Not all giant bass are smart

[j bab]

The fish I caught back in May has now been caught AGAIN!

It was first caught in April on a Ratl Trap,

I caught her in May on a Hudd,

and recently she was caught AGAIN on an Ol Monster...

Unbelievable! Isn't that the craziest thing you ever heard??

Who knows how many times that fish has been caught and not registered with the Lunker Program...

Just goes to show that not all giants are as smart as we think, and catch and release WORKS.

 

edit: for those of you familiar with Toledo: this fish was caught in Six Mile, released in Housen, caught by me in Six Mile, released in Pirate's Cove (LA side of the lake, miles away), then caught in Six Mile again this time... That fish knows how to find it's way home!

[Paul Roberts]

Doug Hannon has written that the largest bass are often the most aggressive ones -the fastest growers. He felt that many potential giants were most vulnerable to be culled by anglers.

[jr231]

Yea man that is crazy. I love that worm too. Lol. That's some pretty crazy news.. how big is the body of water that it was caught in ? I actually read your article awhile ago.. and I think i remember reading your dad caught a ten pounder earlier this year out of the same body.. 

I'm willing to guess it might be on its last leg ? There was a big bass a couple years ago I hooked 4 separate times...  the next spring she was no where to be found. Hopefully that's not the case.. but. Just an observation 

[j bab]

27 minutes ago, Yeajray231 said:

Yea man that is crazy. I love that worm too. Lol. That's some pretty crazy news.. how big is the body of water that it was caught in ? I actually read your article awhile ago.. and I think i remember reading your dad caught a ten pounder earlier this year out of the same body.. 

I'm willing to guess it might be on its last leg ? There was a big bass a couple years ago I hooked 4 separate times...  the next spring she was no where to be found. Hopefully that's not the case.. but. Just an observation 

Toledo Bend. There are probably thousands of DDs in there, maybe that bass is on it's last leg but not necessarily

[jr231]

Did it get released again ? 

[j bab]

14 minutes ago, Yeajray231 said:

Did it get released again ? 

Yep.

Side note: when it was released the first time it was on the Texas side of the lake, just a few miles north of where I caught it. Then I released it on the Louisiana side, quite a distance across the lake. It was caught this time in the same area on the Texas side, which means this fish manages to find it's way back to the same area of the lake every time, no matter where it's released. Kinda cool

[jr231]

Way cool ! She knows where the food is. Lol 

[Torn Thumb]

I'm lost. Is the fish tagged or marked somehow? And how big of an area is the bass going overall? I.e. how far from the Tx spot to the LA spot?

[WRB]

This bass was caught at night each time, kudos to everyone who has handled this bass and kept her healthy, not easy to do at night in warm water. 10+ lb FLMB doesn't qualify as a giant or Share a Lunker bass and as aggresive as this bass is she may never reach giant bass status.

Wariness or aggressiveness isn't necessarily intelligence, has more to do with servival. 

Dottie the giant bass was caught at least 3 times when she was over 20 lbs, each time off a bed. How mant times was Dottie caught during her lifetime?

Tom

[riverbasser]

Interesting that it always went back to where it was

[j bab]

1 hour ago, Torn Thumb said:

I'm lost. Is the fish tagged or marked somehow? And how big of an area is the bass going overall? I.e. how far from the Tx spot to the LA spot?

The fish is tagged. I'm estimating it was over 5 miles between spots. 

[Torn Thumb]

That's awesome. I love that you caught it with 3 different baits. Is there a way of knowing if someone else caught it?

[j bab]

1 hour ago, Torn Thumb said:

That's awesome. I love that you caught it with 3 different baits. Is there a way of knowing if someone else caught it?

I caught it once. It was caught by others the other two times. We only know this because of the Toledo Bend Lake Association Lunker Program, who keeps records by tagging fish and recording data when they're weighed in. The incentive to weigh one in is a free replica, that way more DDs are weighed and released and more data is collected 

[Bluebasser86]

I've always felt that some bass are just inheritently easier to catch than others. I've known a few bass in bodies of water that I caught multiple times throughout their lifetime, usually in the same general area at the same times of year. Then I've seen big bass caught in small bodies of water that myself and others fished for years and never knew they were there. 

["hamma"]

  Awesome catch J !!,..Congrats!  Thats an impressive fish.

  On the subject or re-catching bass?

 My dearly departed bass fishing buddy and I fished a local lake alot, he on his coleman crawdad, and me on my boat. We had caught a mutual bass multiple times that we named Henry (after another departed friend), Henry has a tumor on his tail that is the size of a golfball. We had tracked Henry's weight starting at 7+ right on up to the last time I caught him at 10.4 (about 5 years ago).

  I have since moved to a different part of the state and haven't fished that lake since my last weighing of Henry. I hope he's still prowling the lake, and whats really interesting is. Henry is caught in any 1 of 3 different "spots" on the lake. They are not far from each other, and Im assuming it's got to do with wind direction and Henry's forage reacting to said wind direction.

 

[Catt]

10 hours ago, j bab said:

edit: for those of you familiar with Toledo: this fish was caught in Six Mile, released in Housen, caught by me in Six Mile, released in Pirate's Cove (LA side of the lake, miles away), then caught in Six Mile again this time... That fish knows how to find it's way home!

There is a myth that double digit bass morph into a creature so intelligent that mere mortals can not catch em!

Doug had years of research data where large bass were caught, transported to other waters, & released. The idea was to improve the breading stock in the new water.The data quickly showed these large bass were the first caught in the new waters. A huge portion of the bread stock was not being released.

Since you are talking Toledo Bend I'll give you another one.

Several years ago 2 DD bad were caught, one in Housen & one in Six Mile, both were released at Toledo Tackle at Pendleton Bridge. Both bass were caught a couple weeks later back in Housen & Six Mile!

[soflabasser]

Good story that proves catch and release fishing works well on big bass.I have also noticed that many big bass tend to have a home range,especially in small bodies of water down here.If you can find the exact location where a big bass lives you have a chance at catching her sooner or later if you are presenting the right lure at the right time in front of her.

[Advantage]

You say the fish isn't smart, but yet it found it's way back to it's home several times. And yes you caught it multiple times but not on the same bait. If you caught it on the same bait every time then you could say it is a stupid fish. Just my opinion.

[Catt]

26 minutes ago, Advantage said:

You say the fish isn't smart, but yet it found it's way back to it's home several times. And yes you caught it multiple times but not on the same bait. If you caught it on the same bait every time then you could say it is a stupid fish. Just my opinion.

The two I referenced were caught both times on a Terry Oldham's 1/2 oz jig with a Gene Larew Hawg Craw trailer in black-n-blue!

In my position being caught on different lures shows how easy they can be caught. It also supports the theory "right lure at the right time".

[Advantage]

1 hour ago, Catt said:

The two I referenced were caught both times on a Terry Oldham's 1/2 oz jig with a Gene Larew Hawg Craw trailer in black-n-blue!

In my position being caught on different lures shows how easy they can be caught. It also supports the theory "right lure at the right time".

Ah, guess I read it wrong...looked like it was caught 3 different times by 3 different lures. But yes, right lure in the right place and at the right time is key. 

I have read somewhere that a study done showed that bass do have a memory, both short and long term, but have seperate memories per eye. Meaning if it saw and got caught by a  certain lure that it saw with it's left eye, theoretically it could be caught again with the same lure if seen by it's right eye. 

[Catt]

58 minutes ago, Advantage said:

Ah, guess I read it wrong...looked like it was caught 3 different times by 3 different lures. But yes, right lure in the right place and at the right time is key. 

No you are correct!

The bass I'm talking about was several years ago

[j bab]

2 hours ago, Advantage said:

 

I have read somewhere that a study done showed that bass do have a memory, both short and long term, but have seperate memories per eye. Meaning if it saw and got caught by a  certain lure that it saw with it's left eye, theoretically it could be caught again with the same lure if seen by it's right eye. 

That's fascinating 

[GORDO]

Imagine being that bass. You already know he got hooked and was thinking NOT AGIAN! LOL

[bigbill]

I caught a large perch and put it in a different body of water on the way home. It was in my minnow bucket. I decided not to eat it. It's in another healthy spot. Haven't caught it again. Yet.

[jr231]

^ Probably cuz its got slammed by a pike, walleye, musky or largemouth . Or possibly a heron , hawk or eagle . We aren't the only ones who love perch lol