Monster bass

I believe it was 23″ or so.

I would have guessed longer.

It was 23.5″ long by 17.5″ girth. Truly awesome fish!
Imagine if an out-of-stater would have caught it?

That’s a great fish!! Congrats to the gentelman!!! I hope the fish survives long enough to make it to cabelas.

I’m wondering how badly this poor little lake is going to get pounded this weekend??

I’m willing to guess with 99.9% confidence that he didn’t catch it on that lake. Why would a “tourney” guy give away the location of a small lake, that he fishes, that is off the beaten path, for others to pound?????

Don’t think so! Don’t know where he caught it, but I bet it wasn’t that lake, unless he had a bunch of witness’ to the event that more/less forced him to fess up.

I completely agree Gary, however that little lake is going to get pounded this weekend. Truth or not. It’s way to close to the metro.

They were showing this fish on ESPN “Cold Pizza” this morning.

Cool to see the almighty bass on a sports show .

Gary,

I know both Mark and Jay the guy he was fishing with pretty well. I doubt very highly he would say the wrong lake. I know many of us have our secret small lakes that spit big fish of various species at different times of the year, and I guess I would spill the name if I caught a record given the financial gains.

My feelings are the same. Why would the guy that just caught the state record LM bass lie about where it was caught? If he was caught lying about where he caught it then everything else about the story would also be questioned. It would throw alot of doubt in the air.
What does he care about that lake? You said he is a “tournament fisherman”, which he is. What does that matter? There will probably never be a money tournament on that lake and if there is it would be for such small coin it wouldn’t matter anyway.
From what I know of this guy he has pretty good sucsess on alot metro lakes and I would doubt this is his secret honey hole. If it WAS, then he accomplished the goal and got the state record. No need to hide it anymore.
I just can’t imagine someone jeoporidizing the integrity of the story of where the new state record bass was caught.

I am 99.99% sure that is where he caught it.

So I don’t break any laws I will now beat all my fish to death.A BS law.

FREAKING GREAT LOOKING FISH….EVEN for a bass!

I could have save you guys some time had I read this post earlier.

I sent and email to the DNR about state record fish over a year ago. In a nutshell they said you can’t transport it live..once the DNR has it they would kill it….AND the water in your live well….well, if it’s from an lake/river that’s been desnignated “infested”….you could get a ticket for that too!

I posted this in the cat forum along with this question:

If the DNR mandates that the fish is killed…would you turn over (kill) a fish that you caught as a new state record…this fits in any forum…I guess.

Maybe I should have posted this in a new thread. Anyone know how old a bass like this would be?

Quote:

---

Anyone know how old a bass like this would be?

---

From my studies, most trophy Bass (10lbs or better) are pushing 10 years old easy. But since we are in the North and the growth rate is slower, I would say a 7-8lb+ Bass would be close to 10yrs old as well if not older. The oldest Florida Bass on record was 16 years old.

From today’s St Paul Pioneer Press.

=====================================================

Posted on Thu, Oct. 06, 2005

M O R E N E W S F R O M
• Outdoor Recreation

Record bass is living large

Is celebrity status a possible violation of DNR regulations?

BY CHRIS NISKANEN

Pioneer Press

Will Minnesota’s new celebrity bass be coming to an aquarium near you?

Or will the state-record fish be released in a secret lake to be caught again?

That’s not only the buzz in Minnesota fishing circles; it’s a legal dilemma facing Minnesota’s most famous largemouth bass.

Mark Raveling of Spring Park, Minn., caught the state-record bass Monday and is keeping it alive at a specially designed fish tank in Brainerd. A pro bass angler, Raveling hopes to make money by publicly displaying the 8-pound, 15-ounce behemoth or charging a fee to give fishing seminars about it.

But the fact that the fish is alive has confounded top officials with the state Department of Natural Resources. They’re unsure whether it’s legal for Raveling to make money off the bass or whether they’d allow him to release it back into the wild.

“I don’t have a clue what it’s worth,” said Raveling, who has no intentions of killing the fish, “but I’m hoping (someone) can put together a promotion with me in it and make a long-term deal and make it worth my while.”

Because it’s alive, the bass has generated attention from the media, the fishing industry and the DNR like few fish in state history. Most state-record fish are killed and put on a living room wall.

But Raveling has already approached several sporting-goods retailers about displaying the bass. A leading contender appears to be Cabela’s, which opens a new mega-store next week in Rogers. Another option, said Raveling, is letting the fish go and making replicas of it.

Either way, the bass could be a financial windfall for the 54-year-old fisherman, because no one has ever kept a state-record fish alive in a state that sells 1.5 million fishing licenses.

However, state law prohibits Raveling from making money off the fish or releasing it back into the wild — at least without proper DNR permits.

“I would want him to sit down with the fisheries staff and hammer that out and see exactly where we can go by statute,” said Mike Hamm, director of the DNR’s Enforcement Division.

It’s illegal for anyone to sell, barter or trade wild game fish in Minnesota, though it’s unclear whether Raveling could “lease” the fish for display. It’s also illegal for anglers to transport or stock fish without the proper permits. DNR officials said they were unsure whether they’d allow Raveling to further move the fish or release it into the wild again.

Those state statutes are designed to discourage catching game fish for profit and to stymie the spread of exotic species, DNR officials said.

Raveling said the growing catch-and-release ethic practiced by anglers is in conflict with the DNR’s policies for record fish.

“During the first call I made to the DNR about the record, I was told that if I wanted to apply for the state record, I had to kill the fish, that I couldn’t transport the fish alive,” he said. “I was told later by other fisheries staff, ‘Don’t kill it, we’ll write you a permit to transport it.’ ”

The fish is now at a DNR-permitted aquarium owned by Al and Ron Lindner, who operate Lindner’s Angling Edge, a fishing media company that has a television show by the same name. Raveling said the fish is being photographed for promotional materials.

Raveling said the trophy bass, which broke an 11-year-old record by less than three ounces, requires well-oxygenated water and temperatures to stay alive. He said he took it to the Lindners, who have decades of experience keeping game fish alive, because he didn’t trust any other large fish aquariums to keep such a valuable fish healthy.

John Castillo, a spokesman for Cabela’s, said his company would be interested in displaying the fish, but state law prohibited the company from buying it directly from Raveling.

“We typically buy our display fish from fish farms,” he said. “I’m sure you can appreciate that if we’re out there with a bounty on fish, the potential for misuse (of fish) that would cause.”

The president of the Minnesota-based Normark Corp., makers of Rapala lures and a Raveling sponsor, said he couldn’t put a value on the fish.

“I don’t really know because we haven’t seen anything like this in Minnesota,” said Tom Mackin. “It’s up to Mark and how aggressive he is in marketing it. It’s almost precedent-setting, to a degree.”

Raveling was fishing with a friend, Jay Carlson of Prior Lake, on Auburn Lake near Victoria. Raveling knew the tiny, 261-acre lake had big bass in it, and the anglers already had caught several 6- and 7-pounders when he landed the big one.

“When Jay lifted the fish into the boat, he said, ‘Hey, you got the record,’ and I said, ‘Nah, it’s only 7½ pounds,” Raveling said. But later, when a digital scale in the boat listed the fish at 8 pounds, 15 ounces, the two anglers rushed it to a nearby bait store, Cabin Fever Sporting Goods, to weigh it on a state-certified scale. They downloaded an application for a state record designation at the store and rushed the fish to a DNR office in Montrose to have it officially identified by fisheries biologists.

On Wednesday, the DNR sent Raveling the state-record certificate in the mail.

As soon as news spread about the fish Monday, Cabin Fever was filled with curious onlookers and media, said employee Jeff Reuter.

He added that “because it’s alive, this will become a very, very famous fish.”

Raveling said he guessed the fish might be 12 or more years old and he hopes he can keep it alive for at least several years. A strict catch-and-release angler, Raveling spoke fondly of the fish, calling it “beautiful” and “perfectly proportional.”

“The way it acted when we weighed it was like it was posing,” he said, adding that catching the fish was like winning the lottery.

The lure that Raveling caught the fish with, a Blue Fox Double Buzzer, is a Normark product that went out of production five years ago because of poor sales.

Asked whether Normark would bring back the Double Buzzer, Mackin said, “It’s something we would consider.”

Chris Niskanen can be reached at [email protected] or 651-228-5524.

I sure hope the state doesn’t allow him to sell this fish for personal profit. He is going to get enough monetary gains just by having the state record. All the manufactures will be supporting him. If the fish is sold to a “Cabelas” like place, then the state fisheries department should get the profits.

So, does anyone think the state will now change it’s laws on transporting fish?? If I catch a monster smallie and think it’s close to the state record, but come up just shy. I’m guessing I’ll get a ticket if caught transporting.

I think Dan Larson said it best with this quote:

Quote:

---

DNR law is written with obtuse vagueness so that crimes can be punished simply based on intent. Transport of a live fish for purposes of validating a state record, or even better for putting on display, alive, the states biggest bass to date for all to see, is worth bending any game law intended to protect our water.

---

I’m personally glad it was a tournament angler that caught this fish, and not some perch jerker (no offense) who would would have made the fish breakfast. The most important thing is that the fish remained alive!!

Quote:

---

I sure hope the state doesn’t allow him to sell this fish for personal profit. He is going to get enough monetary gains just by having the state record. All the manufactures will be supporting him. If the fish is sold to a “Cabelas” like place, then the state fisheries department should get the profits

---

I’m a bit undecided on this, but why would you NOT want him to profit off this fish? Had it been a record BUCK, would you have said the same thing? People profit off monster racks all the time… They say the next WORLD record bass will be worth millions…Would you want to collect on it? Isn’t it the same difference?

Just throwing it out there…..thoughts?

Quote:

---

If I catch a monster smallie and think it’s close to the state record, but come up just shy. I’m guessing I’ll get a ticket if caught transporting.

---

I will take the ticket if I ever get a smallie close to the state record. It will be transported alive to the scale if not a record it will be returned to the lake that it was caught and released. I suppose that will be another ticket but I do not care as I really don’t want to kill a fish of that size.
As for the lake that it was caught on it will get pounded, but I know 3-4 other small lakes in that area that have big bass in them.

Ron

Slop,

I’ve thought about this fish quite a little the last few days. I agree he deserves any monetary value the fish has when it comes to manufacturer support, just not the right to sell the fish to Cabelas.

If he kills it, then go right ahead. That is my perception, when comparing to a large buck or coyote or moutain lion. They must be killed to get credit for them. So, comparing fish to animals isn’t apples to apples in my mind.

However, I hope he get all the accollades he deserves for catching a state record, even if it’s a bass!!!