Why are the Largemouth Bass in Minnesota small compared elsewhere?

[PakAttack86]

So I notice the Largemouth Bass record in Minnesota is a little over 8 pounds. The Land of 10,000 Lakes and that is our biggest bass on record? The reason I ask, is because I see YouTube videos all the time of people in Kentucky or Alabama pulling out 9-11pounders and just acting like it's another day at the lake.

Any reason for the size differences?

[Craigums]

Water temp is warmer year round. The warmer the water the bass feed more actively. More feeding = more weight.

Also, some southern states are stocking Florida strain bass which is just a larger species to begin with.

[apegs]

Our bass in the northern part of the states dont get as big but live longer as is the opposite down south. This is due to winter seasons. During winter I dont think there bodies are really running at full speed and would guess there is little feeding and growing.

[Nick Kuhn]

As mentioned, it's about 50% genetics and about 50% growing season. There's roughly a 6 month growing season here compared to 10-12 months down south and in CA.

[Dylan33]

Why the diff then between the MN record of 8lbs, and the WI record of 11# 3oz?

[Craigums]

Why the diff then between the MN record of 8lbs, and the WI record of 11# 3oz?

Your guess is as good as mine. I would assume it has to do with large consumption of alcoholic beverages in WI impairing abilities to properly read scales...but thats purely speculation of course

[CAMAN]

It is kind of interesting seeing a few of the surrounding states have considerably larger LMB records than us. Especially with Wisconsin having a 11lb 3oz'er from the north western part of the state and not too far from MN. Michigan also has an 11lb 15oz. But North and South Dakota are right in range of MN's record with 8lb 7oz and 9lb 3oz respectively and Montana has 8lb 4oz. My question is what is so different between the lakes on this side of the Mississippi and lakes across the border? They all have about the same latitudes and weather systems.

[Nick Kuhn]

It was caught in the very southern part of Wisconsin. Often those lakes are only ice covered from mid-January to mid-March. And given it was caught in 1940, that means it was caught after the very warm years that were the 1930's...

[apegs]

It is kind of interesting, that is a considerable wieght increase. Probably a bass that got into some radio active waste.

[goblueM]

I'm also a wee bit skeptical of some of those older records.

For example, the Minnesota state record crappie is 5 pounds, but the IGFA world record crappie is 5 pounds, caught recently.

I'm not entirely confident that those fish back in the day were weighed properly on certified scales.

[reinhard1]

i wondered about the northern pike record also. but who knows. good luck.

[CAMAN]

It was caught in the very southern part of Wisconsin. Often those lakes are only ice covered from mid-January to mid-March. And given it was caught in 1940, that means it was caught after the very warm years that were the 1930's...

My appologies, when I searched Ripley Lake, Google only gave me the one near Spooner, Wiki shows its down near Madison.

[mabr]

Id be willing to bet that if our BASS season opened earlier, our state record would be broke again within a few years.

[corncob]

Southern Wisconsin and Michigan are noticeably farther south than anywhere in Minnesota, therefore warmer temps, more growth potential.

[slipperybob]

Or MN just needs to open the bass season up a month sooner and then the state record will be broken. heh heh heh heh.

[lookincalifornia]

good point about the bass season. many state bass records fall in the early pre-spawn months. i think i heard that more 10 pound bass have been caught in the month of febuary than any other. i realize that would translate to late march-april for the northern states. with more and more anglers targeting bass and C&Ring them, i see that MN state record falling soon. i move back in june, so that record won't last long!

[CAMAN]

Southern Wisconsin and Michigan are noticeably farther south than anywhere in Minnesota, therefore warmer temps, more growth potential.

Funny thing is Michigan's state record has two fish tied at 11lb 15oz. One was caught not far from Grand Rapids which has a latitude of just south of the MN border. And the other was caught in north eastern Michigan in a location that has a latitude similar to Minneapolis/St Paul. The bass from Wisconsin was caught at a latitude just south of the MN border also. So obviously some MN lakes get similar weather as all these lakes.

[goblueM]

I wouldn't say that, the LP of Michigan has much milder winters and temperate spring/falls due to the effect of Lake Michigan

[mww24]

i agree with opening the season would break the record. I've seen some massive fish bedding while panfishing.

[RK]

Hiya -

Our fish here may not max out as high as some other states, but one thing I have heard several times from friends of mine from further south is that they're blown away by the amount of weight our fish carry for their length. As my friend from Missouri put it "back home you can see through a 15 inch bass. In Minnesota they're all footballs."

I suspect the length of growing season has a lot to do with it, but there's also all kinds of other stuff like water chemistry, forage (not a lot of shad in most of MN, and that's a pretty high value food source elsewhere) and who knows what else.

RK

[KickNBass]

My buddy once told me that they threw out the old bass records in MN when someone was caught with a Florida bass posing as a MN record and they were skeptical of the records. I wouldn't be surprised if the WI record was a Florida bass as well.

[BTL]

The maximum size may be small, but in my experience the average size certainly isn't. The average bass I catch in Minnesota is easily bigger than the average bass I catch in the mid-Atlantic region.

[Nick Kuhn]

The maximum size may be small, but in my experience the average size certainly isn't. The average bass I catch in Minnesota is easily bigger than the average bass I catch in the mid-Atlantic region.

This is probably true. I've seen plenty of guys from down south posting pictures of 14" fish and calling them "nice ones".

[TurnUpTheFishing]

Hiya -

Our fish here may not max out as high as some other states, but one thing I have heard several times from friends of mine from further south is that they're blown away by the amount of weight our fish carry for their length. As my friend from Missouri put it "back home you can see through a 15 inch bass. In Minnesota they're all footballs."

Ive fished several lakes in Florida one being Toho and me and my partner commented on the same thing. We caught fish up to 22-23 inches but only around 6 lbs and most of the fish were that same build.

Ive also heard that down south if you averaged just two pounds per a fish, ten pounds total, you could place in the majority of club tournaments. Im pretty new to tournaments in these parts but I dont think 3rd place ever was less than 12 lbs in my club last year.

[mainbutter]

It's all a function of growth rates and food availability.

Our fish are slower growers and are better at dealing with cooler temperatures.

Southern fish are designed to have high metabolisms and thrive in warm water. With the availability of food, they will grow FAST. With a lack of food, they get long, skinny, and sickly looking. This is most pronounced with the Florida strain bass.