much of the "big stuff", too fast, before they really have any kind of foundation to rest it on. Just a few more things to ponder.... Peace, Fish

Hey BK, okay, so you were borderline homeless. That would have been totally acceptable then buddy. If I saw that you were in that bad of shape, I might have given you one of my 10 lb bass ;-) LOL But on a serious note, to anyone who likes to eat fish of ANY species; There are very few places in this country where their are no heavy metals, or toxic chemicals present in the water. MOST of these chemicals cannot be shed through a fishes normal metabolic processes. What this means is, the longer a fish lives, the more of these heavy metals and / or toxins will accumulate. So, smaller fish are ususally healthier / safer for you and your family as well. This is evidenced by many of the health warnings which will often say things such as: A person should eat no more than 3 meals per month of Largemouth Bass "under 17" in length" and no more than 1 meal per month of Largemouth Bass "over 17" in length"........ Just some food for thought, Fish

Let me just put it this way, MOST of us would love to catch a big fish. MOST of us understand that when a big fish is removed from our waters, it reduces our chances. We ALL understand that it is a fishermans right to kill a big fish, should he catch it. But MOST of us can see no valid reason for killing a big fish on purpose. It is also an anglers right to walk across a bunch of broken glass barefooted..... but that still doesn't mean it's a very smart thing to do. All this said, I still stand by the belief that MOST of the anglers that do kill big fish, would probably not do so, if they knew, what many of us do....... and so I believe that it all comes back to education. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Is their nobody here, besides myself, who can stay so calm about this subject ? Why is it that 90% of the posters want to hang the guy that kills big fish ? And then 9% want to hang that 90% for interfering with an anglers rights..... And 1% (that would be me) wants to have a friendly chat, and help to educate the catch and kill angler, so that he can, and most likely would, make the right decision, on his own ? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And BTW, I have strong reason to believe that the particular angler in question, caught these fish from a pond that I have fished, and will fish a bunch more in the future. So, he has "directly hurt my chances"...... and yet I still don't take it personally. I just can't believe that the guy fully understands the consequences of his own actions, for himself, and for others. EDUCATION !!! Peace, Fish

Well hey now, I don't hardly fish with my best friends, so I certainly can't see myself fishing with that guy either..... But I would like to talk with him, and see if I could educate him in a friendly manner. I would have to assume he likes, and is proud of catching, big bass..... Or else, why would he be taking photos to show off on the internet. I'd just like to show this guy photo proof of some C/R's, and re-C/R's, and to explain to him how few 15's their are in some of these little ponds. If a pond has five 15 lb bass, and you remove one of them, your odds of catching a 15 lb bass will go down by 20% ....... As if catching a 15 lb bass were not tough enough to begin with ! Sure, one could argue that the 10 to 14's will eventually grow to be 15's..... but when your dealing with such low numbers of fish to begin with, it only takes a couple less knowledgeable (or just flat out, uncaring) anglers, to completely eliminate "everyones chances" at sticking a huge bass, himself included ! Peace, Fishj

What I know about this guy, is that he is apparently killing as many big bass as he possibly can. It is beyond myself also, when guys get bent out of shape about a few "small fish" being kept (Selectively Harvested) from bodies of water where it might actually help the quality of the fishery. {well, I guess its not really beyond me.... they obviously just need more education on SH} But in all of my years of trophy bass study, I have yet to find a place that was just so overpopulated with huge, 10 to 15 lb bass, that this became a problem ! Selective Harvest should have nothing to do with trophy sized bass ! Next, if this guy is in "need of food" there are places where he could more easily stick limts of 2 to 3 pounders, every time he went out. It would be simply illogical to fish for "big fish" if you were hungry. You asked > How do you know that the fish that you are catching are not dying because of foul-hooking, stress because of being hooked and "played" to the boat, contracted a virus because you put it in your livewell and you had other bass that had the largemouth bass virus (LMBV), died after you drove around the lake for 6 hours during a tournament with them in your livewell, slung the fish around and took pictures. How many of those fish that you caught off their "bed" this spring actually had a succesful spawn? < Here's how I know; Because every year, my trophy bass buddies and I continue to "re-catch" and positively identify, big bass which we have previously C/R'd. Of course there is always a posibility that one of these fish might suffer a fatal injury, or stress level from being C/R'd, but I feel that this can be kept to a minimum with proper handling, and by being prepared. Now, I have a question for you BaitMS, forget about all the other anglers for a minute, "How bad would my buddies and I have hurt 'ourselves' if we had chosen to kill all of the big bass we have caught" ? I know of a couple ponds where I believe we could have probably reduced our own odds of future trophy bass catches, by "more than" 50% ! Fortunately, we are not into "self-punishment". Yes BaitMS, you are correct that the guy is within his rights. This is why I try to never hit them with the "slamming approach". I believe that if this guy knew what most of us hard-core trophy bass anglers knew about trophy bass fisheries, he would decide, on his own, to do the right thing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BTW BaitMS, you were saying you are a fisheries biologists ? That's cool :-) I have several buddies who are fisheries biologists, including the Ca DFG Cheif Fisheries Biologists (ret.) Dennis Lee, and In-Fisherman biologist and Editor, Steve Quin. Both really good guys, and extremely knowledgeable...... And the fact is, I know enough to talk with them at an 'almost' equal level. Hopefully we can do the same ? Peace, Fish Chris

Jay, can you send me a PM with a link to that site ? Is there a way to send this guy a PM ? Honestly, I'd have more "questions for him, than comments"...... First and foremost being.... Why ??? Fish

I fish out of a 10K boat, that just happens to be my dream boat. It is certainly more comfortable, and marginally more effective, than my old 12ft aluminum beater...... but interestingly, it is (for my purposes) a LOT more effective than a 50K high performance bass boat. From another perspective.... I throw a $35 swimbait, which is night and day more effective than any $5 to $15 swimbait that I know of..... but what's funny is, I believe it to be a lot more effective than some of the $100 to $300 swimbaits I know of also. Finally, NO, you don't need a lot of expensive equipment to catch bass, but living in California is rediculously expensive, so over here you need a lot of money just to live, and after you have earned your living, you still need time to go fishing. Just a few thoughts to ponder, Fish

Those are some absolute pigs ! .....and you didn't bring a scale ? I have one little digital scale that probably doesn't weigh 6 ounces. At least you got some great photos ! But what do you tell people now when they ask how many bass over 10 lbs you have caught ? BTW, what is your PB ? Might you have caught it on this trip, but with no way to be sure ? That last one (the super bug-eyed, pot-bellied one looks like a 15 to me). If your okay with "not knowing" then its all good..... But I would be hating myself, if I ever caught a fish like any of those toads, and didn't have a scale. Congrats on the great trip though, Fish PS, I know what I'd do now..... I go back to that place 600 times, and do whatever I had to, to catch each of those monsters again (you have great photos for verification purposes).... then weigh em'..... then add em' to my DD list.... Twice each :-)

Hey Gotta love it, it's not so much that I would tired of catching big bass, but just that in some past years, my odds of sticking a big bass during the hot mid-Summer months fell practically to zero, while sticking those big Bat Rays, and Leopard Sharks is almost a guarantee ! Not to mention, it can be 110 degrees at my home, and most of the bass lakes, but only 1 1/2 hours West (at the Pacific ocean) it is often 65 degrees :-) Awesome way to both beat the heat, and get a "drag-ripping fix" ! :-) Peace, Fish

Thank you guys :-) BTW, for the last several Summers, I have been straying out towards the saltwater, for the Halibut, Batrays, and Leopard Sharks..... and I might have to do that a little bit this year too. However, I have some ideas that might keep me in the running for a bunch more DD bass..... and maybe even a "big one" if I keep at it ;-) Peace, Fish

Good job ! Nice fish ! I can hardly remember the last time I caught 24 bass in a trip.... Stay on em' ! :-) Fish

I really expected more action today, on the front of a front and all. But it was actually about as tough as gets. Not a single hit. Although I did have a couple 10 to 11's follow my swimbait up to the shore on one cast. So anyway, after a long, uneventful day, I start working my way back to the launch ramp. And Whoa ! I see a 9 and an 11 right along the shoreline.... maybe 4 feet out, and 4 ft deep.... on or near a bed, I presume. But I glance at my watch, and its 5:55 pm ! All boats have to be off the water by 6 pm :-( .....and tomorrow its supposed to rain, which in itself might not be enough to stop me, but the brakes on my truck are going out now, and need to be replaced too..... Then back to work for 4 days :-( What to do ? Hey ! I don't think the park actually closes until 7 pm ! (turned out to be 7:30pm) and this part of the shoreline was maybe 100 yards from the parking lot ! So, I yank the boat out... put away everything I don't need, and grab 1 pole, a couple Basstrix Bluegills, my scissors, and a stringer rope. I'm back down there by 6:25 pm with another full hour if I need it. I start working my Basstrix across the clearing she was sitting over. Couldn't quite see a bed, but I assumed..... She acted interested right from the start. Took about 5 casts, but she finally whacked it. Glad I thought about that stringer rope :-) Put her on it, then went back up for my camera, my scale, and my livewell (remember, my live well, a 100qt cooler, is transportable) I was going to bring my tripod too, but there were a couple other anglers that had just pulled up, so they followed me down to take some pictures for me. Oh, she ended up going 11.3 lbs, but she had that "blocky" shape of many of the 14 to 17 lb'ers out of this lake. Pretty cool looking fish :-) Now see there..... just because the boat is off the water, the trip still isn't neccessarily over ;-) Peace, Fish

I just posted the whole story.... then hit the back button by accident, and lost it :-( I hate it when that happens :-( But anyway, here's a couple decent ones I caught yesterday.... I also missed one that was very 10'ish on the swing.... Oh, on the Hud of course. 8.0 8.1 Peace, Fish

Hey Biz ! I thought surely I had already responded to this post ! Doh ! Sorry buddy. Yes, those are some nice fish ! I wasn't trying to be rude.... Just had a brain lapse, that's all :-) Keep on em' buddy ! Fish

Hey Dominian, I'm not sure if you were directing that question specifically towards me, but anyway..... I like LM's, SM's, Catfish, Sturgeon, Halibut, Stripers, Bat Rays, Leopard Sharks, Crappie, Carp, Bluegill, etc, etc. Pretty much the determing factor for me is whichever of these species is biting the best at that time. For a period of about 8 years straight (from 97' to 05') I fished SO hard-core for nothing but trophy LM's. And it was all good. No regrets. But nowadays, I have kind of reverted back to my roots, which is to say, if it will bite my hook, and pull my string, I'm down with it :-) That said, I'm still always shooting for the biggest individual of whatever species I'm targeting at the time. Peace, Fish

Hello btlva. I tried finding my long answer, to why I believe the fish is a pure Smallmouth..... but lost that post now. Anyway, the gist of it is, it is exceedingly uncommon for Smallmouths to "naturally" interbreed with Largemouths..... a little more common with Spotted Bass, but there are no Spots in this lake. The other thing is, so many people (most) will look straight to the color, as the first indicator, while any trained biologists will barely consider this aspect, noting that colors can vary so much, depending a whole long list of factors. I remember when I first saw the WR Spotted bass (not the current one... but the one right before that) I got all bent out of shape, and was hollering, "These idiots don't even know the difference between a Spotted bass and a Smallie" !!! ...... So then I got in touch with the Ca DFG Senior biologist at that time, a buddy of mine by the name of Dennis Lee. Dennis explained the whole list of things they used to determine the actual species.... Scale counts, fin rays, teeth patch on tongue, etc..... Then went on to say, "Yes, the color sure looked a lot like a Smallie".... Which just goes to show why color is so "not to be trusted". ......To which I replied, "You da' man..... But I'm learning" :-) Oh hey, I just found that picture ! Here was the official, certified by trained biologists, World Record "Spotted Bass" of 9 lb 9.6 oz ! Can you see why I thought every one was losing there minds ??? Interesting stuff.... Peace, Fish Oh hey Dominion, I'm pretty much chasing the big green ones now :-)

Must be nice like that in Texas. Here in Cali, not enough people... not even F&G people, care enough to keep a list of individual lake records. Around here, you just have to ask around.... ask marinas... ask people who keep track of big bass catches..... and so of course, most records are not "as official" as they would be from say, Texas. Isn't it amazing how little the Ca DFG cares about our bass, yet we still have the biggest bass on the planet ? Just think if Cali, with all of the good weather, and trout plantings, cared as much, and put in as much time and effort as Texas has, to produce big bass !!! I think we would have already had a WRB 10 times over ! Sighhhhh.... Fish

I just don't know how you guys with your big "high per" bass boats can afford it ? Either you make a LOT more money that I do, or you don't fish near as much as I do. To fill my portable 6 gallon tank for my 25hp 4 stroke Yamaha, and my Toyota Tacoma, when both are almost empty, only costs me about $45. Which is still way too much for a poor guy like me, who fishes too much, and doesn't work enough...... Fish

Ya' know Rolo, don't get me wrong, I think both the Nikon D70, and the Canon XTi are both great cameras...... But I think DSLR's are better suited for straight up "scenic" or "special effects" photography, rather than for self taken fish photos. I have a {very sharp} buddy, who's wife recently took some great fish photos of him / for him, with his Canon XTi, but he has yet to figure out how to take good "self photos" with it. Problem is, even with the self timer set, the camera focuses the second he hits the shutter button...... and NOT when he sits back and poses with the fish. Yes, there are ways around this, but I just think it would be easier for a "fisherman" {who is not a straight up photographer} to use a nice quality point and shoot, like my Fuji S7000 or a Canon S3 Pro. Just MPO, Peace, Fish

"WHEN GOOD PLASTICS GO BAD" !!! Sounds like one of those TV shows on Spike :-) LOL Seriously though, yes, some plastic baits will go bad quicker than others. Being kept in a cool, dry place will greatly increase there life expectancy. I'd say that quality plastic baits, if kept reasonably well, should last at least 7 to 10 years. But if they are kept in a tackle bag that spends a lot of time on the deck of a boat, maybe only 2 or 3 years..... at which point, they might still be usable, but are likely to rip, or tear a lot easier. The other day, I pulled out a Zoom Fluke, that was about 5 years old (for sightfishing) and when I tried to rig it, it basically crumbled. Peace, Fish

Thank you for all the replies :-) Just a couple I have to respond to. Hey Avid, I respect your position, and I NEVER try to force my beliefs onto anybody. One thing I do believe though.... anybody who had had the couple experiences I have had in my life {those which absolutely cannot be explained with science} would have to believe their is more to this life than meets the eye. On the other hand, I'm a "see it to believe it" kind of guy myself, and without those experiences, I'd probably be in the same boat with you Avid. And hey Abelfisher, I could not agree more. I'm totally not into "organized" religion either. I mean, the Bible says..... Yes, well the Koran says.... and Budda says...... Yada, yada..... just too many different religions, with billions of different interpetations, from people who are no more, or no less holy, than I am. What I do believe is that their is a higher power watching over me..... and that life is our proving ground.... and that it will serve me best, to be the best person I can be. Peace, Fish