Would you take a 11 pounder for the wall??

I would let her swim with a smile on my face. I am not convinced that her ginetic time is done to produce bigger bass nor am I a big fan of mounts these days. I don't blame anyone for mounting a fish like that but I would love the chance to possibly catch her again. Anything is possible, though not probable.

I rarely even keep fish to eat. My wife hates fish and I rarely cook it for myself other than the ocassional salmon and that is grilled only. I won't pass up grilled striper but that's another story.

ON MY WALL fo sho! I just like good taxidermy work and feel if I caught it, its mine. Ive prolly spent ten years of pay on this sport and when I walk into the mancave it feels good to see some of it hanging on the wall. Set her free? Not this ol' boy! Taking fish home to eat or mount is all part of the conservation of the fishery anyway, right? I dont here alot of people complain when a group of guys go and bring home 100's of crappie for the fish fry... Sorry guys i need to go fishing, been a long week. :(

Replica enough said................o & vidio of its release:cool:

While I do agree that genetics can play a small roll in things, I really wonder to what degree? I certainly agree that bad genetics can factor in, like it does with humans. Humans that reproduce early or late in life tend to pass on more bad things than someone in their prime. I really don't know what age that kicks in with bass. But, in my opinion, a 11 pound bass in a lake full of two pound bass probably isn't much more genetically gifted than the two pound bass. It probably grew at the same rate as the rest of the females, but tended to have different habits than typical bass and simply made it through more years. Maybe it was strictly a night feeder or only fed in deep deep water or got lucky a time or two. I do not think that those sort of traits are going to be passed on to their young.
I am not saying that genetics can't play some part in better bass. I'm saying that it isn't going to be enough to make up eight pounds. The absolute best way to get a lot of large bass is environment related. Warmer climate with longer grow seasons and larger, higher protein diet (like trout).

I have a 9# from St Johns River, FL on my wall. Caught her post spawn when I was 18 yrs old. I have a lot of good pictures of that fish, too. I look back and wish I had just let her go.

I've let 1 over 10# and 2 over 11# go (never did have repicas made). A quality picture and a memory is all I need.

I'm not smart enough to chime in on the "science" of fish, but I know that artcarney knows his stuff, so I agree with his facts. I'm not a bass eater but I respect the rights of others and trust that the fish and wildlife folks keep a close eye on things to make sure there's a delicate balance of quality vs. quantity.

My dad caught a 10.7 in FL last month and let it go after lots of pictures. I am curious about the survival rate of fish that are released after long periods of time out of the water. I realize that they swim off and "seem" to be ok...but how do you know for sure? I'm torn 50/50 of this one. Part of me would put it on the wall, and the other part of me would take lots of pictures and hope it survives to be caught by someone else.

Can you put them on the wall after it is has been filleted?

The green basses get strong tasting when they are up above 8 or so but the brown bass we catch from the clear rocky lakes are still pretty mild tasting up above 8. Makes for about 4 lbs of fillets that way.

[QUOTE=artcarney_agr;487711]It would go to the taxidermist, plain and simple. Catching a bass of that size is fairly stressful on it, and more than likely would die shortly after, so why let it go to waste?[/QUOTE]

Texas's Share a Lunker Program has a pretty good survival rate. If it didn't I'm sure it would have been discontinued because of bad publicity... And they also spawn them out so the old girls genetics must be pretty good. Why would Budweiser and the Texas Wildlife waste the money if it didn't improve the overall genetics?... Dan

Get a few pictures, watch her swim away, and fiberglass mount... Dan

[QUOTE=09Z7SC;487712]Personally, I would be more inclined to take pictures and measurements and get a replica mount. Nobody will know the difference except you..
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Yeah, I have a 13lb replica on my wall and I'm the only one who knows I never caught it. LOL!

That's an interesting conundrum. I have several fish mounted from the 70s and 80s but have really changed my tune towards big fish especially bass. I remember in my younger days keeping and killing large fish mostly just to show what I had caught (yes - we would eat them). But these days I have such a high regard for large fish that I just can't stand the thought of killing one. I have not caught a double-digit largemouth although I believe I have touched a few and I believe if I caught one I would weigh, measure, take many pictures, keep her in the livewell for awhile while I ponder how good she would look on the wall, how much it would cost to do, and how bad I would feel about killing such a magnificent fish, at which point she would go back to the lake. The temptaion is there but unless it were a record I don't think I would do it...

kc