State record

Do you guys think the state record largemouth will ever be broken?

I would say no, the sport is too popular now. I would guess equal size have lived and died in this state over the years, but most likely in off limit places.

Absolutely not and I do not believe the existing record is legit They just don't grow that big up here

I would say that "never" is a long time and that all records eventually fall...though I will admit that the current state record does appear to be an anomaly. New York State record is 11/4, PA 11/3, OH 13/13, RI 10/6, NJ 10/14, NH 10/8, MD 11/2...

http://www.landbigfish.com/staterecords/default.cfm

I think it can be, big fish dont get big by being dumb, they do get big how ever by gorging them selves on herring, that record wasnt caught in Sampsons Pond we have been through this already, it was caught in a place that could support the appetite of a bass that size, some place with an abundant supply of herring, if meatball caught a 9.4 last year what makes you guys think there isnt something bigger out there swimming around.

Im willing to bet that the Drinking Water in Fall River (illegal to fish) has acouple that size swimming around in it.

Everybody band together to get a petetion going to open some closed places to one day a year of electric only fishing I think thats one way of hoping to find one

If they start mass producing bassmonkey's scale it will be broken soon.

I think it can be, big fish dont get big by being dumb, they do get big how ever by gorging them selves on herring, that record wasnt caught in Sampsons Pond we have been through this already, it was caught in a place that could support the appetite of a bass that size, some place with an abundant supply of herring, if meatball caught a 9.4 last year what makes you guys think there isnt something bigger out there swimming around.

Im willing to bet that the Drinking Water in Fall River (illegal to fish) has acouple that size swimming around in it.

Everybody band together to get a petetion going to open some closed places to one day a year of electric only fishing I think thats one way of hoping to find one

I agree! I KNOW there's some monsters in MASS, but probably only a few. They are so many ponds that are off limits that look incredible! I know 1 pond that trophy bass lurking in it. It had a 13lb bass officially weighed in and was in the newspaper and i bet if she didn't pass away then shes still getting bigger and fatter .
Anyways if you just scroll around google earth and looking at the hundreds of body's of water marked or unmarked. Some of which you wouldn't even think had fish in it?? For example this summer i snuck (The urge was to much to handle after finding out this puddle had fish haha) into a cranberry bog right as the sun went down. I made two or three cast and hooked into a crappie THAT WAS HUGE!!! Not only was it pin worthy, but all of 3 1/2lbs! I was shocked when i caught it and couldn't believe the slab i caught was pulled out of this puddle https://maps.google.com/maps?q=33+Freeman+Dr,+Plymouth,+MA&hl=en&ll=41.799531,-70.606526&spn=0.001268,0.00284&sll=42.036922,-71.683501&sspn=2.586576,5.817261&oq=33+freeman+dr+p&t=h&hnear=Freeman+Dr,+Plymouth,+Massachusetts+02360&z=19



Anywho although it wasn't a largie it still was amazing fish in a pond that when you drive by, wouldn't even think there was anything living in it. So if the record never breaks i would put a solid bet that there are an will be bass right around that size.

lack of fishing pressure and great food supply does not = 15 lb bass in MA. I'm not saying there are none or doubting the record fish. Its a genetic fluke caused by multiple factors.

If you had a private pond and stalked it with trout crayfish etc etc the bass would not grow to 15 lbs. Just my opinion.

lack of fishing pressure and great food supply does not = 15 lb bass in MA. I'm not saying there are none or doubting the record fish. Its a genetic fluke caused by multiple factors.

If you had a private pond and stalked it with trout crayfish etc etc the bass would not grow to 15 lbs. Just my opinion.

Why not? if you could create the ideal pond here you could grow a 15lb bass. It might take 15 years to see the results but it could be done.
1st catch multiple BIG female bass. I'm talking 7+ lbers here in Mass. Breed them with exceptionally BIG males, 5+lbers in your makeshift pond. The pond would have the ultimate balance of structure with points, flats, and humps, with the right mix of cover in weeds, rocks and wood. The pond would have the perfect balance of predator to prey with crayfish, gills, perch, shiners, herring and trout. Over the years bass not achieving significant growth weights would be culled out. You could grow a 15lber here under those circumstances. If 10's occur naturally, 15's can be achieved by cheating nature.

[quote="kman"]lack of fishing pressure and great food supply does not = 15 lb bass in MA. I'm not saying there are none or doubting the record fish. Its a genetic fluke caused by multiple factors.

If you had a private pond and stalked it with trout crayfish etc etc the bass would not grow to 15 lbs. Just my opinion.[


I agree with you on the genetics for a 15lb bass in mass was defiantly a fluke!

Ill be honest and admit i doubt the record will break, but i know mass has it's fair share of monsters. I dont really think catching a bass over 7-8lbs in MA is anything out of ordinary, but once you get around 10lbs. Then it's a different story....

lack of fishing pressure and great food supply does not = 15 lb bass in MA. I'm not saying there are none or doubting the record fish. Its a genetic fluke caused by multiple factors.

If you had a private pond and stalked it with trout crayfish etc etc the bass would not grow to 15 lbs. Just my opinion.

Why not? if you could create the ideal pond here you could grow a 15lb bass. It might take 15 years to see the results but it could be done.
1st catch multiple BIG female bass. I'm talking 7+ lbers here in Mass. Breed them with exceptionally BIG males, 5+lbers in your makeshift pond. The pond would have the ultimate balance of structure with points, flats, and humps, with the right mix of cover in weeds, rocks and wood. The pond would have the perfect balance of predator to prey with crayfish, gills, perch, shiners, herring and trout. Over the years bass not achieving significant growth weights would be culled out. You could grow a 15lber here under those circumstances. If 10's occur naturally, 15's can be achieved by cheating nature.

Very true! I'd imagine it's pretty rare to find private man made ponds that are frequently looked after in MA. So with the conditions you said i would believe it!

True story: I know a guy who is an avid Big fish fisherman who works at a local wholesale shiner distributor. He has this customer who comes in once a month and orders 1000's of shiners. He got to talking to the guy because he is not a bait store owner. Turns out the guy owns a private bog and built his own private bog pond and stocks the shiners for the bass. Well my friend was given the privilege to fish this pond for a 2 hour period last summer. His best 5 in 2 hours was 41lbs. His biggest he said was 9lbs. He said he caught 25+ fish in the 2 hours and none were under 4lbs. This was only in one 2 hour window on 1 day, with 2 rods and 2 different baits and from shore too.
You actually might see this place pop up in the next year or 2. The guy talked about opening it up as a "pay to fish" pond. $200 a day is what i was told was going to be the asking price.

I would definitely pay that to be able to fish a place like that locally

how about a huge, clean place with a lot of different food sources such as the quabbin?

how about a huge, clean place with a lot of different food sources such as the quabbin?

Smallies, yes, largies no. Smallies feed in deep ,clear, open water. Lm need cover to ambush prey

lack of fishing pressure and great food supply does not = 15 lb bass in MA. I'm not saying there are none or doubting the record fish. Its a genetic fluke caused by multiple factors.

If you had a private pond and stalked it with trout crayfish etc etc the bass would not grow to 15 lbs. Just my opinion.

Why not? if you could create the ideal pond here you could grow a 15lb bass. It might take 15 years to see the results but it could be done.
1st catch multiple BIG female bass. I'm talking 7+ lbers here in Mass. Breed them with exceptionally BIG males, 5+lbers in your makeshift pond. The pond would have the ultimate balance of structure with points, flats, and humps, with the right mix of cover in weeds, rocks and wood. The pond would have the perfect balance of predator to prey with crayfish, gills, perch, shiners, herring and trout. Over the years bass not achieving significant growth weights would be culled out. You could grow a 15lber here under those circumstances. If 10's occur naturally, 15's can be achieved by cheating nature.

I dont disagree with this but I assumed the question was referring to a state record that nature alone produced. With enough time and culling and breeding you can do lots of things. I dont think its as easy as a few 10's bred and fed well turn into 15's. That is where the culling comes in. somewhere along the line you need to alter the genetics of the bass to achieve that growth, food alone is not the answer. There are limits to altering the code, that is why you dont hear of 30 lb bass. Perhaps we will in the future but it will take time and luck to produce the freak genetics.

Again I am a man of science and dont disagree with your points. This is being done all over, Texas, Cali etc. Its just a lot harder to make a 10 lb bass' offspring 15 pounders. In Northern climates especially.

That being said back to the unaltered world. you have made it perfectly clear how RARE 10 lb bass are. The conditions needed to go from 10 lbs to 15 lbs required a mutation to the bass' code. It has happened in Ma, how many times who knows?

Here is a interesting article that has been posted here before. http://www.trophybassonly.com/id89.htm