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Originally Posted by NIB
I remember when Paul Duclos caught an released one weighed on his bathroom scale.would have passed the world record.Had to be ten yrs ago now.Thier are this group of guys out thier that are hard core they live for this time o yr when the big girls are most vulnerable.They also believe in catch an release.They use tackle that mimics heavy striper gear.They got pics an video an witnesses to the actual hookup.the fish was released they don't want the cash just the fish whats fishy??
Perhaps ur right,I guess i believe in the good of man.
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I agree. It's a tight knit group out there and when this time of year rolls round everything else takes a back seat to trying to catch big fish and break the record. Just as bad as us during a good fall run. Largemouth bass guys are famously catch and release. Most do almost anything to protect and preserve their fisheries. Very different ethic from a striper fishery. Of course largemouths don't taste as good as stripers.
I fished for largemouths EVERY DAY from ice out till the end of a season for a good decade as a kid since I lived on a great bass pond. All the fish I caught were released, that's just the way it's done. More then a few were taken in a livewell to be weighed in and then released. 2 of my biggest bass were the same fish, much like this story. Caught one day, hauled in a cooler to be weighed, released, and caught 2 days later.
Lastly holding largemouths by the lip is standard procedure and I think most of them handle it just fine. Is there a better way to hold them? Sure, especially if it's a bigger fish. I don't have any doubt about that. The fish I caught though and then caught again 2 days later was definitely held by it's lip, carted around in a livewell for 4 or so hours, and also had a hook from a scale carefully slid under it's gills. It was back on the feed 2 days later in the same exact spot (not on a spawning bed) even after that abuse.
So, bottomline, I believe the story and the size of that fish. The only oddity is that they didn't have an IGFA certified scale. It was only $25 or so when I had my Boga certified.