This is my first post so I hope it works...
I hit Rancho Seco on Sunday, March 23 around 9 am. Caught bass of 5.2lbs, 4.7lbs, 4 from 2-2.5lbs, 5 from 1-2lbs, and 4 or 5 dinks. All came on watermelon/red&black 5" senkos except the 4.7 which came on a watermelon/red baby brush hog. I also missed a fish of 7-10 lbs which managed to spit my senko. At this point I am satisfied enough to go home but I stick around. About 3:30 I spotted a big fish between a weedline and the bank and decided to spend the rest of the day trying to catch it. Two casts later she slammed my senko and headed into the weeds but I was able to wrestle her out. I had no net so I did the "use your legs" thing and landed her. I put her on my berkley digital scale and she weighed 14.0 lbs. I got a guy in a boat to take a few pictures, cut some line to measure length and girth, and released her go back to her home. I had always wondered what I would do with a 10+ fish, but it just felt so good to let her go. Length 28 inches, girth 23 inches. My previous best was 8lbs-4oz.



http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/934.jpg


http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/935.jpg


http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/936.jpg

Attachment #1, (.jpg file)
Attachment #2, (.jpg file)
Attachment #3, (.jpg file)

Check this out. This is the same fish I caught in September. When I got her then she weighed 12lbs 2oz. THIS IS WHY CATCH AND RELEASE IS SO IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congrats on the hog and thanks for taking the time to post the pics. And thanks even more for releasing her again. Tell me that isn't the best feeling you ever had when you watched that big old bass swim away. Maybe next year she'll be 16lbs :)

http://www.calfishing.com/images/rob/rancho_comparison.jpg

P.S. - Pretty funny that my exact quote in my fishing report that night was, "I held her up and thought for sure the fish was at least 14lbs." I guess she is now!

Thats way cool that he caught the same fish and even better that it had gained a couple pounds.C&R is important and that made it sweeter for Rob to know that someone else got to play with her!Way to go on a great looking fish,I gotta get out there.
So many places so little time,Swampy

You know something, the more I look at this the more I'm doubting it now. The fish do look remarkably similar, but I'm not 100% it's the same one. Hm, in either case, they're both still swimmin around in there.

Maybe they both just like to scratch their backs on the same stump. har! :D

Very nice catch.
By the way Rob, I may be able to fish saturday after all. I'm waiting on final word tonight.

Doug, that is clearly more impressive than anything anyone is likely to achieve in most Arkansas waterways these days.
Aubrey!

http.//www.aubunique.com

Great job Doug! What a fish! Keep it up!

Todd

NICE FISH Doug! That's a fish of a life-time.

As Rob noted, you did the right thing by letting her go. She'll spawn and allow us to catch other monster bass in the future.

Gotta love that lake!!! - Chris G.

WOW
Great pic's, way to go and slay a toad.

Rich

Doug, I hope you have caught a lot more fish since I last
posted here. I haven't been able to fish this spring because
of the development coming to the wetland near my house.
Please check out www.aubunique.com   for details.
Please keep in touch.
aubrey@aubunique.com


Lauren added the short version of the corps permit for this
site to the Web site tonight plus about 8 wide-angle photos
made during the past few days. It makes a clear contrast with
the late winter photos that Joe Neal made on the site in
March. We still don't have any still photos of the target
species of plants.
I hope you get a chance to check it out. I know I haven't
fixed all my typos but I never can spot them until a story or
caption is online!
10:17 p.m. Wednesday June 25, 2003
I am painfully aware of the idiocy being perpetuated by the
"intellectual center of the state of Arkansas."
There will be another development coming before the city
planning commission soon that will destroy some old houses
(one from the civil-war era) and many beautiful trees for
student housing between 6th and 11th streets in Fayetteville.
Because the property adjacent to Town Branch for that project
is being bought by Hank Broyles, son of Frank, most people say
it is a done deal.
However, our neighborhood association plans to see that the
rules are followed as closely as possible.

The insulting thing on the corps permit for the little project
behind our house was that when the corps permit was issued, we
learned that the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality
has issued a blanket prior approval of all nationwide permits
issued by the LR district of the corps. 

This means that NO ONE really studied this land before the
permit was issued.
My hope now is to get a lot of nice photos and help to see
that some of the unusual or relatively rare plants are saved.
And the neighborhood association plans to move seamlessly to
its effort to see that the project between 6th and 11th is
built as harmlessly as possible. We need all the help we can
get from as many environmental groups as possible.
Aubrey
www.aubunique.com


Aubrey

----------
>From: "MaryAnn" <pineridg@cswnet.com>
>To: "Aubrey Shepherd"
<aubrey@aubunique.com>
>Subject: Re: Town Branch of West Fork of White River
>Date: Wed, Jun 25, 2003, 6:43 PM
>

> Aubrey,
> Thanks for the info - there is sure a lot happening this
year sadly for the
> environment.  I guess you've heard about the UofA
masterful decision to cut
> the museum & funding for positions of need.
> I'll check the website.
> MaryAnn
> MaryAnn King
> Pine Ridge Gardens
> 832 Sycamore Road
> P O Box 200
> London, AR 72847
> www.pineridgegardens.com
> 479.293.4359
> Fax 479.293.4659
> office@pineridgegardens.com
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Aubrey Shepherd"
<aubrey@aubunique.com>
> To: <pineridge@cswnet.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2003 8:50 AM
> Subject: Town Branch of West Fork of White River
> 
> 
>> Mary Ann,
>>
>> Please check our Web site for information about
development planned in the
>> watershed of the Town Branch of the West Fork of the
White River in south
>> Fayetteville.
>>
>> A 2-acre remnant of moist-soil prairie on the west
side of the stream west
>> of the intersection of 11th Street and South Duncan
Ave. is soon to be
>> filled for construction of three buildings containing
36 apartments and 66
>> parking spaces.
>>
>>
>> I have been in contact with Steve Marak and Scott
Starr and both have
>> visited it. I am hoping they will be able to rescue
some plants before the
>> bulldozers come.
>>
>> I found the Arkansas Native Plant Society Web site
and will soon add a
> link
>> to our site to lead people there.
>> Also, we will be adding some recent photos of the
area to the site. The
> only
>> ones there now are from the dead of winter. I hope to
get some closeups of
>> specific plants on the site this week if possible.
>> Please visit
>>
>> www.aubunique.com
>>
>> Thank you,
>> Aubrey Shepherd
>> 1101 S. Duncan Ave.
>> Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701
>> 479-444-6072
>>
>>
>