like most bass guys, i get excited when i catch one that's 22". i get even more excited when i catch one that's 8 pounds. but i get REAL excited when i catch one that's both.

this is a pre-spawn pic from a few weeks ago. she weighed 8-3. now post-spawn, she's already starting to gorge herself again and her weight is starting to climb back up. weighed 8-0 this evening. Relative weight 130. Barring catastrophe, i reasonably expect her to be about 8-12 by the time cold weather gets here again and maybe over 9 by next spring. but a lot could happen between now and then. i'll keep my fingers crossed. grow baby grow!

Boy it would have been really really good to have a width of mouth measurement (gape) for that dandy big bass.

small mouth on this one for her size Bill. probably not any more gape than the 5 pounder i just removed and posted about recently. that one was 4". i am quite sure this one was 4" as well, give or take a fraction. but this is an atypical fish. real small head/large body. the 5 that i culled was just the opposite - big head/small body. if i can catch her again, i'll try get you an exact gape measure. sorry for forgetting. that's just not something i'm used to doing.

Wow that's a beauty.

At least she didn't soak you!!

Hey jignpig, great looking fish.

Are you the same jignpig on BassCat forums?

no.

So what did you catch her on?

berkley havoc pit boss. lime purple passion.

http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Berkley_Havoc_Skeets_Pit_Boss/descpage-BHSP.html#multiview

hey guys. thought i'd try to catch her again today to see how she was doing. and i was happy i did. 5 months later and she is showing some real nice growth. tiny bit over 22" with a 9 oz. wt. gain. 8-12 on the nose today. she was very soft bellied so i don't think she's eaten in a few days. otherwise she could have seriously pushed 9. baby got back! (and front, and sides) big every way she could be. but unless this fish is younger than i think, she appears to be destined to be a little on the short side. but if she can just make it to 24" with these proportions, i'll be a happy man. fingers still crossed. hope y'all are all doing well over here at pb.

Dang, that's a great LMB!! Thanks for the update.

Uh oh, did you forget to measure the moth gape for Bill Cody?

Nice fish! I'm glad your holding her nicer.

Tuna!!!!

Wow she's a hog! If I caught one that size she'd be measure and lots of pics, then she'd be sent over to Cecil to get me a replica made. That big ole girl needs to have a replica up on a wall somewhere!!

thanks guys. i'll keep y'all posted. funny thing is, i got a couple of smaller fish coming up behind this one that i'm even more excited about. but if this fish survives, at her current rate of growth she will be a teen fish in about 3 years. i might get a replica made then. but a lot can happen in 3 years and the pond has taught me more than once not to count trophy bass until you're holding them.

if there is such a thing as an "easy part" to growing big bass, it's getting them up to the 4-6 pound class. after that, you are in a battle with father time and mother nature. not all of the fish in the pond can become trophies. and not all the ones that can will. i just try to identify the ones that have a good shot, dedicate my efforts towards them, and get the others out of the way.

Hope you make it with her to the "teens". Great looking fish.

I'll be happy if I can even get to the "easy part" with a number of fish in the 4-6# range. Mine have only been in the pond a year this November and the biggest ones are about 14". So got a ways to go.

Posts like yours give me encouragement and keep my interest level up. Thanks.

happy Easter Pond Boss friends!!!

5 1/2 mo. later she is still barely over 22". but she has ballooned to 10 lbs. 1 oz. and still no gape measure. doh! sorry. no signs of spawning yet, so perhaps a few oz. of that is roe. still, a remarkable specimen.

keep growing baby. i have a real good feelin' about you..........

She is a sweetheart bass. Some day she is going to quit biting your offerings unless she has a special longing for the tender touch of your hand. Cody note: use you cleaver mind; next time you catch her break a stick, twig, or weed stem as wide as her mouth so it just fits across the gape.

You are making Dwight very jealous by showing a 10 lb bass since he is trying to grow Darlene to 10 pounds of fighting machine in WI.

who's Dwight? if he has the skill to grow even an 8 or 9 in WI, i need to be learning from this man. a 10 would be quite the feat. are there pics of Darlene? i would be quite curious to get measurements, weights, etc. for comparison.

thanks Bill. and i will try to remember to measure gape next time i promise.