[oldschool]

I posted Bass are Bass a few months ago to remind us that bass can be different. The IGFA has never recognized the fact that Florida largemouth bass are different species than northern largemouth bass and they are just as diffewrent as Spotted bass are from northern largemouth bass. FLMB grow at least 25% heavier than NLMB, FLMB have 69+ lateral line scales vs 58 for the NLMB. We should have 2 separate world record classes for NLMB and FLMB. I sent Jared a photo of a NLMB verese a FLMB that are close to the same length, the NLMB weighs 12+ the FLMB is close to 19. The bass lived in the same lake, 10 years apart. Same ecosystem, same climate and prey.
Pure Florida strain LMB are only located in Florida, unless transplanted somewhere else.
California did this transplant back in 1959 and today a pure FLMB is rare, most have intregrated with the native NLMB, unless planted into a lake that did not have NLMB.
FLMB tend to prefer larger bait fish and crustations than NLMB, because of the larger river shinners indiginous to Florida. Texas is playing around with the basses genetics to create a new hybrid or intregrate of the FLMB and this could have positve or negative impact. FLMB are less tolerant to cold water and die off if the water drops below 45 degrees for extended periods. This is one reason thier distribution is limited.
Targeting FLMB you should use larger lures that represent golden shinners or aquadtic surface creatures like water snakes, rodents or small water fowl, when fishing in Florida.
California FLMB prefer planted rainbow trout, crawdads, bluegill, crappie and shad. Texas is similar to CA, except gizzard shad and tilapia replace trout.
Tom

 

[oldschool]

My question is this:

Perry caught the world record in Georgia in 1932. Which strain was this? I'd assume that it was a Florida strain but then again, I'm pretty sure the waters in the area that Perry caught his fish do dip into the low 40's high 30s in the winter months.

The Perry bass was caught from Montgomery lake GA, near the Florida border. The Montgomery lake no longer exist, it was a oxbow lake that silted in. Water that is spring or river feed that far south could have water temperatures that are above 45 degrees. I agree that southern Georgia is the northern edge of the pure FLMB region. Just one more controversial issue with the Perry bass. No bass from Florida or Georgia has ever exceeded 20 lbs, or measured over 30". The Perry bass was reported to be 32" long and 22 1/4 lbs. The factual data available does not support the Perry bass, however it is the established world record.
Could you post the photo I sent?
Tom

 

[oldschool]

To ignorant to intelligibly respond, however I enjoyed the education.

Unless your planning to move, this doesn't help too much. Although if the IGFA recognized NLMB you might be able to catch a world record in your neighborhood. Lake of the Ozarks has some big bass, you just need to learn to look back over your shoulder and cast away from the bank occasionally. Looked at lake of the Ozarks to locate something towards the dam for you and the island on the north shore about 4 miles up from the dam look like it would might good bass, if there is a saddle between the island and shoreline or another under water island near by? This lake is so big you need to pick a small area and check it out. Good luck.
Tom

 

[oldschool]

To my understanding, bass in Georgia are a combination of the Florida and Northern strains. I respectfully disagree that the Perry bass was a hoax, there have been numerous fish in Ga that weighed in excess of 18 lbs, many of them unreported. It is not unlikely that the Perry bass was in an ideal environment and had the chance to grow to these dimensions.

Did not say the Perry bass was a hoax, it is the established world record. The Perry bass is 2 inches longer than any other bass ever measured and no authentic photograph exist to confirm the bass, just the weight submitted by Perry. I have always believed the 22 1/4 lbs., was reasonably accurate.
To have FLMB and NLMB you must have pure strains from both to create a FLMB and NLMB intregrate, these are not hybrids. Back in 1932 who knows if pure FLMB were common in the southern region of Georgia, both were considered the same bass back then.
Tom

 

[oldschool]

Tom, Thanks for the research. The area that you are referring to is called the Hawaiian island, it is currently being developed to the point you have a hell of a time trying to fish it. The book on L.O. is the north shore this time of the year. The fish get hammered and you will have to take a number to get on a point. The tournament that I'm fishing is taking off of the 46 mile marker (that is 46 miles from the dam) So although I'm not against that long run I'm not crazy about it either. In my mind I can make them bite on the river, and its alot less crowded because of the text book bite being on the other end.

Drew

There is no reason to run more than 10 miles this time if year, you should be able to locate something in that range. 92 miles round trip would be very cold long ride. Good luck.
Tom

 

[oldschool]

In Doug Hannon's book "Big Bass Magic" (an awesome book! If you havent read it, I highly recommend you do!) he discusses the hunt for the world record. One of the facts that he brings up is the length of Perry's bass, which was around 32". He then goes on to discuss the massive bass coming from California and the length they have been. The length of most of these huge CA bass is considerably shorter than Perry's. Hannon's then brings up an interesting fact and that is that if the Perry's bass had the same length to girth ratio as the Cali bass, his bass would have weighed in the area of 38lbs!

Can you imagine??

No! If the basses girth equals it's length and I have never measured a bass that had a girth bigger than the length then: 32 X 32 X 32 = 32,768 divided by 1200 = 27.3 lbs. Looks like Doug may have been exaggerating a little (10 lbs).
Tom

 

[oldschool]

This is the exact quote from Hannon's book

Dave Zimmerlee's 20 lb. 15 oz. bass was only 26 1/2" long, while George Perry's 22 lb. 4.oz. world record bass was 32 1/2" long. I have seen two 32-inch bass in all my years in Florida. By simple mathematics, a 32-inch bass of the same weight-to-length ratio as Zimmerlee's would weigh 36lbs. 14oz., while a 32 1/2" bass using this ratio would weight 38 lbs. 10 oz.

Perhaps he is using a different calculation.

Doug H needs to work on his fuzzy math skills. Making reference to the Zimmerlee bass "caught" back in 1973 from lake Miramar is interesting. That bass is generally accepted as a floater and that Zimmerlee rented a boat and "caught" the bass with a barely functional K-Mart/Zebco 33 outfit using a #8 hook and nightcrawler within 20 minutes in the middle of a deep lake. The bass was nearly colorless and dead when it was weighed. It was 28 1/2 L by 28 girth and the skin mount by Roberts taxidermy is still on display. the formula L x L x G div 1200 puts this bass at 20lbs, close to it's actual weight.
Tom

 

[oldschool]

Kinda got off track on the world record/giant bass topic. Re posted the Bass are Bass and expanded a little on FLMB. When Jared gets time to post the In-Fisherman article on Lake Isabella, did a lot of research for that issue that is worth reading in regards to transplanted FLMB, if you live in a state that has them.
Tom