Bass 13 pounds? why not???

[Al Agnew]

I gotta wonder, too, about the supposed infertility of Ozark waters.  Yep, we see that crystal clear water and think it's infertile.  But take a closer look and you'll see that there is PLENTY of food for bass.  The streams are chock full of crayfish, minnows of various species, and aquatic insects.  The lakes have a great base of shad along with the crayfish.  And if you look at some of the places across the nation that grow bigger smallmouth than the Ozarks, they aren't significantly more fertile.  I believe genetics plays a far stronger role in the size, or lack of size, of Ozark game fish, than the fertility of the water.

[fishinwrench]

On 3/6/2018 at 7:52 PM, Al Agnew said:

(Gasp!) I agree with Chief.  While I think we could do a lot more to produce more big fish, I don't care to artificially produce them through genetic manipulation.  I'd like the fish I try to catch to be as natural as possible...either native species or species that are at least wild fish spawned in the waters where they are caught.  

I agree so much that I annoy people by repeatedly voicing my concerns about it.    

Oversized fish are overrated IMO, there's extra weight but less scraping energy.  As for LMB I find the fight of a 2.5-3.5 pounder to be more fun than a 4+.  

As for River Smallies I'll have way more fun scraping with 14-17 inchers than I will 18+ fish.  

Now big Hybrid stripers are a whole nother thing.....those suckers are just FUN, and the bigger they get the more fun they are.... BUT I don't want them in an impoundment or river that I truly care about.  

[tjm]

17 hours ago, BilletHead said:

  Sure you can, even a girl can

I once saw a black and white  video of a girl on a stage with a fly rod in each hand and decided right then I would  could not learn to cast like a girl. That gal is almost 90 now and can still probably out cast most men. So , that argument is moot. That is one nice fish.

[Quillback]

Nothing natural about the big impoundments around here, if there was some way to manipulate largemouth so that they'd grow bigger, I have no problem with that.  

[tjm]

7 hours ago, dan hufferd said:

When was the last time you saw a mount that said 1950 something

No manly men back then that had to mount fish.

I don' t recall a single man in my grandfathers age group that fished as a sport or hobby, when they fished it was done like any other job. Gig, grab, noodle or seine and cook right now or can them.  I'm sure there were hobby anglers, just none that I knew of in this area.

[BilletHead]

23 minutes ago, tjm said:

I once saw a black and white  video of a girl on a stage with a fly rod in each hand and decided right then I would  could not learn to cast like a girl. That gal is almost 90 now and can still probably out cast most men. So , that argument is moot. That is one nice fish.

         That would be Joan Wulff I believe. Now we have this young lady Phenom,

 https://www.sfgate.com/outdoors/article/SF-girl-12-a-fly-casting-phenom-going-for-gold-9126962.php

https://news.orvis.com/fly-fishing/video-11-year-old-girl-is-one-of-the-top-fly-casters-in-the-country/

 BilletHead

[tjm]

It would be and i found it once on the net and bookmarked it to show others how a girl cast. I  can;t find it now. I believe her name was  Salvato then or something like that. She made it look easy.

[tjm]

Hey Billethead, thanks for those links, that is something.!  I never knew casting  was an Olympic event. 12 yo and beating the champion men casters, wow.

[tjm]

18 hours ago, Flysmallie said:

I caught a 10lb bass on a 4 inch worm. 

With a fly rod?  Or suggest a pattern that would mimic that?

[liphunter]

I read Powerbait is coming out with a nibit that will make them bigger. There calling it fishagra. True story 🙄