Bass Fishing Forum - Westernbass.com

So ended up catching 18 pounds on sat at McClure and big fish was a 8 pounder. The lakes full rightnow and gaints are biting make sure you guys get out there.

Dang that is awesome!! Good for you.

Congrats, nice fish. 2 weeks ago i was pulling my boat out at Barrett and a girl bank fishing next to the ramp caught a 9.8 on a dropshot as i was tying up to the dock.

Nice catch!
Thanks for signing up and sharing the pix.

Congrats on a wonderful bass! Maybe your first trophy bass? I think you will have many years ahead to catch many more monsters. So I might suggest holding you future big ones with both hands - horizontal. One hand on the mouth and one hand in from of the tail. Tournament folks all hold the fish in the vertical position for photos - some 5 bass in two hands!
The bigger the bass, the more harm can come later. I guess nothing can be done about tournament winners photos, as they are often holding several bass. But whenever we catch one of these trophies, we need to return them in good condition after photos. This is especially true in very warm water with its low oxygen content.


Again, congrats!! You now have a new problem! The next bass you catch will seem really "small" I know! After I caught the biggest bass of my life - 14 lbs 2 oz, the next bass I caught was 4 lbs. It looked like a "dink!!"


The first tournament I ever fished was at Lake McClure. I love that lake!!

Congrats! And BTW, you are holding your fish just fine. Holding it vertically like you are is fine, the trouble starts when you start curling your hand under the jaw and causing the bass's body to become more horizontal. Holding with two hands isnt a good idea because you may remove some of the slime which is never a good idea.

Very nice congratulations

Carol Knowles wrote:Dang that is awesome!! Good for you.

Thank you

fastfiat wrote:Congrats, nice fish. 2 weeks ago i was pulling my boat out at Barrett and a girl bank fishing next to the ramp caught a 9.8 on a dropshot as i was tying up to the dock.

That's awesome about the same time I had a buddy catch a 11.12 largemouth in the same spot.

WB Staff wrote:Nice catch!
Thanks for signing up and sharing the pix.

Your welcome and thank you for helping me spread my pics and video and also for showing me about signing up for this forum.

Larry Hemphill wrote:Congrats on a wonderful bass! Maybe your first trophy bass? I think you will have many years ahead to catch many more monsters. So I might suggest holding you future big ones with both hands - horizontal. One hand on the mouth and one hand in from of the tail. Tournament folks all hold the fish in the vertical position for photos - some 5 bass in two hands!
The bigger the bass, the more harm can come later. I guess nothing can be done about tournament winners photos, as they are often holding several bass. But whenever we catch one of these trophies, we need to return them in good condition after photos. This is especially true in very warm water with its low oxygen content.


Again, congrats!! You now have a new problem! The next bass you catch will seem really "small" I know! After I caught the biggest bass of my life - 14 lbs 2 oz, the next bass I caught was 4 lbs. It looked like a "dink!!"


The first tournament I ever fished was at Lake McClure. I love that lake!!

And honestly no I've caught multiple trophies fish I'm friends with alot of tournament fisherman's and fisherwomen's this fish became my pb by a couple ounces just wish see wouldn't have been spawned out still because she could have been a couple pounds bigger she was really long. I just love bass fishing and I work each day to try and become better my goal when I fish rn is too do better than the winners of the tournaments my YouTube and catching a world record bass I dont stress it or put the pressure on us I just go out and fish I simple love to bass fish.

Steve wrote:Congrats! And BTW, you are holding your fish just fine. Holding it vertically like you are is fine, the trouble starts when you start curling your hand under the jaw and causing the bass's body to become more horizontal. Holding with two hands isnt a good idea because you may remove some of the slime which is never a good idea.

Yes I know it doesn't bother or hurt the bass at all unless ur being abusive or aggressive people tend to forget that big bass is pulling way more pressure on his mouth when hes hooked and pulling drag even with 10 pound test a small hook and perfect drag setting . But I took those pic too but the guy who did it took horrible pic had to have a stranger take a pic for me. I even stayed with her for 5 mins and revived her would had great video but the guy cut it off half way threw.

Got this girl on a drop shot level 4 hook on a yum finesse worm black and silver at lake McClure. Lakes about full lots of floating logs and waters murky and muddy in some spots but the big girls are biting.

More from BassinWithChoffel on Lake McClure
Thanks for sharing

Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

https://www.westernbass.com/lake/mcclure

I do know what I am talking about. Have discussed this with Fish and Wildlife experts. I was talking trophy size fish such as the one in the photo. You are certainly correct about holding the bass with his upper body bent at a 45 degree angle. Not good. One should hold the trophy somewhat horizontal - one hand with the lower jaw and one or two fingers of the other hand supporting the back of the fish at the rear of the back lower fin. No need to touch the rest of the bass. I always try to mention to clients and others - make sure the bottom of the bass is held slightly towards the camera. People can then see the true "depth" - top to bottom - of the bass. Especially true for largemouth. People can admire the girth of the bass which is more impressive than the length. Length is more important for trout, kokanee, etc. They are not usually very "thick." Nothing is more sad than a photo of a 10 lb+ largemouth with the belly turned inward. You loose one of the great features of a largemouth - the girth - top to bottom. Especially in the spring when full of eggs!!

LOL, I respectfully disagree. Ive held my share of giants vertically and it causes zero damage. Ive also seen photos of fish that clearly have a hand mark on them because somebody took a picture holding horizontal with one hand near the tail. Regardless of how you are holding them, the potential for injury occurs when a fish starts thrashing, and IMO thats when the so called damage to the jaw occurs. There have always been two camps as it relates to the proper way to hold a bass, and I suppose there always will be.

I finished a response to you, but it was too long! You are right - the bigger they are the more they thrash and wiggle with force.. One might think that if the bass was supported in two areas - front and back - the weight of the trophy would be more evenly divided over its body length. If one is strong enough to hold a big bass with one hand during the thrashing without dropping her, that's great. If they are dropped, and they are quite often, think of the stress on her head, lower jaw, and inner body parts as they thrash violently before falling. I doubt they like their photo taken anyway! A sign of weakness!!

Nice fish you’re holding it better than Randy at Melones

You’re holding your fish just like Larry does in the pictures on his website