Hey I understand completely. I go to my favorite East Bay lakes and see a dead teener on the photo board and it hurts me. But when I think hard about what the right response to that is, I'm not certain that the right response is to blast that guy. That's just the kneejerk response.

I think the right response is education and positive attention toward the 'right' behavior.

To make a corny analogy that you have probably heard before...

The wind and the sun make a bet on who can get a man to take his jacket off.
The wind blows and blows, but the man just pulls his jacket tighter
The sun takes it's turn and shines brightly
The man takes his jacket off

When a guy gets his first really big bass, he wants to share it with his friends. Let his friends see it. Let people know about his catch. I know that feeling for sure. One way to do it is to bring the fish home and hang it on the wall, or take a photo in the garage. That's the safe bet when you have no camera and skeptical friends.

Some guys do that and get slammed for it. Usually on the internet. That's a bad spot to be in because you just wanted to share your catch and get some positive attention, but instead you got bashed. When you put someone in a defensive position like that, their response may very well be to say something like, "it's my right". "I can keep a bass if I want to."

Now trying to make the situation better has made it worse. I'm not saying it always works out like that, but it seems to.

I hope that whoever Dave Roberts is that:

1. The photo is not just a cheap troll to make people upset.
2. When he catches his next big bass, he'll take the time to post a photo here, and get some positive reinforcement in return.

Dave, if you're reading this, may I suggest some reading on being prepared for your next big bass catch? Here's the link:

http://www.calfishing.com/freshwater/care_and_handling/Introduction.html