# Release the Big small mouth please



## jamesavp

I catch Small mouth bass in lake autoban all day long some days. I release them because for one they dont taste as good as walleye and 2 a 18 inch small mouth bass is around 10 years old. It takes them a long time to get that size. They fight so hard and hit baits so aggressive that it can be easy to keep the limit every time. The more we release the better the fishery will be. Can you imagine going out to the lake and catching 20 small mouth and your kid catching 15 of them.  With catch and release this can happen and thats what i would like to see. I'm not saying you cant keep them all the time but be kind to the biggens.


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## Ryan_Todd

i release all bass that i catch. i love to fish for them but IMO they don't taste that good. if i want to bring fish home for the table, i'll target crappies or the occational snot rocket. i totally agree with practicing CPR on bass.


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## njsimonson

Thank you James. I agree 100%

Smallies...a renewable resource.


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## Invector

Here here :beer:


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## Gary Bottger

Your bass must be different up there. I love eating bass.  Of course most of the bass we take for the table are 12 to 13 inches and of the large mouth species. hehehe


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## njsimonson

NOA - Our bass also grow much much slower than yours. Studies have shown that for a smallmouth bass in ND or MN to reach 18 inches in size, it may take 12-15 years.

Besides, with delicious fish like walleye, perch, crappie, pike and bluegill available for selective harvest, I can't think of many who prefer the taste of bass to all of those fine fillets.


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## njsimonson

RIGHT ON! 

I did a little releasing of my own this weekend.









18.5-incher on a jig and grub combo. First C&R whopper of the year









And I apologize for my dumbfounded look in the pic, but this 19.8 incher is the biggest I have ever landed, I literally was shaking. Next year, she'll challenge the state record for some lucky angler, if she didn't already this year!


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## Gary Bottger

Very nice bronze backs.  I think I would have shot a ton of pic's and had a replica of that last one. Here is the first fish I caught this year. 









Only reason it has a stringer on it was to get it back in the water until I got up to my buddies boat for the pic. Released after the pic's. It was my first smallmouth 18 inches long.


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## Ryan_Todd

very nice smallies boys!


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## jamesavp

Those suckers are huge. Nice job fellas. Really nice color on those brown backs.

Seeing those picks makes me really itchy to go fishing now....


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## woodpecker

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


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## Invector

I have many C&R smallies. I fish most of the waters that have those fish in and with great luck. There are a few things form one lake to the other that work better then in other lakes. The one thing I find disterbing is the fact of all the SMB that have been taked out of Speritwood. (bleep) man one day I was getting some bait before heading out there at Dans Super Stop and seen somthing like 7 or so fish that were being taken in to see how only if they were big enough to break the state record. The average fish was 18-19" only. Far from the state record. I have gotten into many arguments fishing out there due to how many of those sized fish are taken in thought that they have the state record. Sorry guys you were not even close. To date to break the state record you would been to land a 25" min. to have the weight of 6lbs. But since the fish taken out there was only somthing like 22 or 23" (I dont remember it might have been shorter then that) guys who are getting these 18-20" fish are taking them out for no reason. Back about 10 years ago when the state record was still somthing like 4lbs. I had a fish out there that would have broaken it...but I put it back...it was 19" with a 14" gurth. I feel at that time it would have had enough weight to have taken the record at the time. But not knowing and not carring I put the fish back. To date 21.5" has been my biggest, with a few more hitting the 20" mark. All have been put back. I think a replica looks better and most times are cheaper. Why take those fish in when its going to be cleaned and thrown away. No one eats bass, they suck when water gets warm. And no one is going to mount a 18-20" SMB when release it get a replica and wait a few years...it will get bigger. So far this year I have taken 2 SMB that have made C&R a 18 and a 19"er more will come and all will be put back unless she is 25" or bigger. I agree in letting those fish go. Good job to you guys for putting those nice fish back in those pics. Congrats.


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## Rick Acker

I can verify...The new bass replica's are incredible...so are the walleye's...Unless you have a state record...put em' back!


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## Ron Gilmore

Now they may be fun to catch, but what good is a fish that is not worth eating! You want a fish that is fun to catch and want to release it why not fish for carp and sheep head! They fight harder and are easier to catch most days!

Hey I am all for CR on fish, but what sets the SM bass above a sheep head or buffalo if the fight is the only reason one fishes them!

Hey those 18" fish make a nice fillet to chunk up and deep fry! With a little Sour Cream and Onion potato chips crushed into the batter they taste much like muskie!!!!!!!!!


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## Rick Acker

You obviously have NEVER caught a smallmouth bass or you wouldn't be making comparisons between sheepshead, Carp and BASS??? 
Who says you have to eat the fish you catch, to enjoy fishing? My dad thinks the same way...that's how he was brought up...Must be the era...I've tried getting him to go bass fishing with me, but he never seem interested...Until this weekend...
I finally got him to go to a small lake east of Moorhead, and to watch him pull in a nice 17 incher, jumpin out of the water was real fun for me. Hopefully, I've got him interested in something other than walleye's!
Another reason not to keep bass Ron, as mentioned several times earlier, is that it takes forever for them to grow up hear. That 17-18 inch bass my dad caught was probably 8 to 10 years old. They don't taste very good...Let them go!


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## Ron Gilmore

Rick I posted that tongue in cheek just to see if I could get a rise out of some of the guys!

Hey I love to catch them, and have never eaten one in my life!

Just a friendly jab!


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## njsimonson

HA! a 25" smallie?!? Boy that would be the day.

The state record is 21.5" long. It's not so much the length, but the sheer massive body of the fish, this thing was FAAAAT.

My understanding is the first guy who did the mount really sucked it up. So the record holder took it to Kitzman for "review." It looks a LOT better, almost frighteningly natural. And dear lord is it HUGE. I've never seen a smallie like it.

I know, I have caught a number of 18 and 19" fish, but never a 20. And even fat, pre-spawn fish don't hold a candle to the current record.

My theory is, a 22 pre-spawn or late fall, and definitely a 23 inch smallie would top 6 pounds and beat the record. If you're waiting for a 25 to keep, you'll die like a Cubs fan, unfulfilled. (As most of us will.)

IMO all smallies should be released whenever possible. Especially those 16" plus. They are brood stock. Smallies, without fry-robbers like bluegill in the environment, can sustain a fishery for years, if C&R is practiced.

Sooooo good luck fishing, the smallies are in their summer patterns. Won't be long and we'll be chuckin metal and rubber for them! Catch and release, and preserve the resource. Smallies are a reusable recreational species!


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## Bore.224

I Always let my bass go! But I got the Atlantic Ocean in my back yard if I get hungry! Blues and Stripers BABY!!


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## djleye

> snot rocket


Man, I haven't seen that term in a long time!!!!!!!! Good Stuff!!!

I used to date a girl whos dad had a place on Johns Pond down on the cape. Her neighbor used to take me out Blue fishing every morning. Man, what a blast that was. Think of a northern pike with 'roid rage!! Those thing, and he only fished them on topwater baits, were unbelievable to catch!!! Not too bad on the grill either. A small chinese guy used to meet us at the dock on the way back in with a huge bucket full of cold beer. We would take the beer and throw the fish in his bucket. We always kept a few for the grill though!!!! Good times, too bad she was such a *****!!!!


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