FishwithJD

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California’s Exotic Fish Species

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Chances are, your favorite California sportfish is probably a foreigner. An outsider. An import. Yep, the fact is the majority of the freshwater fish we enjoy chasing here aren’t native to the state.

Some exotics were experiments, others illegal introductions. People who had moved West and missed fishing for their favorite species brought in many varieties of gamefish from the East Coast or Great Lakes. Others still were moved into California to provide new fishing opportunities or to control baitfish populations.

It’s all pretty interesting stuff, so let’s take a look at some of our most beloved fish and trace their origins.

Largemouth Bass

Per capita, probably the most popular fish in California, largemouth bass didn’t swim in the state’s waters until 1891. According to California Department of Fish & Game records, the initial largemouth were Northern strain fish that originated from Quincy, Illinois and were released into Lake Cuyamaca in San Diego County.

The more popular and larger Florida strain largemouth made their first appearance in 1959 and the rest, as they say is history. Nobody could have imagined 50 years ago what an industry would spring up around those Floridas!Click here to read more…

Is this the lost photo of George Perry’s World Record Largemouth Bass?

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The evening he caught the World Record largemouth bass in 1932, George W. Perry cooked it up for his family.

Unfortunately that was well before everybody had a camera in their phone so, photographs of the record bass have been hard to come by.

The above pic recently surfaced mysteriously on the 81st anniversary Perry’s catch and is said to be the long lost pic that was always rumored to be out there somewhere.

You can read the whole story at Fox News.

There is plenty of speculation that the photo may be a fake…and it’s not all that difficult to make a photo look old. I downloaded a free app on my iPhone and did this one of me in about 20 seconds.

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The Perry pic looks pretty legit to me though I’m not vintage photo expert. There’s some water damage and fading. Either the work of a star photo editor…or it’s real.

I hope it’s a legitimate photo…it’s such a cool shot and a piece of angling history.

The 5 Biggest Bass Ever Caught

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It’s the most highly-coveted record in fishing… the world record largemouth bass. Break the world’s mark and fame and fortune will be yours. Here’s a list of the top 5 biggest largemouth bass every caught…

1: The Beast from the East (22.311 Pounds)

World Record Largemouth
Caught in 2009 by Manabu Kurita in Japan’s Lake Biwa, this beast, by weight, is heavier than the long standing record set by George Perry in 1932. However, since Kurita’s fish only weighed just slightly over an ounce more than Perry’s, by rule the IGFA declared it a two-way tie for the heaviest bass ever landed.
Click here to read more…

Little Kid…Giant Bass!

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Eric Doppee and his giant!


Kerin VanDam and Skeet Reese have never done it…nor have most of the professional bass anglers in the word. But 13-year-old angler Eric Doppee has!

The eighth grader from Pleasanton, CA caught a bass Saturday that only exists in the dreams of most…an 18-pound largemouth!

The behemoth set a new lake record for largemouth at Shadow Cliff Reservoir in the Bay Area. You can read the whole story at Pleasanton Weekly