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I was bank fishing a small public pond the other day where I ended up gut hooking a bass. The thing that really has been eating me up is the fact it was my PB @ 7-1/2 lbs! I have gut hooked bass in the past and it only happens when I’m bouncing a Texas rigged worm. The survival rate is 50/50. On this occasion I was just hopping the worm along the bottom at a steady retrieve when I noticed the line started moving towards me a little quicker than normal. There was no thump or any sort of “hit” to inform me the bait was taken. I reeled in quickly to pick up the slack and set the hook hard. BOOM, fish on! I pulled in a pig and knew it was going to be my new PB. My excitement turned into anxiety as I realized the fish had nearly swallowed the hook. I cut the line and attempted to back out the hook from the eye side. Every time any sort of tension was put on the fishes throat it would contract it’s gullet, lodging the hook deeper inside its throat. After no luck of getting the hook out, and some bleeding, I decided to leave it in and give the fish a chance to survive. I attempted to revive the majestic beast, but I had no luck. The 7-1/2 lb. LMB kept floating on its side occasionally twitching. I thanked her for the experience and pushed her into a thicket of cat tails. I checked back in about an hour later and three turtles had already started to make a meal of her. That made me feel ALOT better. Here’s my concern: I felt so guilty considering it was such a large specimen in a small pond that gets a lot of pressure from other anglers. I have a feeling there isn’t many bass in the pond considering there is an abundance of small baitfish and the few bass I have caught were 4+ lbs. This tells me the population ratio of bass/baitfish is not exactly “healthy”. I can’t help but to think I just screwed up the food chain by removing one of the few large predators in that ecosystem. Is that a possibility? I hope I have not just started a chain reaction that will negatively affect the fish populations. I understand this is a blood sport and sometimes fish are going to perish when practicing catch and release. I did consider taking the fish home to eat, but I did not have a cooler, it was 95° outside, and I was an hour away from home. I have never filleted and eaten a fish I have caught either so I honestly felt allowing the fish to become food for the other creatures in the ecosystem was the best option. I think the fact it was my PB LMB is what made me so dang sensitive to the situation. Extreme high to very disappointed. An emotional roller coaster. But, hey I still had fun and have a new fishing memory! Learning from this experience, I will start carrying bolt cutters specifically for cutting the shank of the hook. I will also start bending the barb down to increase the chances of removing the hook with ease. Thanks for listening! (this is my first post so I may created a new topic that was not needed)

Hey guys, I fish a small 3 acre private pond once a month. The pond has bluegill, trout, crappie, and largemouth. It has a very healthy population of all species and is well managed. There is 1 or 2 MASSIVE largemouth bass! I'm talking a 9 and 10 pounder! I haven't had great success in this pond but the few fish I've caught were very healthy. So my question is how do I catch these behemoths? There is a dock, brush piles, and sunken trees. Any advice would be much appreciated!

I have heard that that there are a ton of catfish in a nearby pond but nobody has fished for them in a couple of years. So recently i have decided that i would try to catch one. So I go out to the pond early in the morning and put a hook on with a couple of weights and then put a 1 inch piece of slim Jim on and just sit there around an hour just waiting and nothing. I have been doing this for around a week and nothing. About 10 years ago I remember catching them with slim Jim. But so far nothing. And as far as I'm aware nobody has seen any catfish on top of the water. So my question is. Did one spawning season did all of their eggs get eaten by bass or bream or could they have died out without anybody seeing? Please help me figure out if I'm jsut wasting my time.

My neighbor has a small pond around 2-3 acres and I have recently started to fish in this pond. Lately I have been fishing for around 2 hours and only catching one bass. The pond has low visibility. I can only see around 1 foot on the bank. To fish, I use either a dark purple 4" worm or a square billed watermelon colored crankbait. There is no trees or any structure at the bottom that I am aware of although there are trees that shade the outside of the pond during some parts of the day. There are only largemouth bass and small bream. The bottom is lined with leaves making it hard to use crankbaits. On one side of the pond there are a bunch of small rocks that line the edge but still can't catch much there. I am aware that bass like weed beds and drop offs but I do not know how to find them. Would anybody recommend anything to maximize the fish caught?

Went to the newly found local pond and caught my personal best, 2 times! 1st one was on my 3rd cast with a spinner bait. the 2nd was about 4 minutes later on the same spinner bait. I do not know the exact weight, but my guess is around 4-5 lbs for both of them. I WILL be getting a scale soon though. I was super pumped! It reminded me why I love fishing so much.