why no record bass yet?

[HandGunner]

just wondering now that open waters pretty much done, why hasnt their been a record breaker bass caught yet? just curious how close some are getting. How would I go about it if I was to catch one? any official weigh ins or do I just take a vid of myself weighing it and measuring it before releasing? I have an Idea were I could possibly find and catch the next closest one but not sure how to document it and weigh it for records plus the lake is a C&R lake. I think she comes close, in the water when my GF spotted her I mistaked it for a carp and said she doesn't know a bass from a sunny, until I looked closer!

[aanderud]

Catch it and bring it to a certified scale and call the DNR. You won't be able to release it if you're in MN. If it's a C&R lake, you are out of luck.

[Nhamm]

Dnr has largemouth record 23.5" 8lbs15oz and there smallmouth 8lbs no length. Caught a 22" large this fall in metro that was a hawg but don't think it would have pushed 7.5

[h8go4s]

Why? Because record-breaking fish are extremely rare. Do you expect records to be broken every year? Some of the state records are decades old. The state LM record goes back to 2005, the state SM and Bluegill records to 1948, Black Crappie 1940. Look it up here:

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fishing/staterecords.html

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Because fishing ain't what it used to be. More fisherman with high tech equipment reducing the population before they grow record size IMO.

[JohnMickish]

Just because a guy has the high tech stuff does not mean he has to keep a fish. In other words, the high tech stuff is not the probem, it's still the people using it.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

I'm not saying the tech is the problem, but I believe with more people fishing there is less of a chance for a fish to grow big. Catch rates are higher with the help of tech and unfortunately there are still guys that feel they need to keep everything they catch.

[Raider4ever]

[Raider4ever]

They're called records for a reason. It's a rare event: combination of genetics, hunger, time of year, somebody being there, raw luck. Honestly, there are probably no more than 9 fish in this state that are above their current records (maybe 4 LMB and 5 SMB). So think about what your odds are of being on the exact right lake, at the EXACT right time (i.e. that one hour, every 4th day, window when it is feeding), with the right lure, with gear that can handle such a fish (yeah, we all have heard of the guy fishing for rock carp and landing a 46" muskie. Did Billy Bob land a RECORD muskie? No, he did not.)? Astronomical barely scratches such a number. You have a better chance of solo winning a 300-million MegaMillions jackpot and getting struck by lightning ON THE SAME DAY!!!

[Nhamm]

Respectfully disagree with you Raider. Land of 10,000 lakes and only a handful of trophies out there? probably not. I bet there are hundreds. Old fish are old for a reason, genetics and all that other stuff mentioned above contribute to it surely, but I believe there intelligence does as well. As little as there is to begin with, there are studies out there that show fish that have been caught will react differently to the baits they were caught on as well as the fish that were around them. It is my opinion that is why colors are hot one year on certain bodies of water, then dead the next year or maybe even a couple months, because word gets around and thats all the fish see down there and eventually they adapt to it, then another is hot. Technology is getting scary I agree as well as the tactics and lures used. But nature finds a way and adapts and there are not as many as there was hundred years ago, but there are plenty for us to still chase after and dream of.

[Hoffer]

I really like your theory of the fish getting used to the presentation....yet I also have a hard time buying they are that intellectual.

However, I remember when I was a kid - a new lure came out. The "Twister tail" mainly used for walleyes. Everybody fished it for the first 2 years and the catch rate was amazing...doesn't seem like its used nearly as much now for walleyes.

Then about 3 to 5 Fall fishing trips ago to Canada we had great luck with a certain lure and then the luck dropped off in the most recent years and we had much better luck with a different lure.

I just think its timing and conditions...just pure luck. I remain unconvinced fish have the intelligence to get used to a certain lure.

Last, someone above mentioned the 1948 record for the smallmouth bass. It was supposedly caught on West Battle Lake. I grew up in that area. West battle has nice smallmouth...but nothing even close has ever come out of there since that was even close to 8 pounds - not even 6 pounds. First, I think that the actual lake the fish came out of was not disclosed...they reported West Battle to throw people off. Second, I also doubt that 8 pounds was a realistic true weight. An 8 pound smallmouth bass seems more difficult to imagine than a 54 pound Muskie (current state record).

[Hoffer]

On kind of the same note of state record fish...just not bass... I thought I would throw in one other thing.

State record Northern is 45 pounds 12 ounces. Really??

Everyone talks about the controversy over the world record Muskie...

(Spray fish).

But we should be talking in Minnesota about the state record Northern.

if you look at most Northern weight calculators you will see that for a Northern to be 35 pounds it needs to be 50 inches.

We are talking about a 45 pound Northern here listed as the record. Even if for some reason it was super thick...it would still need to be quite a few inches over 50 inches to be near 45 pounds. Not gonna happen. And it didnt happen.

This record is from 1929 (accurate scales then?) and needs to have an asterisk by it and a new record needs to be recorded for modern times.

[Raider4ever]

Of those 10,000 lakes, less than 25 have the components necessary to producing a record-sized bass. Then, one of those 25 lakes needs two bass that have the genetic capability of producing an offspring capable of reaching that size be on the same spawning flat at the same time. Then, that ONE fish must not get eaten during it's first two years at least (more if there are big pike or muskies in it). And with the C&R ethic that runs so deep among bass fisherman, that fish could be released, rather than being killed (currently a necessary step to establish a record, as per DNR requirements). Those are mighty long odds.

[Raider4ever]

The current LMB record was caught in 2005. The previous one was caught in 1994. The current record SMB was caught in.......(wait for it)......1948. I do not know when the previous record one was caught. So, if you want a record LMB, hold off until 2016. If you want a record SMB, well it's only been 64 years and counting.... Good luck with that.

[Hoffer]

Raider

As I mentioned above...the state record Smallie was caught in 1948.

You have to really wonder about the accuracy and the scales. 8 pounds?

Hmmmmm.....

[TR21HP]

Hoffer, Fully agree with your assesment of bass being intellectual, conditioned to a certain noise or presentation? maybe. Ted Capra once told me,"Don't try to outsmart the fish,there isn't anything to outsmart." I've not caught but personally have seen a 7 plus smallmouth and it was a monster.

[HandGunner]

Only I have been the closest to catching what i think comes close to the record bass but instead the another 6+ pounder took my lure instead and with that the helping hand on the dock lost the fish for me. scales are a joke baught a spring scale thinking their more accurate but in the end I ended up returning it since it told me a 5 pound weight was 3 pounds but also told me a 10 pound weight was 13. I caught at least 4 4-6 ponders this past summer and that was just guestamate weighing, then had ppl showing me pics of their 4-6 pounders only to findout its shorter and skinnier than the ones I caught and their telling me its been weighed? I never plan to keep a record fish im happy enough just being in the record book but since this lake is C&R only even if a record was caught their I guess the law had to be broken just to get her down in the record book since an OFFICIAL scale has to be used and no one I know of carries one around or even has one, were all carrying the $20-$30 digital scales around and I dont even know what qualifies as a official scale.

[TR21HP]

A Boca grip is extremely accurate but is not recognized as an official weighing instument by the DNR. If you are looking at something accurate this is the way to go.

[HandGunner]

no cheaper alternative? not forking hundreds for a boca LOL

[JohnMickish]

If you pull a record fish out of a C&R lake, you will NOT be recognized as the record holder. That would be considered an illegal fish, and illegal fish do not go in the books. The fish has to be weighed on a certified scale, like a meat market with a witness. The procedure is pretty clearly spelled out in the handbook.

[Nhamm]

I agree that the fish are not intellectuals swimming around down there, but even the simplest of animals can change behavior due to consequences(being caught). How about we go grab all those lures that most of our grandfathers used, you know which ones I am talking about, the big clunky unattractive hunks of metal that had a little flash to them and lets all go catch some fish. Not happening, sorry I have literally tried. All those fish we see in the old school photos were caught on those lures of antiquity. And fish have not changed since then? Why is it I can go to a Canadian shield lake which sees about 50 boats a year on a 20000 acre expanse and I can catch them on plain jig heads all day long, it certainly not due to being there at the right time and the right place. Or lures themselves along with technology are constantly advancing to catch us more fish, yet with all this the average fisherman probably does about the same as they did 50 years ago. I would like to think people are not getting dumber, we know more about fish, their habitats, and their habits than ever before, it is just the fish are changing.

This is my personal opinion of course and once I find that study that I read on this matter I will post it but do appreciate the conversation that is this right now.

[nsnutter]

Take it to a certified scale with the state record submission form in hand and have two witnesses sign and fill out the info in the form. Most bait shops and/or meat markets will have state certified scales. If the fish is record size (weight) then the next step is to get the species properly id'ed at a dnr fisheries building. Then submit the form with a picture of the fish.