re: Big Bass Caught Yesterday...

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Then I'll post that I shot her

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make sure you correctly hoist

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and this

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W

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How many boards have you been banned from?

A 14" bass is a kept SOB in my boat

I can assure all, I am no threat to the bass population.

You earned that one man.

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Sounds like my dad, but he only goes a few times a year.

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I'd like to share a beer with your old man.

I don't go very often either, don't have the means. I promise all of you, the bass population will survive with me doin what I do.

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like to share a beer with your old man.

I don't go very often either, don't have the means. I promise all of you, the bass population will survive with me doin what I do.

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Have no problem with someone that goes infrequently and keeps 'em to fry. I was talking 'bout guys that fish everyday and keep everything.

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Hey Sgt Hulls, next time a trophy deer steps out in front of u, take a picture. Oh u probably are someone who doesn't hunt or fish and has no idea of the time and money invested to catch or kill a trophy of a lifetime. Taking one fish out of the biggest oxbow lake in the country will not negatively impact the bass population.

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For some of ya'll that don't like to read, you will want to skip this post. Arky, I hope you read a little bit of the beginning at the least.

Sorry I left this thread earlier, but worked took priority today -- seems like a lot of feathers were ruffled on both sides of this debate.

Arky, I'm not going to dump on you anymore -- in fact, I do owe you an apology. You caught a damn nice fish and I did not congratulate you. I simply judged you. That's not what I'm all about.

That said -- I do still feel strongly about the need to not take trophy bass. There are many in this thread that said, "it's only one fish"... and most of them said, "if I caught one, I'd keep it too."

Here's the thing: why do ya'll think that so few of us have caught so few trophy bass? I'm 44 years old and I've been bass fishing regularly since I was 8 years old. I've fished in lakes, rivers and ponds in 6 different states. I'm pretty proud of the fish I've caught -- the biggest about 7 pounds. How many of ya'll out there have similar stories?

Simple answer is - the number of bass in the 8+ pound range is not what it used to be. Lots of debate out there as to why. Because of over-regulation? Or over-fish? Well, if you consider the programs that many of the "lunker lakes" have implemented since the late 80's - I've got to believe it isn't regulation. Because regulation on those lunker lakes have caused a very successful rise in big bass population.

Here's the thing, maybe I'm just jealous. I want to catch a 9+ pounder too without heading to Mexico. But if EVERYONE that catches a 9+ pounder keeps it, there will NOT be enough for everyone to catch one. Period. If ya'll are honest with yourselves -- how many off those big bass have you seen with your own eyes alive, versus how many have you seen on the wall?

Finally, for the TL;DR crowd: Sgt Hulka is sorry. But he still believes that if everyone takes just one 9+ pounder out of the population - that means that very few of us will get the joy of catching one of those lunkers.

PS - if longer didn't read... for the comments about taking trophy deer. Shoot that thing. However, what if it's a big fat pregger doe? You gonna shoot that one too? The reason why your logic doesn't work - your trophy deer MAY or MAY NOT reproduce - there is no guarantee that the doe he gets busy with hasn't already been hit by every other young buck on the block. However, if you have a big sow bass full of eggs, you are guaranteed taking some good DNA out of the gene pool.

Ok, again Arky, I didn't mean to piss on your parade. And I'm no hater. But I'll be damned if I'm accused of being a commy or socialist just because I have a differing opinion about bass conservation.

I feel like the ones advocating the release of this fish are the ones who don't catch that many fish. There are plenty of fishing in the lake YOU just have to figure out how to catch them. I've never blamed anyone else on my failure to catch big fish and I fished Caney for years.

Post those pics