Sometimes we take C&R too seriously,tring to do the right thing, this may have been one of those moments. Been there and done that and know from experience that bass was severely over stressed. I know I will get a lot of hate for stating this, any big older bass that can't dive down and swims on or near the surface like this bass did the post mortality rate is high. Out of sight out of mind.
Congratulations on a record spot and hope, like Dottie did she survives.
Peace!
Tom
WRB wrote:Sometimes we take C&R too seriously,tring to do the right thing, this may have been one of those moments. Been there and done that and know from experience that bass was severely over stressed. I know I will get a lot of hate for stating this, any big older bass that can't dive down and swims on or near the surface like this bass did the post mortality rate is high. Out of sight out of mind.
Congratulations on a record spot and hope, like Dottie did she survives.
Peace!
Tom
Tom I cant say I can condemn what you said because I agree 100%. And yes a lot of big bass are miss handled in my opinion. Post something educating people on how to handle and release a bigger fish and they get their damn undies in a bunch!
Didn't see anything wrong, in the video, with how he handled the fish. The greater majority of stress to that fish came from the hook set, fight and capture. Time, assuming a good functioning live-well, imho, smallest percentage, weighing process also a percentage but still small.
Congratulations on a new world record and thank you for the catch & release! A lot of guys, me included, would have mounted that behemoth or thought seriously about it.
I don't recognise the area please send coordinates!
Sometimes you catch a fish shallow that has just come up to feed, and is still adjusting their swim bladder, so they struggle. I've had fish I caught in 2' of water that I had to needle.
I also agree with Tom that older fish don't handle the stress of a long fight as well as smaller fish, so maybe putting them in the livewell for a bit with rejuvenade or some other additive would help them.
I did that with a salmon I caught in Middle River that was turning belly up. I put it in the livewell on manual, with rejuvenade, and I kept checking it every ten minutes. In an hour it was fine, and took off like a bat out of .... when I released it.
Should clarify my post. You only get 1 chance at world record bass in a life time so everything must be done exactly to the book and releasing a record is risky if something wasn't done right. If the weight was authenticated, if the bass was certified a Spotted as a Spotted bass, if the fish was examined by a diologist to be sure no weight was added, if, if. All this handling stresses big bass.
Tom
