What we have going on here is a common case of bass shrinkage. It's something every bass angler faces. It happens like this. The moment you set the hook on bass, is the moment it weighs the maximum amount. The moment you grasp the bass by the mouth and hoist it out if the water the dreaded shrinkage occurs! The bass loses as much as 30% of it's weight the moment it leaves the water. Next, you make the the mistake of taking a picture with the bass, another 15% is gone instantly. Then you commit the wost of the worst, you actually weigh it! This act of pure ignorance often reduces the fish another 20% and you are left with what was once a record breaking trophy and is now a mere "decent fish". This happens constantly with anglers and there should be more study on the phenomenon.
Three weeks ago I was with a friend and he hooked fish that he instantly claimed was a solid 5+ lber on a light crappie setup, the fish was a beast! Only problem was the moment he pulled the fish out it became a high 3 low 4, by the time we finally put it on my scale it was only 3.27 or so. Classic example.
You was certainly wise not to pull the fish out of the water, snap a picture and weigh her, by the time would have done that the fish would have only weighed 3.5-4 lbs.
The reason @OCdockskipper has caught 30 lbers is because he's smart enough not to weigh them or take pictures.