Yeah Ill have to gear up for them and give it a shot. Cant help but love fish that big and sweet lookin!
In the picture, she does not weigh 8 lbs. That picture was taken in late summer. Like i said i caught her multiple times and one of those times she was FULL of eggs, and weighed just over 8lbs.
Just pickin on you man. I wasnt there, couldnt say how big it was either way. Its a good fish for sure, and the history, just like with a big buck, makes it that much better!
Im big on the whole "memories" thing. Like mentioned, she was a floater from my own lake. I have actually released every fish ive caught over the last 3-4 years. Used to keep alot of bluegill. BUT, this summer i would like to mount a larger (20"+) smallmouth i get out of the river. They are beautiful. I actually want to catch a pumpkinseed around 6" or so to mount with my bass...
Haven't gotten one yet. I'd like to get a bass replica made someday, but it's going to have to be a northern bass of around 9lbs to make me want to do it. I also want a replica of a pike, but it's going to have to be 45"+. Heck I still have a bobcat in the freezer downstairs that needs to go to the taxidermist, it's been in there a few years. Anyone know how long something like a bobcat cape will last in a freezer?
Here are some of my biggest catches that I may get replicas made of someday since they were released. The bass pictured was 21 inches (a pig for South Dakota) and according to most of the graphs out there he should have weighed around 5 lbs. He crushed a topwater frog on my hometown lake in early May of this last year. He is my biggest largemouth to date. The walleye in my right hand was 25 inches and just over 6 lbs, the other was 23 inches and just under 5 lbs. They may not show it in the pictures but I promise you those are accurate measurements. It was the coldest day of the year last February so we snapped a really quick picture and did some measurements before throwing them back. They were the only two walleye caught that day. The perch was 14.5 inches and he grabbed one my shad raps as I was trolling for walleye last August. I had caught jumbo perch before when I was fishing for walleye, but never this big. It is the biggest perch I have ever seen in person and he was released. Since I knew none of my friends or dad would believe me, I had to take a picture of him on the tape measure for proof.
I've got a 19 in latgemouth on the wall, and my roomate has a 28 in walleye. I'd like a perch and walleye but my mark for mounting is 16 in and 29 in. I've caught numerous fish that just quite didn't make it. I got one 15 in perch last week through the ice that almost got put on the wall. Sent from iPhone
February 16th I leave for Falcon Lake. I'll spend 6 days fishing the nation's premier bass lake. I'm hoping to have a replica of a trophy from this trip.
Awesome Scott - Falcon Lake is on my bucket list for sure! Please post a thread for us when you get home with lots of pics!
I will for sure! We should get Sunday-Friday of fishing in, and me and 2 other guys have a guide booked on Tuesday. This trip has been in the making for nearly 2 years, with us finally pulling the trigger after 2 good, but not great, trips to Fork. I only made it in '11, but last year was even worse from what the guys that did make it down said. My PB came on Illinois waters at 5.4#. I'm hoping to shatter that next month! Hopefully that 18 hour drive goes by fast, and the Mexican Pirates are all gone lol, we will be staying on the U.S. side, unless we are advised otherwise by our guide.
You won't catch any 10 pounders but if you ever get a chance you gotta go to Lake Champlain NY. Somethin like 70% of the pros say its their favorite lake. The place is amazing. Gorgeous and the fishing is so good its insane. Every bassfisherman needs to make the trip if given the chance.
That's the truth. Champlain is amazing and cheap to fish as well. I fish a handful of tournaments on Champlain every year and between practice and game days spend a good 10-15 days a year out there. It's an amazing fishery. Fish over 6lbs are very rare, but the number of 4-5.5lb fish are amazing. I've caught 3 different 5 fish bags on Champlain in tournaments over the last few years between 18.98-20.52lbs. This is a fish I caught the day before our opening weekend tournament this year and is my best out of Champlain. Terrible pic, and not my best fish overall, but a good one for Champlain for sure. If anyone has interest in fishing Champlain for recreation, shoot me a message and I can point you in the right direction.
Puny fish! This is a fish. (Darin 'HunterOpel' Opel's 92.5 lb bighead carp ) I used to have an 8' 2" long alligator gar mount in my sunroom. But it clashed with the furniture. You can see a picture of it in the background there. The AimLow bowfishing boys shot it in TX.
Yeah I know Champlain well myself. Well, from plattsburgh north and I know Ti a bit also. It's been a few years since I fished a tournament there but always did well. Jason Knapp is also my best friend and anyone who knows bigger tournaments on Champlain knows who he is. I fished with him day 3 of his first pro win there years ago and been pre fishing with him there ever since. Can not get enough of the place. 1000 islands is a close second, slightly more beautiful but the fishing is just a tiny bit worse then champ.
By the way great fish for sure. Yeah I can't say how many 4+ small and largemouth I've caught there. It's amazing. Not to many places on that lake that doesn't have fish. You can almost stop anywhere and get into some.
Here's a mount from back when I chased trash fish. Lol. (His jaw was deformed. Not a screw-up by the taxidermist. ...and she fell off the wall and mushed her tail and broke a fake rock. ) Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
I have a fish wall. Each of the 4 trout found in PA and a 20"+ smallmouth from a stream. I'll take a pic when I get home. 20.5" brookie, 22" rainbow, 23.5" golden, 24" brown. I'm done with fish mounts, I have my little collection, I don't need anymore. Also wanted to say, other than the small mouth (which I am otherwise total C&R on) I didn't feel bad about the trout because they are all stockies here from streams where they would most likely die over the summer.
