I always check out the photo section on www.westernbass.com and more and more big bass photos are being tanken in the driveway or even worse kitchen. Which really bothers me dont these people know that these fish are the breeding stock? I don't think a 10lber tastes and better than 10 1lbers but hey I have never killed a big bass. Anyway I just had to post this somehwere it's bothering me.

Taylor-

Hey let that Bass go I wanna catch her some day
http://www.calfishing.com/gallery/v/members/tmcustoms/

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/4547-Beatingadeadhorse.gif

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/4548-Beat_Dead_Horse.jpg


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Ok so it wasn't the most informative post but it gets my point across...

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ok I did have to laugh at that

ok, on a more serious note...

It happens from time to time that I get to feeling pretty down about some website thing or another. Usually it's the same general topics. So in the last year or two I have a little thing that I do to cheer myself up. I stop thinking about whatever I'm thinking about that's negative and I take some time to work on something new for the site, whether it's an article, a review, something in the gallery, etc.

For this topic I have an idea. I'm going to commit to writing a new article all about trophy bass handling. Things you should have with you, ideas for proper bass care, and general tips. It'll take me a little while to get the photos but I'll get it done. I think half the time when you see the dead bass in the kitchen type pic it happens because a guy isn't prepared to catch that sort of fish and winds up taking the fish home because they want people to believe them that they caught it and they want to get a picture or a mount. Fish Chris has always promoted education versus yelling at people and I happen to agree, so look forward to a new article in the coming weeks.

If you were reffering to the guy with the Bass Pro shops hat, He responded to the Photos thread on Westernbass yesterday. he stated he forgot his camera put the fish in his livewell went home took the pics and raced back to the launch ramp dumped his boat in and released the fish where he caught them. If he told us the truth I think thats believeable:-)

Donald C. Osborne

should have used spell check. Oh well

Donald C. Osborne

Well some people call it beating a dead horse, but I am hoping at least one person will see this thread and relize it is important to release trophy fish and do so the next time they catch one. As for the guy w/ the bps hat I am not refering to him in general (mabey he did release the fish??) but I have heard the same stories about bass in the kitchen. Anyhow people need to realize the big girls need to stay at the lake.

Hey let that Bass go I wanna catch her some day
http://www.calfishing.com/gallery/v/members/tmcustoms/

The way I see it is a majority of trophy bass are caught by anglers that know the virtues of Catch & Release and usually practice it. Trust me having a double digit can make your brain turn to mush.

However there are those trophy bass that are caught by non bass anglers on powerbait and what not and kept but for the most part this does not happen on a regular basis so in my opinion should not be that big of a deal on whether they keep them or not.

The third angler is the one who knows how to catch bass regularly and choses to keep them for whatever reason, dinks and trophies. He knows the benefits of catch and release and keeps his fish anyway. He would be more dangerous to a fishery than the angler that accidently catches a trophy bass because he has the knowledge to catch bass and has made the decision to keep his fish. Unfortunately this third angler will be extremely hard to convince start to catch & release because he is more set in his ways.

Most of the lakes in Cali seem to be healthy fisheries, of course there are always exceptions, but I don't think what happened at castaic in the 80's is going to happen again where hundreds of bass anglers from around the nation converged on the lake and kept every trophy bass they caught. Then again I could be wrong

These are just my 2 am ramblings....

What about the picture of the guy in his kitchen? Think that one got released. And by the way I watched the thread on Westernbass and this board and no one mentioned that it is illegal to transport live gamefish in CA. Each fish is a seperate offense. My .02 is that there are a lot of guys out there who need to learn about C&R. bob

The dead horse post was a classic.

I've grown tired of all the political correctness, but I do like the catch and release philosiphy...

I use to say when I catch my first 10 I was going to tell it "sorry" as I placed it in my freezer, but now I am content with a replica.

To each his own!

Oh yeah, one other pet peeve of mine is all the pictures of guys holding up two or more fish at a time. What are they doing? Catching bass, throwing them in the livewell and later hauling them out for pictures? Sure livewells usually work pretty good these days, but what's the point in hauling a bass around just so you can get a picture with a bunch of fish? Catch and release means just that - catch a fish, take a picture, then release it. Anything more is stress on the fish. My .02, bob