All you have to do is say the words "Cold Front" or "Rising Pressure" and Florida bass get lock jaw! IMO Florida strain fish are much more finiky and definitely more affected by weather changes than northern strain. Floridas grow big, but lakes with a larger population of northern strain fish make for better fishing overall.. again IMO as I am not a biologist.

My opinion exactly. I lived in South Florida for 20 years, so I have a lot of experience with 100% Florida gene reputation. It is my opinion that the negative side of Florida strain bass is one factor involved when older anglers talk about how such and such lake "used to be" and how the fishing has declined. Part of what happened is that TPWD fouled the gene pool in those lakes with Florida strain bass.

I agree with most of what you have said. However.............

That "fouled gene pool" you speak of is what put the State of Texas on the map with regards to Double Digit bass in the last 30 years. Had it not been for the efforts of TPWD we would still be calling a 6 pounder a Giant.

Northern strain bass will grow to some nice weights, not just "6 pounds". Over the years, I've caught numerous eight pound bass from a pond my grandfather stocked in the 1950s - sure to have only Northern-strain genes.

Today's lakes have a number of positive differences that affect creel statistics; it is NOT all about having introduced Florida-strain genes. The water and habitat management may even be better than it once was. The gotcha is in that "big fish" so many get focused on - but so few catch. The number of DD bass caught in the minds of anglers is also larger than if all the fish were put on scales. The percentage of anglers who have actually caught a DD bass remains small. MILLIONS of angling hours go into bass fishing annually in Texas, yet, just how many DD bass get reported? ...or turned into the Lunker program. After all that money, and all the years, I doubt the catch rate for DD has changed by even 1%.

We have given up a population of MILLIONS of what would have been more easily "catchable" 5-8 pounders for the chance (not definite outcome) to catch an extremely rare DD bass. Many "zero" days would not be zero days, but hey, you had a chance to catch that DD you didn't catch either, right?

Don't have any factual statistics that prove the catch rate of DD bass before and after Florida strain were introduced but I'm sure TP&W does if anyone is really interested. All I know is I caught mine and very pleased with it. Sitting here staring at it right now.

I can't see my lunkers, per se, as they are still swimming around at the lakes I caught, and released, them at. ;/) But I've got great enlargement photos of them with me holding them up, with the lure hanging from their mouths, then framed with the actual lure in the frame too! Beats having to dust off an old, dead bass hanging on the wall too, and takes up less space, and lets another angler or two have the pleasure of landing it too.

Here we've got both types of bass, mostly Floridas, which are very finicky over the northerns. I've noticed, pound for pound, the northerns fight harder. Nobody mentions that I've noticed.

I had every intention of releasing mine but the store owner there at Lunker Lodge ask if he could keep her in his aquarium there for his customers to see. I said OK but after the McDonalds Big Bass tournament is over I want to release her back. Unfortunately about a week later she jumped out of the aquarium one night and he found her dead the next morning so I had her mounted. By the way, how big were your LUNKERS ? Until you know the facts you should hold off on your digs about someone mounting a fish. Guess you are aware that all the former state record bass have died and have been mounted. The ones you released have probably died too and the turtles ate them.

Good lord.... I remember Scot Wishart specifically telling me about your fish jumping out of his aquarium. He was sick about it.