Rick Z great blog thanks for sharing it. I feel the same way about my home state waters in Mass. Mass Cape Cod waters can stay ice free some years and that adds to the growing season but true certified 10lb fish are few and far between. Mass DEP has an all time list for the state of certified 10lb plus. After the state record freak 15lb8oz fish the numbers drop off fast. #2 is 13lbs even and is the only 13+ listed, # 3 is 12lbs1oz and is the only 12 listed ,# 4+ # 5 are 11lbs4oz + 11lbs2oz and after that there are 13 fish from 10lbs even to 10lbs15oz. That’s a total of 18 certified 10 plus in the state of Mass. I feel both Mass + CT state records are very safe and hope someday to be proving wrong. Ever year I hear of a 10lb+ plus LM being caught in Mass but the truth is that it only happens about ever 5-6 years. Most years a 9+ takes the gold pin and back in 2005 an 8lb6oz was the winning bass. I feel any LM over 8lbs from our New England waters is a great fish. I have seen the CT DEP list from 1965-1984 and the number of 10lb+ LM is very short with only a handful listed. I wish CT DEP would make a list of certified 10s and better for us to see see. Even a top 5 would be very interested to see. I added a photo of the top 18 LM over 10lbs from Mass with #s of lengths and girths. Also a look at the 1975 Mass state record 28” X 23” LM that weigh 15lbs8oz on a tip-up.
Rich, that was a great article in your blog. Interesting you mention Saugatuck Res., on an electroshocking trip there a few years ago for walleye we had a half dozen bass and they were all large in the 4 or 5 pound range but extremely healthy and fat. Like a teenage high school football player that you can picture growing into a 300lb. defensive tackle these bass just looked like they had a lot more growing to do. That said, we never got many bass, just a few big ones.
Maybe this is a dumb question but what if someone was so obsessed in catching the record for the wrong reasons, like financial rewards from fishing line company, etc and raised Florida strain bass in a forage rich private pond with heaters to maintain metabolism. I know this is extreme but does the state require some type of proof (like a witness, etc)to make the record credible? Would there be an asterisk if the individual confessed that it was a private pond vs a public lake? Does the DEP even acknowledge trophy fish caught in private waters that are not regulated by any standard?
I know a state record for brown trout? was removed from the record books from Quonnipaug Lake. I believe the individual got it from a private hatchery but claimed he caught it legitimately.
I do remember in the connecticut river by Haddem neck had a warm water outflow where baitfish congregated in the winter which attracted LMB, SMB and pike that continued to feed at a higher percentage in the winter.
Some of the theories by a number of knowlwdgable posters are so interesting in this thread that I could easily sit in a diner for hours over coffee just listening to this type of talk and the contructive arguements.
#1095697 - 06/12/0906:17 PM
Re: RECORD LARGEMOUTH!!!
[Re: jjj]
BASSMANinCT
Member
Registered: 03/19/02
Posts: 1107
Great article Rich.
I think everything you say would also support why we are not seeing those 9+ lbers as often either. I definately think that a largemouth bass's life span in CT waters is about 12 years max. I think I remember reading somewhere that to reach 12 inches in CT, takes 2 years for a largemouth bass. During those 12 years, if it makes it taht long, you have said, it probably got caught many times over the years.
I remember Mongo posted a picture of a 2 inch largemouth he caught on a much longer worm
That bass is the kind Rich is talkin about, "Aggressive Feeder", and here it is, already being caught in it's first few months of its life.
One thing that came into mind with this picture: Do bass get conditioned to fisherman, learning that they will be released, and learning NOT to fear being caught? The tiny bass just learned about being caught!
Now, back to the record topic. I think everyone agree's, the record is not very likely to be broken, and before it is, there would have to be many many catches of 10+ size bass and 12 lbers before we would see that 14 pound record monster.
And here is a great article about bass, which states the life span of a largemouth about 8 to 10 years. So, that alone could be the exact reason we may never see it beat, and why not many 10+ lbers.
Edited by BASSMANinCT (06/12/0906:29 PM)
"A bad day of fishing is better than a great day at work!"
#1099256 - 06/21/0908:02 PM
Re: RECORD LARGEMOUTH!!!
[Re: BASSMANinCT]
rjgolden
sleeps over rated grab a fishing rod
Registered: 04/26/08
Posts: 534
Loc: Enfield CT
I think it is going to come from a private pond. Not alot of people fish private ponds. I know my cousins pond in chaplin has some big bass in it. there are large bass every where. Getting them big boys to bite is another story. Big bait equals big fish.
My biggest worry is that my wife (when I'm dead) will sell my fishing gear for what I said I paid for it.
NO , NEW RECORDS SET YET... just wondering what lake everyone thinks wil set the next records ?
Fear no Fish, Fish On! Work is for people who don't know how to fish. Give a Man a Fish He Eats For a Day, Teach a Man to FISH, He'll Sit in a Boat All Day Drinking Beer
#1199269 - 04/06/1001:40 PM
Re: RECORD LARGEMOUTH!!!
[Re: stumpy]
Scarm33
Member
Registered: 03/22/09
Posts: 62
Loc: Stafford Springs
For Smallies I am going to go with Snepsit Lake. Only 40 boats are allowed on it all season and a lot of them aren't even fisherman. Although it gets a good amount of shore fishing, the lake is basically untouched. There's gotta be a monster Smallie cruising in there. It is the current record holder, so I'm gonna go with the next big monster comes out of there. I will be camping overnight to make sure my canoe gets in this year.
thanks for sharing it. 
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