Pond Boss Forums FISH & FISHING Show off your catch patience + c&r = big payoff

May 2012 - 8 lbs. +


April 2014 - 10 lbs. +

That's awesome jignpig. So obviously the fish was tagged or fin clipped to know it was the same fish?

Looks like you went swimming with the fish in the first picture!

Well done! You certainly have a way with trophy LMB - good to have you around posting - hope you stick around and help lend your expertise to the forum!

Nice work and well conditioned LMB.

In the first pic, you look like you went Man-To-Man, or Man-To-Fish, with the hog in it's own environment!!!

In two years it put on a little more than 2 lbs; a little over 1 lb per yr - right at optimum growth for a big bass eating about 10 lbs of forage each yr. It is has been feeding really good. What big forage items are in the pond for a fish this size???.

It is too bad you didn't measure the width across its mouth - the gape. It would be REALLY good to have the gape measurement for a fish this big.

Lol Sunil I kinda thought the same thing but more along the lines of WOW THAT FISH MUST OF WHIPPED HIS @$$$

Thanks guys. No tags or clippings. When i identify a bass that shows promise (which i define as over 7 pounds), i make sure i have a good photo of both sides of it. the coloration pattern that makes up a bass' lateral "stripe" does not change. this is an easy way to identify a fish without the hassle/risks of cutting or tagging. in the top photo, these markings aren't very clear, but comparing the two photos, you can see a couple of interesting blotches. one looks like an arrow pointing straight up (by my middle finger top photo) and one that looks like a spade or upside down heart (my index finger is slightly covering this mark in the top photo). both these marks are readily apparent in the second photo.

also a lot of fish will have other special characteristics that stick with them for life and make them easy to identify. for example, you can see that for some reason, a couple of this bass' dorsal spines curve upward slightly for some reason.

as for me looking like a drowned rat in the first pic, there's an interesting story behind that. I love to fish approaching weather fronts. sometimes i cut it a little too close. shortly after i tricked her on a swimbait 2 years ago, the bottom just fell out and i got soaked. the flash actually caught a few raindrops in the pic.

But Bluegillerkiller is absolutely right. She gave a terrific account of herself on both catches and even though i was holding her in the end, i wasn't really sure who had won the battle. Hopefully it will take a few more rounds to decide. gonna get tougher though - looks like she's moving up to the heavyweight division.

a picture is worth a thousand words.


about 2 years ago, i made a decision that has really made all the difference in the world in the pond. well, it was really more out of necessity than choice. i changed jobs and no longer had time to micromanage the pond. so i decided to stock shiner minnows on a regular basis. my goal was twofold - (1) take the heat off the bluegill population which was being decimated by smaller bass that somehow escaped harvest and (2) provide a viable forage source for the bluegill which would help them more quickly reach a size at which only big bass could prey on them. as a fringe benefit (which i will readily admit that i did not fully anticipate) i now have a healthy population of jumbo-sized gills in the pond. win-win!

That is a gorgeous northern male BG.

Jignpig, congrats on the great bass. You are right, kinda like fingerprints, LMB all have a unique pattern.

I know exactly what you mean about fishing right before the front hits. It also works for hunting too.

What did you catch that bass on both times? It will be really interesting to see when you get that one again. Keep us informed.

But if you have trophy bass and trophy BGs in your pond, you are doing something right.

Beautiful male BG. It's colors are impressive. Very nice! You are to be congratulated on your ability to photograph and recognize the unique body pattern features of individual LMB. It takes careful attention to detail to recognize individual features and unique variation of the body patterns of bass. Most anglers think a bass is a bass. Not true as you have aptly explained. Nice work and thanks for sharing your experiences.

Looks like a CNBG too me? Definately male though

First time (2 yrs ago) was on a swimbait. second time (earlier this mo.) was on a jig. both are notorious for producing big bass.

One thing that i have used that will easily help with bass ID is a paint tool that most of us have on our computers. starting with a good pic of the fish, look for a noteworthy sample from it's markings, something that might set that particular fish apart. circle or trace any prominent mark or section of marks with the paint tool. here's an example.

this fish has 8 spots in a row, none of which touch the other. it would be unusual to find another one in the pond like that. if you did, you could start looking at the individual spots within that circle and easily tell if it was the same fish or not. you can even give each of your star fish its own folder, tracking its growth.

right or wrong, i have always felt like being able to positively ID and track the fish which have "potential" (to me that means female fish which show a good rate of growth) is a part of managing for big fish. it always helped me figure out which ones i needed to keep around and which ones needed to become part of a fish fry.

jnpig - thanks for sharing hints for recognizing individual bass. I will put this thread in the Archives under LMB Culling & Management.