That LMB in the video is a female. ""Also, why is tossing him back not best for him?" Males do not grow that large. Since you've caught her 3 times on different occasions, she is a slow learner and with some good genetic propensity to not become hook shy as quickly as some many other LMB that experience jaw jerking(angling). Definitely releasing her back into the pond is smart to encourage more reproduction of those angler friendly genetics. IMO the 'posters' comments related to "" then your core desire is to put the least possible amount of stress on that fish in any/all activity with it."" referred to above water stress that can be imparted to the bass by the angler. The larger the LMB(fish) is the older it is. The older the animal becomes the weaker it becomes as it nears its age limit. Thus the more likely it can be overly stressed when out of the water. Various forms of undue stress is what very often prematurely kills all animals including people.
This info is copied from our Archives of LMB Management:
No use injuring or killing your biggest bass needlessly. Treat your biggest bass as a valuable resource. Improper handling will result in premature death of the numbers of bigger bass per acre. Also do your very best to not let the bass lie on the ground. This wipes the slime layer off their body and exposes that area for fungus growth. Anything you do to that bass to remove a portion of its body slime layer will expose this area to growth of fungus which puts a big stress on the bass. The amount of stress can in a week or two later eventually kill this fish.
Previous discussions of correct way to handle large bass
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=402580Examples of Bad Handling
http://www.laperlaranchresort.com/fishing1.htmlThread that explains the Proper way to hold big bass for removing hooks or for taking photos
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=412230#Post412230Bob Lusk Says About Handling Trophy Fish.
Do Not, under any circumstances, hold a true trophy bass by its lower jaw without supporting its body with your other hand under the rear part of its stomach. By no means, with any bass of any size, ever pull back on the jaw of your fish, as it can become quickly fractured or dislocated. That's usually a death sentence to a big fish. If you don't believe me, ask those who run the ShareLunker program at the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Several great specimens were donated to that program last year to spawn and help stock public lakes around the state. But, those gorgeous girls didn't get past angler handling to do what they could do to help many other lakes. They died from bad handling.
From:
https://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/hold-a-fish.htmlFor your information the value of that 8lb 5oz bass was close to $800.00. Aquatic Environmental Services (Alabama) this Fall was selling big bass for $100 per pound. My advice is be a lot more careful with handling it the next time you catch it so there is a good chance she grows to 9 lbs.
