STATE RECORD

[ikeslayer]

Sorry to get your hopes up but i have NOT caught the next state record but like any of us we all aspire to do so. Anyway my problem is that i wouldn't even know what to do with it if i caught it. do i take it to somewhere? It would suck to be like a chicken with my head cut off if i did catch it but i figure someone on here knows. Sorry for the false excitement. ike

[Cecil]

You would want to take it to a certified scale at a local bait shop or somewhere that has one. Make sure you try to keep it alive as well.

[Fever]

It is against state law to transport any live fish... right? That whole process always throws me for a loop. Would suck to keep a fish thinking you may have state record and then pull up just a few oz short. I'd rather release if that was case.

[Cecil]

The last state record caught by Mark Raveling was kept alive for almost 6 months... I think you may be right, but how did that happen then? Have the laws changed in the last few years?

[Fever]

Yeah I know it was kept alive. Didn't it start at Cabin Fever in Victoria then it was moved to Cabellas on hwy 10 where it eventually died. I'm not sure about how he got away with it or if there is some kind of loop hole in the system but I thought it was Illegal to transport live fish... I suppose the actual intent is to stop ivasive species and private stocking of small lakes and such. If a guy actually caught a bass in the 9 pound range around here I doubt if he'd get a ticket for keeping it alive in his live well while bringing it to be offically weighed... at least I'd hope not. It would be a dream to catch a fish like that, get it offically weighed with witnesses then let her go healthy.

[wanger29]

A grocery store scale is acceptable. Before anyone drives for a couple of hours looking for a scale consider that. I know a guy who crossed that path before.

[Daze Off]

I think alogn the way the current state record fish spent some time in the In-Fisherman tanks in Brainerd too...

[Cecil]

I think that is actually where it died. It spent quite a bit of time there as they were trying to heal it.

[ikeslayer]

heal it? what was wrong with it?

ike

[ocf1]

What do you do to try and keep a fish that needs to be weighed alive? Ice and a Cooler?

[Nick Kuhn]

What do you do to try and keep a fish that needs to be weighed alive? Ice and a Cooler?

Probably the best bet. Live well doesn't work (anyone else ever accidentally hit the livewell switch and not realize their livewell was full before hitting the road?) as all the water just sloshes out as you turn.

[Cecil]

It had a lot of issues from the stress it went through and old age. I'm sure most of it was old age rather than a disease or anything. More trying to keep it alive than anything.

[Fever]

Fresh water, Cool the temp down 5-8 degrees F. There is actually an article that discusses improvements in Live well desgign in the most recent Infisherman magazine. The cooler temp of water slows the metabolism (requirements of O2) and lowers the stress level of fish.

[Scott M]

Hate to be the one that says it, but if you caught the state record fish, you'd want to kill it. I believe Raveling got a warning or a ticket for live transport on the fish. Kind of silly, I know, but the law sees black and white. Secondly, a dead fish isn't metabolizing food, excreting waste, getting stressed out, and losing weight.

You would want a certified scale and the names of two observers and the phone number for your local fisheries office, as you need two state biologists to certify the fish. You also need a full length photo of the fish and you have to fill out a state record fish application.

All while jumping on one leg and rubbing your stomach counter clockwise