Is It Worth Catching a Record Fish Anymore?

Used to be said that it’d be worth a million dollars to catch the next world record largemouth. Don’t know if that was ever true, but even if it is now – which I doubt – would the baggage of a record catch be worth it?

Two recent things made that thought pop up in what’s left of my brain.

One was the potential catch and release of a Minnesota record walleye. Yeah, walleye, big deal, but bear with me here.

The guy – a fishing guide – claimed it was a potential record and apparently offered a pic and some measurements as proof. Naturally, lots of folks claimed it was bull just based on the picture alone: it wasn’t ugly enough (seriously), saggy enough, etc.

And then I tripped over this story of a guy who caught the world record hammerhead. To put that in some perspective:

> This was a lifelong (adult) quest
> The fish was 1,280 lbs and 14 feet long
> The fight lasted 5 hours and he fought it for 12 miles – so far from land that cell phones no longer worked

That was a BATTLE, dude!

But since it was so huge, naturally it was a female and when killed was “pregnant with 55 pups,” as the above article puts it.

“Pregnant” with “pups” I don’t think does justice to a maneater, but that’s the point: Internet doofuses made the guy out to be some kind of slaughterer of endangered fish and “pups.”

First of all, it’s a fish! That’s also not endangered.

So  even “the bigfoot proof,” let’s call it – need a body to prove it – won’t work for a fish.

Let’s get back to bassin. You catch a 25+ pounder and do all the right things to document it. Here’s what’ll happen:

> People won’t believe the pics, measurements and weight, and those folks will be the first ones broadcasting anything about it on the Internet besides news of the catch itself.

> Some won’t even believe if they see it swimming around alive in Bass Pro Shops.

> People will voice doubts about whether it was caught fairly and legally.

> Those doubts and other rumors will be spread by the armchair genius brigade out there and the folks who can’t wait to type things on chat rooms: “I hear….”

> Your spouse and kids will be doubted in your own hometown.

> Someone(s) will make threats – at least something like, “If that guy/gal shows up at my lake I’ll….” The worst threats will come from the animal rights nuts.

> The million bucks won’t show up, unless maybe you’re KVD, Ike, etc. and catch it in a tournament.

No thanks. I’ll be happy with a teens-weighter.

Guess if you’re gonna catch something big and tell people about it, might as well be a bigfoot. Then you actually might get that million bucks….