Rodman Reservoir 17.2 Pound Bass. Only 6 Years Old

[Basswhippa]

The article claims the Rodman Reservoir record was only 6 years old.  That would explain why the technique used of trolling right over him would catch him, when giant bass are normally more cautious and reserved.   Could a fish that young really reach that size even in a perfect giant bass producing area such as Central Florida?  It seems far fetched.  That said, big names in fishing handled the fish.  What do you think.  Makes you wonder if there weren't so many people who live in and travel to FL, just what could be grown down there.  The fish does look very young.

 

Interesting read.

 

http://www.rodmanreservoir.com/Bass/bass.htm

 

 

Edit thread title.

 

It was 17 pounds 2 ounces, not 17.2 pounds.

[BigMoneyGrip]

3lbs a year average sounds like a lot to me. Most articles I've read say about a pound per year is average.

[WRB]

No mention of length and girth. The bass has a big head , average shape body or maybe could be lean body.

If a biologist studied the bass for age and determined it to be 6 years, that is phenomenal growth rate.

Florida strain LMB in the Florida climate don't live as long as they do in cooler water impoundments, 10 years is a old bass there.

Tom

[Raul]

It´s interesting to see how different the same fish can look and weight radically different, I see pics of those 10, 11 and 12 lbers and they look awfully skinny to my eyes, in my neck of the woods a fish with those lengths weights easily 1 1/2 to 2 pounds more. Short and fat, that´s how big mommas are like here.

[F14A-B]

If he could of weighed it within a couple of hours.. He would have a new record ( fl ) Trolling wild golden shiner's is one of the best ways to catch those bigger Bass. That can, at times be difficult depending on other fisherman on the water.

[everythingthatswims]

If that fish was shaped like a cali bass I bet it would have been a world record!

[buzzed bait]

man pics are hard to go by....  from those pics of him holding the fish, i would have never guessed 17 pounds!!

[CarolinaBoy4Life]

Doesnt look to be 17lbs by the pics but hey I didnt put it on a scale. If its all true that's a TOAD of a fish to be 6 years old. Heck that's a TOAD no matter the age

[Darren.]

man pics are hard to go by....  from those pics of him holding the fish, i would have never guessed 17 pounds!!

 

Glad I'm not the only one who thought the same.

In fact, looking through all the other pix, there's one 

with a boy holding a "9 pound bass" that looks more 

like a 3 pounder.

 

But hey, if they weighed it and it was 17.2, good on him 

for scoring such a beast.

[CDMeyer]

I hope that was a replica mount because that thing was a beauty

[Hyrule Bass]

I hope that was a replica mount because that thing was a beauty

clearly a replica, you can tell by how fake it looks. the fish died anyways, shouldve got a skinmount...

[F14A-B]

The pics looked good, the mount terrible

[FrankW]

That fish should never have left the lake.

Frank

[Slade House]

When we catch a fish that big Im always like "Ok I need to take like 20 photos of this bass" and then when i go to look at the photos it is crazy how the size of the fish changes in each photo.  Look at the head on that thing though , geez. 

[bassinOUT89]

That fish should never have left the lake.

Frank

agreed. Imagine the size of him if he'd lived another 6 years.

[Mattlures]

Funny how you guys assume the mount is a replica because it looks bad. You are wrong. That is a typical skin mount. A replica would have had a better looking pose and depending upon the artist ability to paint probably would have looked better. I am also calling BS on 17lbs. That fish with that build would have to be 35+ inches long

[WRB]

Funny how you guys assume the mount is a replica because it looks bad. You are wrong. That is a typical skin mount. A replica would have had a better looking pose and depending upon the artist ability to paint probably would have looked better. I am also calling BS on 17lbs. That fish with that build would have to be 35+ inches long

Agree! Although it could be only 32" with 19" girth would make it 17 lbs......and only 6 years old!

Tom

[Lund Explorer]

It only took five days.

 

I wonder what it really weighed?

[WRB]

It only took five days.

 

I wonder what it really weighed?

We will never know without length and girth, the bass is a snake all head no body mass.

Tom

[Basswhippa]

Glen Lau was involved.  I'm thinking the 6 year age is right.  Amazing and thought provoking.  What could be grown down there if so many people had not moved in.  I was talking to a 70 year old man who spent time in his youth there.  He said he remembered when you could buy large acreage tracts if you would just pay the back taxes.  Walt Disney saw the value.  At one time there were 1,000 people a day moving there.  That said, I would say it's the fishing guys looking for their first 10 pounder who haul the most bass out of the lakes to take them back north for the wall.

[Mattlures]

It only took five days.

 

I wonder what it really weighed?

Somebody had to say it, I know almost everybody was thinking it.

First if that bass was only 6 years old, That bass would have to consume more calories then probably any bass that ever lived. If it was even possible for a 6year old bass to be 17 pounds it would have to me morbidly obese. A 17 pound SKINNY 6 year old bass is beyond the realm of reasonability. In other words I cant say 100% impossible but I would say 99.99% impossible.

A 17 pound skinny bass is almost impossible

A 6 year old 17 pound bass is almost impossible

the two together??? You get the point.

I spoke to the biologist who did the autopsy on Dottie(Steve P) for over an Hour and he shared with me his findings. He basically said she was the perfect storm. Everything had to be in line for a LMB to grow that big. He also said she had an incredible growth rate and was not as old as he predicted. I don't remember now but I want to say she was 15-16 when she died which would have put her around 10 years old when she was first caught at 20lbs. You can see pictures of her with Mike Long and I believe the measurements were 28.5 x 28.5 or very close to that. My point is Dottie was incredibly obese. This alleged 17 is thin and supposedly half her age, but yet still weighed only 3 pound less. It simply does not add up. It is so wrong I could not give it the benefit of the doubt, so I called it out.

[Lund Explorer]

Somebody had to say it, I know almost everybody was thinking it.

First if that bass was only 6 years old, That bass would have to consume more calories then probably any bass that ever lived. If it was even possible for a 6year old bass to be 17 pounds it would have to me morbidly obese. A 17 pound SKINNY 6 year old bass is beyond the realm of reasonability. In other words I cant say 100% impossible but I would say 99.99% impossible.

A 17 pound skinny bass is almost impossible

A 6 year old 17 pound bass is almost impossible

the two together??? You get the point.

I spoke to the biologist who did the autopsy on Dottie(Steve P) for over an Hour and he shared with me his findings. He basically said she was the perfect storm. Everything had to be in line for a LMB to grow that big. He also said she had an incredible growth rate and was not as old as he predicted. I don't remember now but I want to say she was 15-16 when she died which would have put her around 10 years old when she was first caught at 20lbs. You can see pictures of her with Mike Long and I believe the measurements were 28.5 x 28.5 or very close to that. My point is Dottie was incredibly obese. This alleged 17 is thin and supposedly half her age, but yet still weighed only 3 pound less. It simply does not add up. It is so wrong I could not give it the benefit of the doubt, so I called it out.

 

Blah, blah, blah!

 

Same exact thing that was discussed weeks before when Glenn started a thread about people questioning the weights of other people's fish.   It all boils down to the fact that you think you have some special ability to "know" the true weight of any bass by looking at a picture.  Until you can provide real proof over just another one of your baseless opinions, you can count on being called out on it.

[WRB]

You can make fairly good judgements using a photo where the photo has some reference to scale. This 17 lb bass photo has reference to scale using the hands holding this bass, unless this angler has hands like Wilt Chamberlain that can hold a basketball like a baseball, this basses girth is less than 70% it's length, a skinny bass by anyone looking at it, massive head with skinny body.

Lake Isabella in California recorded the fastest growth I known* of with bass weighing over 10 lbs in 6 years, bass in CA live to be 15 years old max. I expected Isabella to produce a world record, it didn't happen, the bass topped out at 18-19 lbs.

I have never witnessed a LMB over 30" length, Dottie was 29" and the Kurita bass was 29", my 19.3 lb bass was 28"... Length and girth = mass! mass= weight! can't be skinny and also have heavy weight.

The Perry bass was listed to be 32", I believe this may have been measure open mouth, that's how it was done back then, hanging length tip of the jaw to end of the tail, adds about 2" to the overall length.

This bass would be longer than any bass ever measured, that is why I was curious about measurements. If this bass had a normal 75% girth, 30" length would come close to 17 lbs. For the skeleton to reach 30" in 6 years is a big stretch!

Tom

* The Texas bass rancher may have exceeded that growth rate, need to look at the article.

[flechero]

It only took five days.

 

I wonder what it really weighed?

 

Wh could get a certified scale to Afghanistan in less time...  why the needless delay?

[tatertester]

Maybe the 6 year reference was meant to be the last time a record bass was caught there, and not the age of the bass.