2 hours ago, Lucky Craft Man said:

Well, for me three 7 lb. Largemouth would be incredible being that the biggest largemouth I have ever caught was 5 lbs.  It's hard to fish for Largemouth when you have a Smallmouth fishery like Erie not too far away.

I guess that's a great point. I've actually never caught a smallmouth bass in my life. Living in South Florida will do that. 

Impressive work! 

Great display!!  One of the nicest I've seen.   As a certified "Old Timer", I can remember when we used to mount stringers of 10 pound largemouths.  We called that a "Gold Stringer".   Eventually we learned a dead fish on the wall is not something to be proud of.   Congratulations for using replica mounts and not the real fish. 

On 5/5/2020 at 1:12 PM, Lucky Craft Man said:

Well, for me three 7 lb. Largemouth would be incredible being that the biggest largemouth I have ever caught was 5 lbs.  It's hard to fish for Largemouth when you have a Smallmouth fishery like Erie not too far away.

It is far more impressive to catch three 7 pound smallmouth bass like you did that catch three 7 pound largemouth bass. A 7 pound smallmouth bass is a rare catch and a 7 pound largemouth bass is commonly caught, especially Florida strain largemouth bass.

A seven pound large mouth bass in Florida is a nice fish, but not uncommon.  Since catch and release caught on with anglers, we have more ten pound bass now than ever.  Most weekend anglers don't catch them because they don't fish exclusively for big fish.

Pre-goby perhaps, but it wasn't that long ago when the mean weight of state record smallmouth bass

was "7 lb 4 oz". "Three" (unguided) 7-pound smallmouth bass is surreal!

 

Roger

On 5/6/2020 at 6:35 AM, LakeCountyBass said:

Great display!!  One of the nicest I've seen.   As a certified "Old Timer", I can remember when we used to mount stringers of 10 pound largemouths.  We called that a "Gold Stringer".   Eventually we learned a dead fish on the wall is not something to be proud of.   Congratulations for using replica mounts and not the real fish. 

The thought of killing any one of those fish wouldn’t even cross my mind.  I have too much respect for what that fish had to navigate through to survive that long to reach that size.  Plus, with artists like Joe out there, I think a replica for anyone considering wanting a fish hanging on the wall is a no brainer.  Also, A “Golden Stringer” Replica would be a cool display!

22 hours ago, LakeCountyBass said:

A seven pound large mouth bass in Florida is a nice fish, but not uncommon.  Since catch and release caught on with anglers, we have more ten pound bass now than ever.  Most weekend anglers don't catch them because they don't fish exclusively for big fish.

I may need to come down to Florida and spend some time down there learning to catch a 10 pounder, as I wouldn’t mind adding one of those to my replica collection.

19 hours ago, RoLo said:

Pre-goby perhaps, but it wasn't that long ago when the mean weight of state record smallmouth bass

was "7 lb 4 oz". "Three" (unguided) 7-pound smallmouth bass is surreal!

 

Roger

Yeah, those Gobies really fattened up those Smallmouth.  However, even with an endless Goby buffet at their disposal, I’m not naive to understand how rare a 7 pounder is, hence why I felt I needed to commemorate such a lucky achievement. 

 

As far a guide goes, maybe if I had a guide, it wouldn’t have taken me so long to have broken that threshold...haha.

Many moons ago, I calculated the average weight of all state record smallies

in the United States (all states that posted a smallmouth record). This was done many years ago,

so I added: “pre-goby, perhaps” to justify the timeframe.

 

In any case, a 7-pound smallmouth bass is a world-class fish, it’s a fish of a lifetime!

Catching ‘three’ 7-lb smallies in one lifetime is nothing short of surrealistic!   

 

Roger

Just getting started on a replica with Joe of my first 20"/5lber. He is not cheap but they look so much better than others I see online. I blame you @Lucky Craft Man. I'll probably catch one bigger someday, but this one was worth it. The cabin needs some wall decorations that are more than just pictures.

On 7/1/2020 at 1:24 AM, Vilas15 said:

Just getting started on a replica with Joe of my first 20"/5lber. He is not cheap but they look so much better than others I see online. I blame you @Lucky Craft Man. I'll probably catch one bigger someday, but this one was worth it. The cabin needs some wall decorations that are more than just pictures.

Congratulations on the Catch!  What pose did you choose and are you getting anything special done (e.g., rocks, wood, etc.)?

3 hours ago, Lucky Craft Man said:

Congratulations on the Catch!  What pose did you choose and are you getting anything special done (e.g., rocks, wood, etc.)?

Havent gotten that far yet. Thinking about driftwood with a mouth open pose.

Just now, Vilas15 said:

Havent gotten that far yet. Thinking about driftwood with a mouth open pose.

Nice!  Classic pose.  I think you will be more than satisfied.  I have had my display for over 2 months and I still just stand there and stare at it in admiration.  I suspect you will, too, once yours is finished.