OK, I have counted to ten. . .

[GiggleWart]

I caught a 14lb bass. Let it go. Ordered a replica. Put it on the wall.

I now have a plastic, toy bass on my wall that I didn't really catch.  

But, at least I did the right thing. I let my fish go.  I'm still not certain catch and release is so much the "right" thing. BUT, it is the "politically correct" thing to do.

 Hmmm...those are just some of the things I ponder while sittin on the deer stand waiting to put a politically correct slug through the shoulder blades of the 1st 8pt that walks by.  

 Funny how it's okay to take home dinks at the lake, but, out here in the woods, I just let the dinks walk on by.

 Sure is cold sittin here...WAIT...is that a....12pt I see?  Too far for a shot, and now he's gone.  

 NO PROBLEM though.  I did SEE it.  I'm going home right now and dig through the attic. Pretty sure I remember where I put the Christmas lawn ornaments.  If I remember right, Donor or Blitzen's plastic antlers are 12pt's.  I'll just break one of Santa's plastic reindeer in half and stick him on the wall in the den.

Yep, right next to my plastic fish that I didn't catch..........

[FD.]

FL is/was soo bad about keeping big bass that they basicaly ruined their chances for WR bass.

I would agree with this except that it is not FL residents doing most of the damage.  Everyone want to come to FL in the winter, buy a bunch of shiners and catch a monster.  It is a shame how many DD's are taken every year.

[U.W BronzeBack Hunter]

My biology professor bass fishes, and whenever he catches an absolute hawg he wants to remember for the rest of his life, he simply makes safe homemade tags, and then attaches the tag on the fish.  

With this method, in his lifetime, he has recaught approx. 3, and he says he's sometimes to the point of crying from joy seeing the hawg becoming an even biggr hawg as time passes.

If you absolutely want to have a sense of "owning" the monster fish you've just caught, simply attach and aluminum wire hook around the spinal fin of the bass.  It won't rust off and won't hurt the fish (always use thin wire.  the bass will heal in a matter of hours).

[BassBandit35]

Well we got more problem with illegal immigrants where I'm at they are keeping all the bass up here from dinks to 10 lbs! Not one of them folks release them that I've witnessed. Carrying them on stringers >

[The Next KVD]

if your worried about a record fish being caught again just to break your record donate the fish to BPS or Cabela's.  When The Minnesota record was broke 2 years ago, the fish was donated to Cabela's.  Its currently swimming freely in an aquarium for all to see.

[BassBandit35]

I was at Sportman's Warehouse today in Tally and the guy had put the picture on the bragging board in front of the store along with some business cards. I wanted to take a business card, or take the picture and his cards down, or write "dead fish" beside the pic, but sanity finally came over me. I'm not gonna mess with the guy's income. But I'm not gonna recommend him either.

If it was me I'd rip it down as long there's no video surveillance. Leaving there will do more harm than good, IMO.

[GiggleWart]

Extensive Research has indicated that no matter what you think, it can be proven wrong and vice-versa.  :-?

[LooksLikeSinbad]

I caught a 14lb bass. Let it go. Ordered a replica. Put it on the wall.

I now have a plastic, toy bass on my wall that I didn't really catch.

But, at least I did the right thing. I let my fish go. I'm still not certain catch and release is so much the "right" thing. BUT, it is the "politically correct" thing to do.

Hmmm...those are just some of the things I ponder while sittin on the deer stand waiting to put a politically correct slug through the shoulder blades of the 1st 8pt that walks by.

Funny how it's okay to take home dinks at the lake, but, out here in the woods, I just let the dinks walk on by.

Sure is cold sittin here...WAIT...is that a....12pt I see? Too far for a shot, and now he's gone.

NO PROBLEM though. I did SEE it. I'm going home right now and dig through the attic. Pretty sure I remember where I put the Christmas lawn ornaments. If I remember right, Donor or Blitzen's plastic antlers are 12pt's. I'll just break one of Santa's plastic reindeer in half and stick him on the wall in the den.

Yep, right next to my plastic fish that I didn't catch..........

Maybe I'm misunderstanding this post, but it sounds like the point of fishing and hunting for you is killing animals. I hope that's not the case. It's one thing if you are hunting/fishing for sustenance but if your a sportsman the thrill should be in the hunt.

[TommyBass]

Its funny how everyone gets real defensive when it comes to keeping a fish. Sure the joy is in the hunt or outsmarting the fish, everyone knows that, but keeping and eating a fish isnt a sin.  What most of you don't realize is by looking at a lake in terms of only "bass" is mostly ignorant.  Its ok for the bluegill or crappie or catfish or walleye fisherman to go out and catch / keep as long as they leave the bass alone?  The bass fisherman is too proud to do such a thing.  But you'll never stop all species from being harvested, its natural.  In turn this creates a human influenced population of the other species in the lake which creates an inbalance in fisheries where bass are not harvested.  Have not you ever fished somewhere with stunted bass growth and wonder why?  In all due reality you are hurting the bass population in most places by throwing them all back, unless its your own privately owned and monitored lake / pond.  Some argument could be made for throwing at least the larger breeding females back, but little evidence exists that it matters all that much.

I personally do not eat bass on most occaisions, but not due to conservation as much as I generally do not keep fish of any species, I just dont want to clean them.  But if I did I would not keep the 14lber, just like a 7 yr old buck... tastes like crap compared to their younger siblings.  

So go ahead and scowl at those bass keeping mongrels but keep in mind, most likely they are more of a conservationist than you are.

[roadwarrior]

Chill...

BassResource.com strongly supports Catch & Release, especially

with regard to big bass. However, we recognized the importance

of professional resource management and harvest.  

-Kent  a.k.a. roadwarrior

Global Moderator

[bedman]

After reading some of the posts, there's two more things I want to mention about delayed mortality.  Delayed mortality is more prevalent during the summer months when temperatures rise.  I should have mentioned this in my earlier post.  Of course, good livewell management can definitely reduce delayed mortality.  Unfortunately, a lot of fishermen do not pay attention to their livewell conditions throughout the day.

Mattlures - I understand your position.  I have done similar things with transporting fish as well.  Despite our best efforts, we probably had around a 20% mortality rate.  I think it's still important to listen to all sides of the issues, especially scientists that may have a larger set of data to work from.  I am not saying you are wrong, but just stating that the biologists opinions cannot be ignored.  They have a large amount of resources to use to form an opinion.

[mackkie]

Why not get your picture, take the measurements, get the replica mount if you want one, and if you can't afford it today, save up some money to get it done.  It's not like mounting the real fish comes cheap either, if you have the money to mount the real thing, then you can afford the replica.

[YaHoo]

he killed it.

its on several FL bass forums with a fuller story and more pictures.

the catch of a lifetime for us everyday fisherman.

that could've been my once in a lifetime fish.