Alright so the Illinois state record bass is 13 and some ozs.

I found a pond near the end of last summer that I fished pretty 2-3 times a week.  The last time I went before it got too cold I caught a 9lb Bass and I'm positive I have seen bigger.  I have a feeling that I am going to break the record this summer.  Does anyone know the rules that go with catching record fish from ponds?

How large is this pond?  There is a pretty big difference between a 9 and a 13.    Good luck though, make sure you post pics when you catch that beast.

The pond is about 100 sq yards, In the beginning I didn't bring a scale but when I caught this fish I started bringing one.  I forgot my cell phone the day I caught the 9lb.

Good luck :

Good luck. It'd be cool to have a new Illinois state record. We were close last year or the year before I belive on the smallie. They waited to long to weigh it.

. :

Its all about finding un-fished ponds or if lucky a lake.

Good Luck

Its all about finding un-fished ponds or if lucky a lake.

Good Luck

he said he fished it 2-3 times per week though so its not that "unfished anymore"

Page 39 of the 2008 digest explains what needs to be done for a record fish .

Its all about finding un-fished ponds or if lucky a lake.

Good Luck

he said he fished it 2-3 times per week though so its not that "unfished anymore"

I'm the only one who fishes it and I never keep bass so I would consider it pretty unfished.

Its all about finding un-fished ponds or if lucky a lake.

Good Luck

he said he fished it 2-3 times per week though so its not that "unfished anymore"

I'm the only one who fishes it and I never keep bass so I would consider it pretty unfished.

IMO that might work against you depending on how old the pond is..

Alot of the farm ponds here in Illinois that haven't been fished are full of stunted bass because of the competition for food..

I have had better luck catching larger bass where the pond has been selective harvested,meaning a few people are keeping smaller bass.

Its all about finding un-fished ponds or if lucky a lake.

Good Luck

he said he fished it 2-3 times per week though so its not that "unfished anymore"

I'm the only one who fishes it and I never keep bass so I would consider it pretty unfished.

If you fish the pond 2-3 times a week the fish are going to get pretty used to YOUR lures and techniques. I doubt the pond is gigantic, and it is really easy to overfish ponds. Also, 9 pounds and 13 pounds is a VERY big difference.

I use live bluegill that I catch from the pond they don't touch any artificial stuff (or maybe I just stink). This summer I might think about moving a couple small bass to another pond with no bass in it.

You're going to need to get very, very, serious if you're hoping for a 13 pounder anywhere. I don't doubt that it can be done though. I don't know your location or much about Illinois hydrology but I'd say you have better chances farther south towards the Mississippi. Check the body the record came out of and go from there.

Does anyone know how old bass have to be to get to 13lbs because the pond was stocked 10 years ago.  I might be wasting time if the bass couldn't get to 13 lbs in 10 years.

Yes a bass could make 13lbs in 10 years. Northern strand bass live up to 15 years and beyond in ideal conditions, as opposed to southern strand bass which almost never live to be 8 or 9. They aren't different species, but their genetic makeup is different. The northern bass (which is what you have in Illinois) will grow slower but lives longer due to the time it spends sluggish under the ice for 4 months or more a year. The southern bass which grows essentially all the time will grow faster and get to a much bigger average size, but they die younger.