OK, I have counted to ten. . . 2024
Olebiker reply :
. . . and I'm still mad as all git out. Check out this guy: http://www.aroundthetournamenttrail.com/14pounderlaketalquin.html
He caught a 14+ pound bass, full of roe, and killed it. Grrr! I know he had the legal right to do it, but I sure have no respect for anyone who would do something like that. He could have brought it in to Ingrams, had it weighed and photographed and released it to spawn.
bilgerat reply :
I'm with ya. Between guys like that and what seems to a trend of people keeping every single fish they catch (food?) our sport is getting killed.
Do the words "replica mount" mean anything?
Olebiker reply :
What's even worse is that this guy is a guide!
tallydude reply :
Oh my gosh, Dick. I can't believe a guide would harvest a fish like that! Guess I won't be using his services!
NitroMan reply :
I support catch and release as most everyone on here does. But when push comes to shove a lot of us would say we would throw a fish like that back but in all reality most of us would keep it. I would have kept it just for the simple fact that I don't have enough money for a replica mount. I have not kept a fish but I always said that if I caught a fish over 13lbs that I would keep it to mount it.
Just my 2 cents. 
tallydude reply :
Under no circumstances would I harvest that fish or any others over 10 pounds. Actually, I haven't harvested a bass in 10+ years.
Why you would want to affect the future of the bass populations like that, I have no idea. Take a picture, get your measurements, and get that fish back in the water. If you want to get a replica made, that's just fine. They look better and last longer.
The fish looks a lot better being released than it ever would on my wall.
The Next KVD reply :
For me a photo is all the trophy I need to show off the MONSTER fish I have caught over the years. They say a picture is worth a 1000 words, but with a monster fish its more like 10 million!!! Sure I have two mounts but they were when I was 7 and 10 years old when I caught them and I didn't know any better. But if you know better than you shouldn't do it.
SenkoShawn reply :
ya that screwed my day up...
Certified Public Angler reply :
QuoteI support catch and release as most everyone on here does. But when push comes to shove a lot of us would say we would throw a fish like that back but in all reality most of us would keep it. I would have kept it just for the simple fact that I don't have enough money for a replica mount. I have not kept a fish but I always said that if I caught a fish over 13lbs that I would keep it to mount it.Just my 2 cents.
I would have to disagree, the only fish I would keep (and still attempt to keep alive) is a record breaking fish bc i don't want some joker cathcing it later with a couple more ounces in its stomach. Never really wanted a mount, but maybe that will change if I ever catch something big enough XD. Snapping some good pictures would make a more fashionable wall decoration. 
Mattlures reply :
earlier this year I caught 2 fish bigger then that on the same day. I released them both. nothing can compare to the feeling of watching them swim off back where they came. I got weights and pics and thats all I need. I can always do replicas later if I choose. Now I know where 2 monsters live. They are still there and the bigger one was a young fish. I hope to catch them both again and I will release them again only this time they might be pushing 18-19lbs. a year or 2 after that and I might not release them. As long as either one is over 22.4 if I get one that weighs 22.3 its going back and I wont even need to think about it. Whats there to think about? If its not "the fish" then I am going to give it a chance to be "the fish"
fishizzle reply :
9, 10 , 11, 12, 13, 14, 15.....its not working..........SNAP!!
LooksLikeSinbad reply :
Quote...the bigger one was a young fish
Matt, how could you tell? I'm just curious.
And for the record: Catch it, Photograph it, weight it, let it go. It's not that complicated!
Mattlures reply :
it was clean with perfect fins and bright markings. the eyes were only a little bugged out. I am sure it was 10 years old or so but it still has some years left. most big fish out here look OLD. Ratty fins, scars, huge bugged out eyes, almost no body markings just black. Not all but most. It just looked young to me, Without a scale sample I am realy just geussing 
fishfordollars reply :
I must be missing something. Nowhere did I see any mention that the fish was killed. You can see the lake behind him in the picture. Do any of you locals have information that it was killed?
mattm reply :
I think Matt said it best in his first post.
One question though. How do you know he killed it? I missed that part.
cart7t reply :
Talquin has bass up to 14lbs! Outstanding. I've heard that Deer Pointe in Panama City has some big uns close to that size. Nice to see what you've got to shoot for down there. BTW, I also don't see where the fish was killed.
Olebiker reply :
QuoteI must be missing something. Nowhere did I see any mention that the fish was killed. You can see the lake behind him in the picture. Do any of you locals have information that it was killed?
One of my friends was putting his boat in when this guy came out of the marina with a box full of dead bass, including this one.
Catt reply :
The fish does not look dead to me
bedman reply :
I don't fully understand all the circumstances concerning this situation, but I would like to relay some information I learned earlier this year at a bass club meeting.
We had a very reputable fisheries biologist speak and he went into detail about delayed mortality. If you catch a fish 5 lbs. and larger, it is best to immediately release it. If you keep the fish in the livewell all day and take it to a weigh-in, you might as well keep it. The research and statistics indicate that while the fish may swim away, it will most likely die in the next day or two. I think we all forget about delayed mortality while handling big bass.
BARON49_Northern NY reply :
Someone mentioned they would keep a fish that size as they could not afford a replica mount. I was under the impresssion replica mounts were less expensive?
Btech reply :
Wouldn't a wall mount be a better trophy ! I can understand keeping a few fish (Average size) but not a lunker like this ....
He just wanted to make sure no one else gets credit!
jig reply :
I cant see getting upset about someone keeping a fish of a lifetime.Personally I wouldnt do it {and ive caught my share}but Im not going to tell someone else that they cant.Its all in an individuals beliefs on this matter,as long as they are not doing it all the time.
Vekol reply :
Olebiker mentioned that the guy had a box of dead bass--so this is obviously a practice of this individual, not a rare occasion of catching the bass of a lifetime for a mount. I disagree with catch and grease fishing for bass, and never keep any bass that I catch.
However, if I caught a double digit bass I would seriously consider keeping it for a mount. Such a fish has aready passed on her genetics over a number of spawn cycles, and probably doesn't have long to live anyhow. Bedman's post is another consideration--although if you immediately release the fish after a quick scale session and a photo the chances of post release mortality are probably greatly reduced.
tallydude reply :
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.
Mattlures reply :
Bedman you biologist is wrong! he was most likely trying to pusuade guys from keeping fish in thier wells for a long time. How do I know he is wrong? Well many years ago I used to get paid to stock and manage private ponds. I would catch fish from local lakes and have them in my well sometimes all day. Then I would bring them home and keep them in a kiddy pool with aireator. When I would collect enough fish(sometimes a couple weeks) I would put them in coolers and drive them to the the ponds to stock. None of them died. many of these fish were caught durring hot summer months to. Now I wouldnt do this now as it is illegal to transport live fish, but I learned a ton about pond management and bassbehavior. This was about 15 years ago.
ONE HUGE POINT about C&R out here in CA the biggest reason we have huge fish is they are released to get bigger. That is one major reason you dont see many high teen fish in TX. they keep them all for the SAL.
FL is/was soo bad about keeping big bass that they basicaly ruined their chances for WR bass. Huge bass cant get huge when they are kept at 14lbs. who knows that fish might have made it to 20.
Replicas are superior in every possible way. keep the 2lbers let the big ones go!!!
GiggleWart reply :
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..........
FishinDaddy reply :
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 reply :
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 reply :
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 reply :
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 reply :
QuoteI 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 reply :
Extensive Research has indicated that no matter what you think, it can be proven wrong and vice-versa. :-?
LooksLikeSinbad reply :
QuoteI 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 reply :
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 reply :
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 reply :
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 reply :
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 reply :
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.
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