Catch a State Record Fish? Then What?

[Phil Lilley]

Social Media can be a cesspool of hate, unfounded judgements and really stupid remarks, all of which I've had to deal with since Mr. Babler caught his big fish and we posted the video on Facebook.  It has been interesting though.

We are now up to 433,000 "views" on FB, most of them being "3 second views" which means people scrolled by and didn't give it a second look.  But that's the way all of us judges whether a video has gone "viral" so I guess it's done well.

At first, comments were pleasant.  But those are our subscribers and their friends.  Then the viral hit and the rest of the world chimed in.  Granted, it doesn't take many bad-mannered gents to start a fight but they did... and for the most part I let them dook it out.

Most people are mad at us for handling the fish too much and letting it die.  Some called it an "innocent" fish.  It's interesting how many assumptions were made as if they were here.  We used tap water to fill the tank.  Took too many pictures.  We killed the fish for greed, personal gain, for glory.  And I guess in a way they were right on that accusation.  Could have just released it at the boat.  But then there's those who say it swam away and died - shouldn't even be fishing in the first place.

So it begs the question - and I thought it would be worth asking you guys. ---

What would you do if you caught a state record?

• Release it immediately.
• Take it in to be weighed, thus probably killing it.
• Try to take it in and get it certified and try to keep it alive to be released.
• Kill it, eat and don't tell anyone.

If you have other options, let 'er rip.

I know it would depends on a lot of circumstances... trout are hard to keep alive.  Location of the certified scales you have to take it to - how far away is it. 

Bill's fish died.  Why?  No way to know.  Guesses - everybody has one.  But this is about what you'd do if...

It really is a personal decision and honestly there's no wrong answer.  It rarely happens to anyone, a state record let along a world record.

[netboy]

I would do exactly what Bill and your folks at Lilley's did. Catch it, try your best to keep it alive during the certification process and then release it. 

Based on the accounts of the catch and the relatively short struggle it put up that fish was probably at the end of it's life cycle anyway.

Since it was apparently a triploid it's genetics weren't removed from the "gene pool" .  

Once again... congrats to Bill and all your efforts at Lilley's.

[snagged in outlet 3]

I echo @netboy   Get it certified with a hope to release it.  I didn’t see anything negative about the catch.  That’s because I refuse to use FB. 

[Gavin]

You all did the best you could. Weigh it , and hope you can release it. There is no shortage of online idiots.

[laker67]

Ditto on all of the above

[Devan S.]

There is no question in my mind....you take it to be certified.


 

[Flysmallie]

40 minutes ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

I echo @netboy   Get it certified with a hope to release it.  I didn’t see anything negative about the catch.  That’s because I refuse to use FB. 

Agreed. I didn’t see anything negative about it on Facebook either and I’m on there all the time. I just refuse to pay attention to the ignorance. 

[MOPanfisher]

Like with anything else on social media you just have to ignore the keyboard commandos.  If you guys couldn't keep it alive I dang sure ain't gonna say anyone else could have.  That was a fish of a lifetime pure and simple, at the best I would have done the same Bill did, only likely not as well.

[Phil Lilley]

The FB stuff doesn't bother me at all - I find it amusing.  I don't comment on most of them - just the ones who seem truly interested.

Have had some comments from the New Zealand folks... I find that pretty cool.  Looking it up I see the guy didn't weigh his record till way after the fish was dead.  It looks dried up on the scales... it must have lost a lot of weight before it was weighed.

 

[fishinwrench]

It's not even worth thinking about.  Bill is the state record holder for Missouri Brown Trout.   And that's all that matters.   

Personally since she didn't make it, I'd have her mounted and display it in my home or place of business.