New Missouri State Record Largemouth!

[Outside Bend]

My guess would be that the low-humidity of a freezer helps evaporate/sublimate some of the water in the fish. Not positive, but that's my WAG

[Bird Watcher]

The freezing process will dehydrate the item (ever wonder where the ice crystals inside the bag come from? or the term freeze dried?) it will also lose more weight when thawed due to ruptured cells from the freezing process.

[Smalliebigs]

Wow...I never knew the record was only 8-9lbs....that seems small to me. I used to catch 9-10lbs when I was a kid at one local farm pond. I called it the "hog hole"...not kidding every bass that i caught was over 6lbs....I would weigh them with those little spring loaded scales you get from Walmart....so not that accurate I admit.

The "hog hole" water would turn black in the summer from the amount of tadpoles in the water...it was the craziest thing. The fish would literally just have to breath in and they would have themselves a mouthful of baby frogs. Which might account for why they got so big.

I would blast top water lures during the summer months, and catch 8-9lbs bass by the dozen, I really had no idea how good I had it...I thought all bass where supposed to be that big. It wasn't until the pond was sold and I wasn't allowed to fish there anymore that i started to realize that it was a pretty special place.

I miss the "hog hole."

Flinger,

I have one of those too.....off of HWY 79 out of Annada. It is something that spoils you and once it's not available to you anymore you realize, wow we had it good. I think I can get back into my "Basslake" but there is a divorce settlement that is pissing off the owner of the land and i'm on the wrong side of the divorce. I have contacted my ex-brother in law about fishing there and he says it's cool but his dad is the owner and can be a very nasty gentleman. I think Basslake needs to be hit soon.....possibly covertly??? 4 to 6 bass very common with the average beeing 2 to 3 and Crappie all day long around 11 to 12 inches.....oh and Grass Carp that were put in 28 years ago when the series of lakes was a fish farm.....these things would be state records if you could get in there to fish.....5 feet long....giant cows feeding on the moss for years They are HUGE!!!!!!

I miss Bass Lake although a lake like that screws up your expectations and ego

[Ndietiker]

The weight loss seen when freezing a fish is caused by the process of dehydration. A higher loss of weight is seen when something freezes slower than quicker. It loses a lot of the water in it when it freezes. If you don't believe me soak a sponge and then freeze it. Compare the weights the frozen sponge will weigh much less. No doubt the scale could have been a little off but not 2 lbs we also packed the fish around in a cooler for a day and a half before it died. Even the biologist that weighed it said it would have been a good deal heavier had it not been frozen.

[Daryk Campbell Sr]

I guess we learn something new everyday. :-)

That wood be a good theory Outside Bend.

Bird Watcher, I am familiar with the thawing process of ruptured cells, my main complaint with frozen vegtables.

Ndietiker, That really is a shame that you lost so much of the weight due to the offices being closed.

[laker67]

The reason for the weight difference is because the last record was frozen when it was weighed. I know because I caught it. We caught it on the Friday night of presidents day weekend and couldn't get ahold of anyone at the department until tuesday. Freezing the fish caused it to way a lot less due to te loss of water weight. The fish weighed a few ounces shy of 10lbs when it was caught. Congrats to the new record holder. I agree with most that it's not a real prestigious record. But still neat to be able to say you hold the record. He was even using the same bait that we were.

Like you say, once holding a record is something that they can never take away. Being a "former" record holder myself, let me say congrats on your record.

[eric1978]

we also packed the fish around in a cooler for a day and a half before it died. Even the biologist that weighed it said it would have been a good deal heavier had it not been frozen.

Well then I guess it evens out since you waterlogged 'er before you froze 'er.