Catching The Same Fish Twice

[fishballer06]

A few years ago, my Aunt and Uncle decided they wanted to build a pond with a pavilion on their farm. They had a freshwater spring that came up in the middle of one of their fields, so this seemed like the perfect source for the water. My father and I being avid fishermen decided to help them with the whole process so that it could become a decent little place to fish. It took a whole summer, but we dug everything out, put in a bunch of structure for the future fish to live in, and then filled it up with water. The following year we stocked it with bluegill, crappie, perch, catfish and bass. Everything we put in there was fairly small, so this would give everything in there a chance to grow and mature. 

 

It's been 6-7 years since then and the pond has come along quite nicely. There are lots of little 3-5" bass in there that have come along from successful spawning, and all of the young family members always have a good time bobber fishing and pulling out bluegill and crappie. With that, some of the first bass that we put in there have grown into a nice, hearty size. 

 

Back in March, whenever the ice first melted, I caught this fish. Unfortunately, I didn't have anything with me at the time to measure the fish. I did get to take a picture next to my rod for size reference, and I remembered that scar he had on his gill plate. 

 

 

 

Fast forward to this past weekend, I got back home and was able to fish the pond again. I live about 2.5 hours away, so I don't get back too often. Like most small farm ponds, the water was in full summer swing. Filled with weeds and algae, but loaded with nice fish underneath the surface if you know how to fish such conditions. Not being able to get anything going on a frog or punching a creature, I decided to rig up one of the new Zoom Z Craws on a 1/16oz screw-lock swimbait hook and fish it like a buzzbait. Turns out this was the golden ticket to getting bit. After about a dozen misses from smaller fish too small to get the bait in their mouth, I finally got a big blowup from what I knew was a decent size fish. Reeled it in and had to re-rig my Z Craw because of the bite. Next cast, the same fish blows it up again and missed the bait. Third cast turned out to be a charm. The fish blew up the surface again. I dropped my rod tip to give the fish some slack, waited a second, and then set the hook. Sure enough, I had him this time. I fought him in and picked him up. The very first thing I noticed was the scar in the gill plate. I knew this fish was the same fish I had caught back in the spring right after ice out.

 

I had my tape and scale with me this time, so I wanted to make sure I took the measurements this time. He measured in at 19.5" and weighed in at 3.2 pounds. I'm guessing this fish is a male, judging by the weight of such a long fish. He certainly isn't skinny or looked stunted by any means. Regardless, I was happy to see such a big fish living in our little pond and that my catch & release was working. This fish was once again released back into the waters to be caught again. I look forward to catching this fish again some time and seeing how big he will get. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And to compare side by side, here you go. He certainly looks like he got a little longer in the past 5 months. 

 

 

 

[a1712]

That's awesome. I have one in a local lake that has a scar in the same place. I caught her the beginning of May and caught her again last week. She weighed 4-2 in May and 4-3 last week and she was on the other side of the lake from where I caught her in May. Hopefully I can catch her this fall and get a weight on her.

[Bluebasser86]

Proof that catch and release works!

[AK-Jax86]

Funny my buddy Bob is from FL and he is a frequent contributor to the Florida Trophy Catch program (8+ lb bass). He is retired and fishes from his boat using wild shiners that he catches in the lake he fishes Lake Rousseau. He has 36 bass over 8lbs this season alone. He takes fin clips of all of them and submits them to FWC. He was using shiners and caught a 8lber. Took fin clip documented her and then released her. Then about 30 minutes later he caught the same exact fish. They actually wrote an article about it. Most people are under the misconception that once a big bass is hooked they will not feed again for a bit. Who knows? But out of the 30+ 8lbers he only caught the same fish once and just happened to be in same day within a few casts

[Dypsis]

Funny my buddy Bob is from FL and he is a frequent contributor to the Florida Trophy Catch program (8+ lb bass). He is retired and fishes from his boat using wild shiners that he catches in the lake he fishes Lake Rousseau. He has 36 bass over 8lbs this season alone. He takes fin clips of all of them and submits them to FWC. He was using shiners and caught a 8lber. Took fin clip documented her and then released her. Then about 30 minutes later he caught the same exact fish. They actually wrote an article about it. Most people are under the misconception that once a big bass is hooked they will not feed again for a bit. Who knows? But out of the 30+ 8lbers he only caught the same fish once and just happened to be in same day within a few casts

 

Very interesting, I guess also great news.

[boostr]

I have caught the same fish twice. The first day then the next day. Both on a jig, but different colors. She hit bait hard both times.

[Last_Cast]

thats awesome!

[SirSnookalot]

same fish, same bithmark on the lip caught at the same spot with the same lure.  The exif data may show they were caught a day apart.

[everythingthatswims]

Funny my buddy Bob is from FL and he is a frequent contributor to the Florida Trophy Catch program (8+ lb bass). He is retired and fishes from his boat using wild shiners that he catches in the lake he fishes Lake Rousseau. He has 36 bass over 8lbs this season alone. He takes fin clips of all of them and submits them to FWC. He was using shiners and caught a 8lber. Took fin clip documented her and then released her. Then about 30 minutes later he caught the same exact fish. They actually wrote an article about it. Most people are under the misconception that once a big bass is hooked they will not feed again for a bit. Who knows? But out of the 30+ 8lbers he only caught the same fish once and just happened to be in same day within a few casts

The power of live bait is pretty incredible

[SirSnookalot]

The power of live bait is pretty incredible

No question about it.