Thread: Did I mess up?

Meatgetter asked me to repost this here, so here goes.

Since I was a young buck, I always heard of the 3lb barrier. I once achieved it when I was 9, and my mom and dad were divorced. Till the day he died the best he pulled was a 3.2. I got a 3.4 out of a pond I lived near. I never heard the end of you should have mounted it from my father. Last week a co-worker had been begging me to take him fishing, but he also kept speaking of a private lake he knew, and my boat was to big to launch there. He turned from take me fishing to come with me in a 14ft flat bottom and show me how. He had been there 2 times in the previous weeks and biggest fish was 9" bass. Needless to say the water has been high here in Arkansas, and he kept trying to fish the bank. I said find where the wind goes in its biggest clip across, and put us on the high side in the middle and drift. Incoming wooping on the fish.

We drifted across the first time and I have never seen such a happy man (look at the quality of fish for after Christmas fish for Arkansas). This was actually a double, he didn't have the first off the hook yet and had to drop him in the boat because his other rod went off.



What amazed me the most is how engorged the fish were. I had never seen crappie this fat, and never thought to see it this time of year. I guess they are getting all they can before the spawn.



Then I got mine... and this is where the dilemna starts. I think I did the right thing in cleaning it, but I know the magic of taxidermy, and how good this fish could have looked. This fish was skinny. Dang skinny. Compared to the others we caught, this thing was starving! How big was this fish, and the potential. Keep in mind we had no scales or stick to measure. I did the best I could to illustrate. Keep in mind I'm looking for a 3+. Could this fish have been?







Either way I have to say I had a blast! The catch itself overall was great. These were all quality fish, and we typically threw back all under 10".



So my main question is, did I throw a hanger under the knife?

Jimbo'

Got a 15.25' white today. Suprisingly never got another Black. Big was black last week, and they hidin on us.