Finally got my Bass Mount Back!

[HeavyUser]

Caught this guy about 14 years ago down in Putnam Valley. She weighed 9.8lbs, was really really close to breaking the state record. She was caught on an 8" Huddleston Swim Bait. 

Edited April 27, 2024 by HeavyUser

[mowin]

Very nice. Like the wall. 

14 yrs to get a fish mounted? 

 

[Bucksnbows]

33 minutes ago, mowin said:

Very nice. Like the wall. 

14 yrs to get a fish mounted? 

 

I’m obviously guessing, but I assume he decided to have a replica mount done years after his catch.  Personally, I prefer replicas over skin mounts every time. 

[grampy]

What a great NY bass! They don't come much bigger here in NY!

[HeavyUser]

2 hours ago, mowin said:

Very nice. Like the wall. 

14 yrs to get a fish mounted? 

 

Yea, lol. I was 21 at the time and didn't have the finances to get it done the way I wanted to get it done! 

1 hour ago, Bucksnbows said:

I’m obviously guessing, but I assume he decided to have a replica mount done years after his catch.  Personally, I prefer replicas over skin mounts every time. 

It was a replica yes, I would never kill a bass this big. Those type of genes need to be passed as much as possible. 

17 minutes ago, grampy said:

What a great NY bass! They don't come much bigger here in NY!

Mhhmm, NY bass of a lifetime I reckon. 

[HeavyUser]

It's final resting place

[Bucksnbows]

Looks great!

[NYRturkeycall]

Came out great!

[mowin]

I like it 

[2BuckBizCT]

Great 3N (Putnam County) bass! Is that Barger Pond? I grew up on otherside of the Taconic (bryant pond road exit).

[HeavyUser]

29 minutes ago, blackbeltbill said:

Looks great! Your Trophy Room is bigger then my little Apartment. 

My trophy room is my bedroom 

Happily divorced, I do what I want.

 

18 minutes ago, 2BuckBizCT said:

Great 3N (Putnam County) bass! Is that Barger Pond? I grew up on otherside of the Taconic (bryant pond road exit).

Caught it in a pond on the Durland Scout Reservation. I was able to get access because my uncle was a scout master at the time. 

[2BuckBizCT]

46 minutes ago, HeavyUser said:

My trophy room is my bedroom 

Happily divorced, I do what I want.

 

Caught it in a pond on the Durland Scout Reservation. I was able to get access because my uncle was a scout master at the time. 

cool. I had to google it. never heard of it. Looks like 1,400 acres. Can we hunt it?

Edited November 15, 2024 by 2BuckBizCT

[HeavyUser]

5 minutes ago, 2BuckBizCT said:

cool. I had to google it. never heard of it. Looks like 1,400 acres. Can we hunt it?

From what I remember, the parts that contain the two ponds, are private. I used to try to get back there without my uncle and they would kick me out every time ....

[Next Time]

Looks great, beautiful mount 

[Wolc123]

That’s pretty cool.  What did it cost ?   I’ve been trying for a 23” smallmouth bass for quite a few years now, which I’d like to get mounted for my father in law.  He likes to decorate their Adirondack retirement home with “native species”.  I got him an 8-point whitetail buck from up there in 2014, and that looks pretty lonely up on a big wall, all by itself. 
 

I caught a 22-1/2 incher from the lake up there in around 2016.  That bass put up one heck of a fight.  I didn’t have a camera or tape measure on the boat, so I gently placed it in a bucket any motored back to their house at wide open throttle, to get it measured and photographed.

My mother in law took the picture and I measured it with a tape measure.  22-1/2” was a little shy of my all time personal best (23-1/4) that I caught out on Lake Erie a few years prior, during the May “trophy” season.  I let that one go also. 
 

My father in law complained bitterly when I released this one, and he has been nagging me about it ever since.  This past September, I hooked one about the same size, while trolling a fat diving silver and blue Rapaka crankbait.   Unfortunately, it broke off, just as I reached for it with the net.

I was up there for early ML week, just over a month ago, and I anchored near the spot where I caught the 22-1/2, years prior.  A small rock came up with my mushroom anchor, from about 12 ft down on the lake bottom.  
 

I didn’t get a replica mount, but my mother in law likes painting rocks and she sells them at local craft shows to benefit local charities.  I asked her to paint me that bass on that rock.  Those bass might still be swimming.  If not, certainly their offspring are.  

The smallmouth bass are far and away my favorite fish.  Pound per pound, nothing fights better in freshwater anyhow.  Bass are also my favorite fish to eat.  While the smallmouth just about double the fight of the largemouth, I do find the largemouth to be just a smidge better eating.  They are also easier to fillet, thanks to their thinner skin and an easier to work around bone structure.  

I hear about lots of folks not liking the taste of bass.  I think those people fall into two camps: 1) those who haven’t a clue how to handle the fish after they catch them.  2) those who want to use them only for sport and don’t think they should be eaten.  
 

As far as #1 goes, the secret there is to make sure the fillets are still twitching when you remove them, prior to drying them with paper towels, vacuum sealing, and freezing.  That means keeping them alive and healthy on a stringer or in a live well.  I throw ice blocks in my live well on the drive home from the boat launch.
 

When filleting, the bass should be knocked senseless, with a wack on the head with a small wooden club, then the twitching fillets should be removed and rinsed with fresh water, then dried and vacuum sealed.  
 

Ad far as #2 goes, I always try and release the larger bass.  They are a renewable resource and the NY DEC is perfectly capable of setting the rules for protecting this fine food source for future generations.  I think the “sportsman” who catch and release hundreds of bass from spawning beds are doing far more harm to that resource, than those like me who keep enough smaller ones, so their family can have about one meal per month.  
 

I also try and limit most of my bass fishing to the post spawn thru fall period.  Here in NY, we are blessed with what is universally recognized as having the best smallmouth bass fishing in the world.  That’s one of the biggest reasons why I hope I never have to live in one of the other God-forsaken states.  

 

 

Edited November 17, 2024 by Wolc123