Bass Weight - Food in the Belly

I know this is a strange topic, but a good one.

So on the way to work this morning, I got to wondering, how much a bass' weight can fluctuate based on how much it ate before you caught him?

Does anyone know if this has ever been studied?

Also has an angler ever been caught feeding a caught bass during a tournament? I'm sure there is some kind of rules against this.

Robby Rose got caught feeding a bass a one pound lead weight during a tournament.

Dang! I feel bad for the Bass.

He did it for years, He won dozen of boats.

I feel bad for all the Bass Fishermen he screwed over.

Found an article on ole Robby Rose, if anyone is interested. Seems like one of Dallas' finest.

From Holy Roller to Convicted Felon: A bass fisherman’s fall from grace

We know all about him, he was a poster on the board and a local boy

Two days after a tournament, I found a decent crayfish and a shad, I missed out on big bass by 1/10th of a pound. Dang fish barfing up in my livewell!

Don't know of any study, but have caught many actively feeding fish that were jam packed with bait.

Long time Fork guide, Tony Clark landed a bass years ago in the summer and weighed it on certified scales that went 13.97 pounds. He left the fish in an empty minnow vat and went back out to finish his night trip. The next morning she had spit up a mostly digested crappie that weighed 1.5 pounds on the same scale.

So this fish had eaten a TWO POUND crappie and was STILL feeding when it bit his 8" lizard!!

Think about that the next time you look at a bait and think it might be too large.....

yea that's exactly what got me thinking about this. Say you slam a 5lber. It could actually be 4.5er but packed with food in the belly. I'm sure it's unknowing helped and angler win a tournament.

To talk about your last question, has an angler been caught feeding a fish?
You are going to find a lot of stories of fishing spitting up in livewells. I don't think any tournament cheaters will have luck feeding bass minnows or shad while in their livewell, to ensure they are well fed by the time they hit the scales.

Yea I was kind of thinking the same thing. The bass probably wouldn't eat once you change his environment by putting him in the well. Even if it's the same water it came from. They probably just shut down. I was watching a guy feeding his pet bass in an aquarium so that's what lead me to start this weird topic.

My wife caught one over 8#'s the other day and it spit up a good size sandbass, at least 6"-8"

I had no idea I just now read the story...give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day, if you cant teach him to fish he will cheat his way

I caught one that had a turtle in it mouth and put it in the live well and it never came out. I tried to get it out of his mouth but no luck. My partner said leave it.. It weight if only a little bit.