How To Verify A Record And Keep It Alive?

[flyfisher]

Each state has its own set of rules and regulations. In Maine the only instance when you can keep fish alive is when you are participating in a tournament. All tournaments in Maine require a permit from the state that allows anglers to keep fish alive in there boats. If you are not in a tournament any game fish caught must be killed or immediately released. Anyone who gets caught with live game fish in there live well will face a hefty fine and even loss of license. If I were to catch a state record in Maine I would have to kill it to have any chance at the record.

That is interesting, i have never heard of anything like that but i guess that proves the point that you need to learn your state's regulations

[Trenton]

Wasted genetics? How many seasons do you think that fish passed its genes on already? Not to mention what makes you think it's genes that makes a record bass? There's no research that supports that idea.

Not that I've looked into fishes genetics but just genetics in general I have. Manage the deer on my property but how could every other species in the world pass on its genes but not fish? Same a bass that's full potential would only be 5lbs fertilized eggs next to eggs that a full 10lb+ bass fertilized eggs those bass wouldn't get larger over there life time saying they reached their full potential? Now of course things in life include being a good predator in a rich environment with lots of food sources. I'm not saying your wrong, like I said I haven't looked in to fish like that but it just doesn't make sense to me. And as far as releasing the bass I've come to my senses and I'll admit I would have a really really hard time releasing it. If it were a Pa state record.

[Catt]

I'd rather grille it

What you think you Long Mike now?

[Jon G]

You could use a coleman cooler with an aerator. That how I kept bait alive when I fished saltwater and had to transport bait.

[J Francho]

Downman74, I would not assume that growth rates in a cold blooded fish and a warm blooded mammal are related to genetics in the same way. Besides, even if the magic "big fish" gene were there, and you factor in that a fish grows throughout all its life, the bigger the fish is, the older it it is, and the more opportunity it has had to to spawn. That is of course, assuming that the circumstances surrounding its remarkable size do not include sterility.… you might check out some other fish records in regards to that one.

[Trenton]

To my knowledge genetics are passed down in all forms of life. Your are right about fish continue to grow throughout their life but I'm to believe others are more prone to gain that "giant" stature we all seek. Like I said before genes are the start of it then the other factors come in to play. Surroundings, food sources, etc. I've also seen a 32inch brown trout out of Lake Erie that only weighed over 4lbs bc he grew that big but passed his full potential and it's not like we don't know that Lake Erie is the most productive of the Great Lakes when it comes to fish. There are studies done on that.

[Dwight Hottle]

Straight from the horses mouth.

 

State Record

If you catch a really big fish, you may have a new State Record. The State Record Program recognizes those anglers who break current New York State records for any of the 45 eligible fish species. Anglers receive a custom engraved plaque, an Angler Achievement Award lapel pin, and a Certificate of Achievement.

How Do You Participate?

To participate in New York State's Angler Achievement Awards Program, simply follow these guidelines:

• Fish must be taken by angling in New York State waters in accordance with New York State fishing regulations.
• Fish must meet the minimum qualifying weight or length for that species and the entered category.
• Fish entered in the Annual Award and State Record categories must be weighed on a certified scale by the owner of the scale or an employee, and must be witnessed by at least one other person.
• Fish submitted as a potential State Record entry must be identified by a DEC biologist or a designee.
• Qualifying fish must be entered on an official entry form or facsimile.
• All entries must be accompanied by a clear, sideview photograph of the fish or the angler with the fish.
• Entry forms must be received by DEC's Bureau of Fisheries within 30 days of the catch.

For more specific information on the rules, see Rules for Entry in the right column. Download the Entry Form (PDF) (60 Kb) here or you can obtain one from any DEC Regional Fisheries Office, or by writing to: NYSDEC, Bureau of Fisheries, 625 Broadway, Albany, New York 12233-4753.

Remember, if you catch a trophy fish in New York State water, DEC wants to hear about it!!!

[J Francho]

So now your saying Erie is where the largest brown trout should come from? Puts the rest of it into perspective. Lake Erie churns out 10 to 14 lb. Browns at the top end. They haven't been there long enough to know how big they get. I suspect they won't approach any current records, due to temperature and depth.

My PB Brown is 22 lbs., from Ontario, whose NY record is 34 lbs. the world record is from L. Michigan.

You might want to do a little more research on record fish - while genetics certainly play some part in producing a record, it's not likely its in the passing of genes. If that's the case, there should be a few more Dottie Jr.s running around Dixon. There isn't, and by all accounts she spawned many times. There's other examples…like a triploid gene rainbow currently holding the record from Canada.

I'll circle back and tell you how I've held and shipped large, delicate tropical fish, for those that are interested. You'd be surprised to know it isn't oxygen that is the primary issue with holding and shipping fish.

[Trenton]

No that's not what I'm saying about browns just saying that the fish caught in that instance should have weighed much more specially in a lake such as erie.

[J Francho]

And you think its genetics? I don't follow.

If there was a magic "monster bass gene," seems like The TPWD would have found it by now, after 22 years of collecting genetic material from the hundreds of donor fish. There isn't a single monster bass gene. There is a set of curcumstances - sometimes very unusual and not repeatable - behind every record fish. It isn't breeding alone. It's more about environment. Healthy water, plenty of food, and host of other reasons. If we knew, there'd be plenty of records set from private ponds.

[F14A-B]

You apparently have to first, collect FLMB fishes, transplant them to California, then take millions of hatchery trout, release them for years, allow them ((Flmb) the calories of a NFL lineman, catch big mamas, then brag about how great a fisherman one is living in the California state...

That's one way to grow big fish...

[Hyrule Bass]

And you think its genetics? I don't follow.

If there was a magic "monster bass gene," seems like The TPWD would have found it by now, after 22 years of collecting genetic material from the hundreds of donor fish. There isn't a single monster bass gene. There is a set of curcumstances - sometimes very unusual and not repeatable - behind every record fish. It isn't breeding alone. It's more about environment. Healthy water, plenty of food, and host of other reasons. If we knew, there'd be plenty of records set from private ponds.

 

this pretty much says it all. the guy is working on the assumption he is going to even catch that same fish again. thing could go belly up an hour after he initially releases it for all anyone knows.

[Trenton]

Actually found a good article on bass genetics. Now they're small scale waters but still

http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/fish_genetics.html

[J Francho]

Florida strain LMB are a different species of bass, and therefore should be treated so. I realize there are hybrids, but as it relates to the point of adding "monster bass" genes along to the next generation, and that somehow those progeny are bound to be monster bass as well because of genetics just doesn't add up.

For the OP, and myself, any notion of Florida strain LMB is right out, since they cannot survive here.

Simply mentioning different species of bass to support some point about genetics is way off topic. It's like saying genetics played a part in why a brontasaurus is bigger than a T-Rex. Uh, yes it is. It's a bigger species.

[Trenton]

Florida LMB are still large mouths just a different strand, not a different species. Slight differences in genetic codes. Large mouth is still large mouth. You could theoretically make a hybrid Florida/north eastern bass that would be bigger and still be able to deal with the colder water and different environment. All hypothetical, you can't cross breed totally different species. You can't cross a horse and sheep won't work.

[FishWitWiz]

the fish is coming out of the lake if i catch a record fish. put it back for someone else to enjoy may sound like a novel idea to some of you, but it could also be the same fish that breaks your newly set record a couple months and a feeding frenzy down the road. i understand wanting to preserve fisheries, but those fish aint gonna live forever either. chances are you could release it right after catching it and it turn belly up a few hours later. you just never know. im just wondering when people got so soft about keeping a fish. i bet some of you would cry if you saw me keep a fish or two...

 

Serious question;  What does catching a record fish do for you?  I can imagine that if you're "in the business" there's a financial/marketing play, but what else? 

[carpflyguy]

In MA, you cannot transfer live fish. If you catch a fish, you can weigh it if your scale has been certified by the department of weights and measures, and submit it fr the Sportfishing Awards Program - a program that gives awards for the biggest fish caught each year. But if you catch a state record in MA, YOU MUST KILL IT in order for it to be official, since it has to be "recognized" by a DFG worker. I'd never kill a bass that big to get a record.

 

Good question FishWitWiz... I've heard the record bass in MA killed the guy who caught it. Instead of fishing anymore, he just stayed in bars all day talking and getting drunk. I suppose he figured, no point in fishing anymore after catching the biggest bass in Mass. 

[Weld's Largemouth]

Florida LMB are still large mouths just a different strand, not a different species. Slight differences in genetic codes. Large mouth is still large mouth. You could theoretically make a hybrid Florida/north eastern bass that would be bigger and still be able to deal with the colder water and different environment. All hypothetical, you can't cross breed totally different species. You can't cross a horse and sheep won't work.

x2

 

Florida LMB would only be a different species if it could not produce offspring with a northern strain LMB. If the offspring of a FLMB and a NLMB would be able to produce its own offspring, then it would set in stone the fact that FLMB and NLMB are the same species. This is indeed true, as FLMB+NLMB offspring have produced their own offspring.

[WRB]

I didn't read this long thread.

NY record bass; largemouth is 11lbs 4 oz, smallmouth is 8 lbs 4 oz, that's your state records.

You will need the following;

Certified scale, weights & measures will certify your scale.

Tape measure in the photo of the bass laying flat.

Witness, to verify the catch was legal, signed statement.

Check your states requirements.

Keeping big bass alive isn't easy after all the handling necessary. Transporting bass alive is also a problem with most state laws.

A big bass over 24" long doesn't fit into a 5 gallon bucket, plus that is 40 lbs of water to carry...big problem.

Tom

[Lund Explorer]

Hello,

 

I was curious as to how one could verify a state record bass and still keep it alive and let it swim another day. I know it is pretty simple if you have a livewell and a boat, but if you do not... how would you accomplish this, especially if you are fishing from shore? I don't want to sound cocky as if I were to catch the next record, I just want to be prepared.

 

On topic - There have been several good posts on exactly what you need to do to establish a record catch in your name.  The only thing I can add is that nobody said that the steps required were going to be easy.  It's up to each person to decide if they want to go through all of that hassle if you are ever faced with that lucky(?) day.

 

Off topic - For those of you who are so tied up with the subject of genetics, please consider the fact that each big old lady you catch was created by combining the genetics of both another female and a male bass.  It's the combination of the two that created the creature you are holding.  Letting her go isn't going to guarantee that she is going to pass on those perfect traits if she spawns with inferior males.  Once she has completed a few spawning seasons, her genes are swimming around in a whole lot of other fish.  Whether any of them will live up to the potential she gave them has already been decided by fate and not by what you decide to do with her.

[Bankbeater]

I don't know how I would handle it.  I would probably take a truck load of pictures and then release the bass.

[J Francho]

Florida LMB are still large mouths just a different strand, not a different species. Slight differences in genetic codes. Large mouth is still large mouth. You could theoretically make a hybrid Florida/north eastern bass that would be bigger and still be able to deal with the colder water and different environment. All hypothetical, you can't cross breed totally different species. You can't cross a horse and sheep won't work.

 

x2

 

Florida LMB would only be a different species if it could not produce offspring with a northern strain LMB. If the offspring of a FLMB and a NLMB would be able to produce its own offspring, then it would set in stone the fact that FLMB and NLMB are the same species. This is indeed true, as FLMB+NLMB offspring have produced their own offspring.

You are both wrong. That a hybrid can produce viable offspring does NOT mean that they are the same species. In our lifetime, you will see a reclassification and renaming/descriptions of Centrarchids (i.e. Sunfishes) that will include a separate species designation for the Florida subspecies.

[Catt]

FYI

Tiger Bass: Biologist refer to this fish as a true F-1 because it's a cross between a special strain of aggressive Northern (Gorilla Bass) and a pure strain of Florida Bass from trophy females.

[Trenton]

So that hybrid is no longer a LMB???? *boom*mind blown. I thought it would be a "sub species" with other LMB species. Just like there are bigger and smaller whitetail deer still makes them whitetail. I think sub species has been the true definition you've been looking for this whole time J Francho but it's still a species within a species technically I still believe your wrong.

[J Francho]

You guys need a crash course in the binomial scientific nomenclature over making sarcastic comments directed at someone that went to school for fishery management, lol.

Macropterus salmonoides is the only described so called "largemouth bass." Macropterus the genus, and salmonoides is the species. There are at least seven other species currently assigned to the genus Macropterus , and the status of the members are in flux due to discoveries in DNA research arena. The genus includes spotted, Coosa, smallmouth, and a few others - all collectively known as "black bass" though all different species.

I'll reiterate, in our lifetime, the Florida and northern largemouths will be given separate species. The current mode in scientific description seems to favor elimination of subspecies designations, as the splitters are having their way over the lumpers. DNA research bolsters their position. It's been like this for 20 years or so.

Now, mind blown? About what? I can't make up this stuff.

And FYI, "F1" is a designation to denote generation.

Do a cross, and the babies from that cross are F1, or gen 1. Their babies are F2. And so on. You can make the same reference to captive raised fish. F1 could refer to the babies from wild caught fish. F8 would be the eighth generation of captive raised fish from wild stock. It's just a way of denoting generations. Without referencing what the source fish are (wild caught, cross breed, etc.) the Fx designation means nothing.