mgmoore7 Posted January 16, 2006 Posted January 16, 2006 Many of us are fishing for that big one but fish in small boats without livewells. If you were in this situation and lets say you caught something beyond 15lbs and wanted to have it officially recognized, how would you go about proving it and being able to release the bass too. Wouldn't it be terrible if you caught the state record or world record in some remote pond while in your bass hunter and had really wanted to release it but also wanted to make it official. Many lakes that have fish like this might be lakes that you can't get a big boat on anyway and they definatley don't have marinas with "official" scales. What are your ideas, thoughts, issues, etc. Quote
texasbass1 Posted January 16, 2006 Posted January 16, 2006 Pull the drain plug and fill the boat up with water until I could get to a scale. Quote
basser89 Posted January 16, 2006 Posted January 16, 2006 Pull the drain plug and fill the boat up with water until I could get to a scale. Either that, or carry a larger cooler in your vehicle and just fill it up with water when you catch that monster. If you do, do that, you may want to consider a battery operated aerator to try to keep that monster alive!!! Quote
rocknfish9001 Posted January 16, 2006 Posted January 16, 2006 Get a piece of rope and tie it off the boat, then tie the fish to it. That way you can still fish, but once you get on shore, i wouldnt know what to do. Chances are ill have my own digital scale with me, and if its a state record, Im jumping in my jeep, and haulin' @$$ to the nearest official scale. Quote
Will Posted January 16, 2006 Posted January 16, 2006 Maybe something like those float tube anglers use, a floating mesh cage that you can stick the fish in? Quote
Super User Matt Fly Posted January 16, 2006 Super User Posted January 16, 2006 Will, got any dimensions on that basket? How far do you have to travel? Alone or some one else there? Do you have any of the following on hand? camera, seamstress tape, scale, and measuring board? I always have seamstress tape for measuring girth with a picture also, picture of fish on measuring boardand scale, different angles of fish. You can hang scale from tree and get pic. Battery operated aerators are cheap, like the ones we used for the minnow buckets. Adding ice will cool the water and adds oxygen for transporting. Be sure you have large enough transportation container, Too small of an area for a large fish can kill one fast. If none of the above can be had, use a stringer and stake out in deep water untill you have a scale brought out to the fish or appropiate transportation device. Quote
Minuteman Posted January 16, 2006 Posted January 16, 2006 I've actually thought about this myself since I have a small jon boat. I have a Rolling Rock soft zip up cooler that a case of beer came in and I use it on the boat to keep my boat papers, first aid and other little things in it. I chose that because it zips tight and will float, but is soft enough to get kicked around. I later realized that I could always fill it with water and keep a pretty good size fish alive in it till I made it to shore. It didn't even dawn on me until my son mentioned it that people will think I'm lugging a case of beer around on the boat instead of safety and first aid stuff. Quote
Minuteman Posted January 16, 2006 Posted January 16, 2006 Get a piece of rope and tie it off the boat, then tie the fish to it. That way you can still fish,... I've heard of people leaving stringers hanging over the boat and pulling in fisheads later on, lots of snapping turtles around here. Quote
Low_Budget_Hooker Posted January 16, 2006 Posted January 16, 2006 I would get my partner on the phone and tell him to pick up the tuna locker (5x5x5) at my house with his truck and meet me at the lake. I would also tell him to grab the garden hose while he's there. (for syphoning lake water into locker) I'll hold her till he gets there if need be. State scale is about 12 miles from lake AND THEN BACK IN SHE GOES. Quote
Super User Gatorbassman Posted January 19, 2006 Super User Posted January 19, 2006 I am looking into getting a good handheld scale and having it certified by the Agricultural Dept. But if I catch one when I am by myself I would call everyone I know to come down and witness the weight. My goal is to catch one in the top 50 in my state. Quote
Guest avid Posted January 19, 2006 Posted January 19, 2006 Man, I would love to have this problem!! To be completely honest with you, if I really thought I had the Florida state record bass, keeping it alive would be secondary to keeping it from loosing weight. I would kill the fish quickly, wrap it in a wet towel, and head to my local tackle shop. A live bass can regurgitate a few onces of stomach contents and regardless of what your scale says, the certified weight is the only one that matters. I am a firm believer in catch and release, but I don't know many sportsman who would criticize making an exception for a state record fish. And when it comes to the "million dollar fish" i.e. the world record bass, well I have only one word to say "fuggedaboudit" ;D Quote
Cajun1977 Posted January 19, 2006 Posted January 19, 2006 i think i seen a tv show where the guy was catfishing and thought he had a state record and called fish and game and they came to him and he was like 3 ounces off Quote
Super User roadwarrior Posted January 19, 2006 Super User Posted January 19, 2006 Although I didn't catch the fish, I have been involved in two situations: My main fishing partner caught a 10 lb smallmouth in November, 2003. I netted it and weighed it with a third party (anhother witness). We did not have a camera and I did not measure it . My buddy released the monster. In June, 2005 I was fishing with a friend on the Secret Pond who caught the biggest bass I have ever seen in person, alive or mounted. Again, we did not have a camera or a scale. He released it I currently carry a calibrated scale, tape measure and camera. I hope next time I'm the lucky guy that catches one. If it's really close to the World Record, we'll keep it in the live well long enough to have the bass certified. Quote
Cajun1977 Posted January 19, 2006 Posted January 19, 2006 roadwarrior how big was this monster from from the secret pond? Quote
Super User roadwarrior Posted January 19, 2006 Super User Posted January 19, 2006 The fish was caught in Mississippi and I think their state record is 18 lbs 8 oz, this might have been a bigger bass. We agreed it was at least a 15+ lbs. Two weeks later I was at Bull Shoals Boat Dock and they have an older Missouri State Record largemouth bass mounted, 13.25 or 13.75, I'm not sure. My friend's fish was CONSIDERABLY bigger. Quote
mgmoore7 Posted January 19, 2006 Author Posted January 19, 2006 These are some good comments. Avid, I have debated your position. At one moment, I would agree with you totally, the next moment I might think of having that monster in my local Bass Pro Shop tank with some sort of royalties. A live record would have to be worth more than a million....... I think that I am going to start carring some rope so the fish could be tied off. I have a digital scale, so i would be able to know reasonalbly closely if there is a chance. Quote
Cody Kupferschmidt Posted January 19, 2006 Posted January 19, 2006 I meant to post this website: http://www.shop.com/op/aprod-p21236390?sourceid=235 Quote
mgmoore7 Posted January 20, 2006 Author Posted January 20, 2006 I meant to post this website: http://www.shop.com/op/aprod-p21236390?sourceid=235 That is pretty cool. Quote
Fisher of Men Posted January 20, 2006 Posted January 20, 2006 Maybe something like those float tube anglers use, a floating mesh cage that you can stick the fish in? Will, that's pretty cool looking. Where can you buy such a thing? Cody, I've seen that livewell rig before, but for over 200 bucks, I'll stick to a cooler and a portable aerator. Quote
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