Way to stay with it Jon, top water is exciting, with a few weeks off from tournys I'll have to try it.
He said he released all Bass and then kept, it's his choice but why lie about it unless the fish was hooked too deep to survive.

About 3 years ago I hooked a nice Largie deep, tried for 20 minutes to revive it but ended up taking it home, cooked it up and my wife said it was the best fish she ever had, I told her that was a 1 time deal.