Geez! That is one nice LMB. Great that you had your camera on you. Congrats.

Did you C&R the bass.

NIce catch!!!!

Did you release it.not usually good to lay them on the carpet like that.It removes their protective slime coat.Nice catch though.I hope she was released so close to the spawn

I agree with bussbait's response.

Damn nice bass!! BTW...merely TOUCHING bass removes their protective slime coating, whether it's around the mouth area or under the belly....guess we should all just use pliers at the side of the boat to release them without hoisting them out of the water??? Yeah, right.... Good job all around fishnazzi!! What color plastic if I may ask? (does the "brown" have a real name?) LOL. Also, good job on the split shot technique!

Glad to see everyone is concerned about CR........................Yes she was released. Also I understand very well about the slime and the carpet....................Had there been someone in the boat with me she would have been released without touching anything. I had a choice either the brand new non-skid deck or the wet almost rotten carpet...............Neither a great coice but..................Just for the guys who seem to be paying attention.....................Fish felt really cold, she had that "winter" fight and action to her. She had a really fat belly.............but I think it was good eating and feeding......................She didn't appear to have eggs that were anywhere near ripe. Green pumkin was the real color..............

fishnazzi,
Good fish for you!!!! (Seinfeld soup nazi)

Great Hawg! Thanks for at least posting a pic...really awesome fish.

Write a fishing report, catch something, do not sent a picture. Or, send a picture with the possibility of critiquing? Quite the conundrum, don't you think! I do believe your fist would fit inside the mouth of that "toad" . The lake water depth dropped 1" when lthe great fish was lifted from the lake. It takes two hands and a tight grip to lift a fish of that caliber. Releasing that fish was a steller thing!

Honestly.........grew up in San Diego in the 80's...................fish for here is I guess a little special...............................At home 10 lbers and only one hand to lift them up there. As for the rest.......................I'll put out the dope............believe it or not. As I had said below really if someone had been in the rig with me.....................Pic's of taping and scale weight would have been done. As is most always the case.................doubters can only be silenced with overwheming evidence(which really I could care less) or a dead fish, which I personally find a kin to muder or any other horrible act.(ain't gonna happen) I did the best I could balancing the want to try and have a half ways pic and not doing to much harm to the fish.

All you guys are haters. Quit acting like you wouldn't have done the same thing to get a picture if you caught an 8 pound pig like that. Nice fish! don't let the haters get to you.

Good catch and release! I think about all the bass go through at the bass derbies so I see your catch as a momentary capture. Not hurting the fish very much.

Thank you for the report! Nice hawg!

23 inches? nope.. clearly in the picture the lip starts at about 8.5 inches or so and it's tail ends just after 28 inches.. more like 20 inches.. but either way, that's a tank, nice catch

sdly if the angle wasn't there and the tail wasn't bent.............since you think you noticed all the details...........

fn - Great report and great fish!