# Big Girl / Personal best



## Trailer Rig (Jul 25, 2011)

Sorry for the delay, had to wait putting this out on social media.
After Thanksgiving I jumped in my truck & went to mow my lot in Rockport. Figured while I was down there I would convince a friend of my to go make a few wades the following day.
He decided we needed to go to Baffin. After a lazy start & a good breakfast, we had the boat in the water about 10:00 am. About 1/2 way across the bay the weather changed & started pumping out of the Southwest. We decided to try anyway. 1st spot we waded throwing Corkies, Soft Dines, Grass Walkers, & various tails. I finally caught the 1st fish, a 21" Redfish. We decided to move & try another spot. After following sporadic bait & trying different approaches we ended up about 300 yards apart & 500 yards from the boat. I kept getting very light hits near one spot with a larger mullet doing the gettaway dance. Finally a solid hit & good hook set, # 2 fish on, drag started ripping & peeling off of my spool, oh ya good fish on. After a good couple more long runs, I was able to get the fish close enough to see what it was, TROUT, BIIIIG GURL. I motioned for my friend to come out to me for pictures. The fish circled me several more times & was finally able to get the Boga Grip applied. My friend walks up & see's her in the water & says she is over 30". We get a couple sets of pictures & put her back in the water, we the get a measurement on his rod. I was able to get her back in the water quick for a good healthy release.
After we were able to put the tape measure to his rod we learned she was just over 32" w/o a tail pinch.
Now I need a good Taxi to do a replica mount.
Caught Nov. 30th 2019 @ 2:50 PM


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## old 37 (Nov 30, 2014)

Nice, Congratulations.


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## caddis (Jan 22, 2012)

Wow, she's nice!


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## Halffast (Nov 3, 2017)

Beautiful fish. Congratulations!


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## BDGreen (Jul 20, 2019)

Very nice. Congratulations.


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## isabellamor (Jan 14, 2020)

Congratulations! I am hoping to see more this year.


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## Sac-a-lait Trey (Jun 10, 2015)

What a beauty! Congrats!


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## mccain (Oct 20, 2006)

congrats!


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## ROBOWADER (May 22, 2004)

Sweet


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## c hook (Jul 6, 2016)

*nice*

did you get a weight on the boga??:texasflag


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## Trailer Rig (Jul 25, 2011)

c hook said:


> did you get a weight on the boga??:texasflag


Just a tad over 9
It's a knock off Boga, so not sure how accurate.


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## c hook (Jul 6, 2016)

*nice*



Trailer Rig said:


> Just a tad over 9
> It's a knock off Boga, so not sure how accurate.


that's a pig. :texasflag


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## Wedge (Apr 29, 2005)

*Awesome!*

Good on you for the replica mount. I assume she was CPR'ed. I still have not caught a 30 or above but I am bought into CPR if/when I do.


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## Reynolds4 (Jan 18, 2010)

Freaking TOAD!


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## FREON (Jun 14, 2005)

John Glenn in Corpus Christi does excellent fish mounts


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## DA REEL DADDY (Jun 7, 2005)

Yes great job!!!


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## tarpon1215 (Aug 1, 2006)

Big girl.


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## NOCREEK (Jan 18, 2012)

The Holy Grail 


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## Trailer Rig (Jul 25, 2011)

FREON said:


> John Glenn in Corpus Christi does excellent fish mounts


Thanks, I will check him out.

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## B&C (Jul 23, 2010)

Congrats!!

New Wave Taxidermy's replicas are the best mounts I've ever seen. Makes me want to throw away my old skin mounts!


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## Trailer Rig (Jul 25, 2011)

Wedge said:


> Good on you for the replica mount. I assume she was CPR'ed. I still have not caught a 30 or above but I am bought into CPR if/when I do.


Yes we picked her out of the water, got the 1st set of pics ( probably 10 seconds) then put her back in da water. Got measurement s , back in the water, then the last set of pics w/o the boga & let her swim away.

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## Trailer Rig (Jul 25, 2011)

B&C said:


> Congrats!!
> 
> New Wave Taxidermy's replicas are the best mounts I've ever seen. Makes me want to throw away my old skin mounts!


Talked to them out of Florida 
Thx.

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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

Trailer Rig said:


> Just a tad over 9
> It's a knock off Boga, so not sure how accurate.


Beautiful fish. Congratulations!

FYI, you might weigh a full gallon jug of water for a quick check of your knock off boga. 1 gallon of distilled water = 8.34 pounds, plastics jug weighs another 2-3 ounces. May not be perfect, but itâ€™ll let you know if your scale is way off.


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## PRIMETIME PLUGGER (Apr 23, 2018)

congrats on pb and the release!


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## rainbowrunner (Dec 31, 2005)

Very nice trout. Congrats!


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## Quint (Oct 20, 2006)

Nice Catch


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## FishingMudGuy (Aug 13, 2014)

Congrats. Good catch.


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## barronj (Sep 30, 2013)

solid fish Chad, great job.


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## Beretta (Jul 27, 2012)

Congrats on your success!


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## TX CHICKEN (Jun 4, 2004)

Nice and congrats! I am still looking for my 30â€ trout! 5 over 28 and 2 over 29 but that dang 30 is elusive!


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## Taporath (Feb 12, 2019)

Oh yea Iâ€™m jealous


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## Aquillin87 (Aug 8, 2017)

Another for new wave their fiberglass mount are top notch check them out on Instagram and Facebook


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## Trailer Rig (Jul 25, 2011)

Aquillin87 said:


> Another for new wave their fiberglass mount are top notch check them out on Instagram and Facebook


Yes, they have the best quote.


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## gigem87 (May 19, 2006)

Great fish!

I'm not gonna lie... I would not have released a personal best 32" trout. Based on what I learned from a biologist at Sea Center Texas, that fish's best breeding days are done. That fish is at the end of life, especially after having been caught.

Haters, commence hating...

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## BretE (Jan 24, 2008)

gigem87 said:


> Great fish!
> 
> I'm not gonna lie... I would not have released a personal best 32" trout. Based on what I learned from a biologist at Sea Center Texas, that fish's best breeding days are done. That fish is at the end of life, especially after having been caught.
> 
> ...


No hate here. My wife caught a solid 30â€ outta the blue one night. One in a million. It went straight in the cooler and to my taxidermist the next morning. Been on the wall where we see it everyday for 4 or 5 years now. I rarely keep any fish so I figure itâ€™s a good trade off.....:wink:

Congrats to the OP on an outstanding fish!


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## oscare66 (Mar 9, 2011)

gigem87 said:


> Great fish!
> 
> I'm not gonna lie... I would not have released a personal best 32" trout. Based on what I learned from a biologist at Sea Center Texas, that fish's best breeding days are done. That fish is at the end of life, especially after having been caught.
> 
> ...


No one needs to hate on your decision to do what you want for your fish. But if you compare there are some great taxidermy out there who could make a great replica. Just keep in the back of your mind that that fish represents one half of 1% of the all the trout in the bay. Just think how long it took for that fish to get that big and not to let her die in her own way. Not to mention if you release that fish you give some one else a chance to catch a fish of a lifetime. Letâ€™s ask what you can give back to the bay and not what you can take.

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## c hook (Jul 6, 2016)

*personal decision*

there is nothing wrong with keeping it for the wall, but to eat that fish, IMHO, small mind/selfish or anti conservationist. I caught my personal best this year, 29 inches 9lbs, 10 minutes later 28 incher at 8lbs. I go by weight and not length, caught my longest fish year before last, at 30 inches but went 7.5lbs, not a trophy to me.

I released the 29 incher 9lber in hopes of me or someone else catching it at the true trophy weight of 10lbs. i fish the area a lot and release everything at 4lbs and above. i've unnecessarily killed way to many big fish, but no mas.

Again IMHO the 10lber is the true measure of a trophy trout. a lot of 29/30 inchers come from east matty over the years, but most are far from a trophy weight status. it is indeed still an old fish that beat the odds, and not to be taken lightly, but as a purest grinder, the true measure is weight. the 10lb club is my goal, and i've only known one guy to have hit it. :texasflag


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## PRIMETIME PLUGGER (Apr 23, 2018)

I agree its like the old saying goes you cant kill a 180'' deer if you keep killing them at 160'',or a 200'' at 180'' No way id kill a fish of that caliber intentionally. I'd also like to think that a new tx state record could be caught on of these days although it might be near impossible, who knows but we have to let these sow trout go to ever have a chance. Sadly those of us that fish lures exclusively and spend countless hours grinding away at these elusive big trout to simply let them swim away are few and far between in this day and time. we are 1percent of the people chasing 1 percent of the fish imho!


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## c hook (Jul 6, 2016)

*agreed*



PRIMETIME PLUGGER said:


> I agree its like the old saying goes you cant kill a 180'' deer if you keep killing them at 160'',or a 200'' at 180'' No way id kill a fish of that caliber intentionally. I'd also like to think that a new tx state record could be caught on of these days although it might be near impossible, who knows but we have to let these sow trout go to ever have a chance. Sadly those of us that fish lures exclusively and spend countless hours grinding away at these elusive big trout to simply let them swim away are few and far between in this day and time. we are 1percent of the people chasing 1 percent of the fish imho!


couldn't agree more, however mindset is slowly but surely changing. more and more people are realizing the value of releasing big fish. it's hard to release a big fish, but i think if replica's were pushed more, people would realize a couple quick measurements (for replica) and release, is a lot more rewarding than occasionally opening up the cooler to see the big girl dead on ice. catch and release has completely changed the bass world, hopefully we will follow. and very true on letting the 160's walk if you are a serious trophy hunter. :texasflag


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## Trailer Rig (Jul 25, 2011)

c hook said:


> couldn't agree more, however mindset is slowly but surely changing. more and more people are realizing the value of releasing big fish. it's hard to release a big fish, but i think if replica's were pushed more, people would realize a couple quick measurements (for replica) and release, is a lot more rewarding than occasionally opening up the cooler to see the big girl dead on ice. catch and release has completely changed the bass world, hopefully we will follow. and very true on letting the 160's walk if you are a serious trophy hunter. :texasflag


Thanks guys,
I will say there was an elevated sense of pride & satisfaction watching her swim away unharmed.
In warmer temperatures during summer months it could be more stressful on the fish even with a quick release.

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