I see lots of threads about the rough handling of bass by many and I do agree we need to protect our natural resource but sometimes we go a little over the top with the comments.

"She'll probably die now with a broken jaw" seems to be a sentiment that is thrown around a lot with SAL fish when the angler is seen holding them by the lower lip. Well, maybe not....

I found that famous pic of Mark Stevenson holding Ethel on Nov 26, 1986 at Val's Bait Shop the day he caught her. Not trying to stir the pot here. Just wanted to point out that a bass is a pretty hardy creature and even the giants can be held by their lower lip and still survive. I think most will agree that 17.67 qualifies as a Giant.

Ethel was approximately Ten Years old when she was caught but went on to live another 8 years in the big aquarium in Springfield Missouri at Bass Pro Shops. Ethel survived the handling by many folks that wanted their picture taken with her that fateful day.

Good memories of days gone by.

Yeh. I agree that the lower jaw hold doesn’t always hurt the fish. I still hold bigger fish (for me…6+ pounders or thereabouts) with two hands. I can’t count the times I thought I had a good hold of one, only to have there lower jaw rip my hand open when they shake real good.

….since this will start a thread, I’ll go ahead and answer “NO”. There will never be a bigger bass caught in Texas. Too many anglers and pressure on the fish. The fish simply will not live long enough to get over 17lbs here again.

If "the hold" was that hard on fish--Bill Dance's private ponds would be void of good fish.

the double fisted jaw breaker method

Ethel never had to compete to survive so its not a very good analogy.

Sweet hat

I think a lot of the "will probably die of a broken jaw" comments are made with an eye roll directed towards TPWD and not the "offending" angler, at least that's the way I've ever made the comment.

I agree with you--take care of the fish, and it's probably a good idea to hold the bigger ones with 2 hands and not rub them on your boat carpet, but it really kind of rubbed me the wrong way how the SAL program was so quick to point fingers at the anglers for poor fish handling and killing big fish, rather than examining what was likely going wrong on their end. As you're pointing out, lots of big fish were donated to the program that were probably handled like Ethel and did well over many years, so I find it highly suspicious that so many SALs died in a row at the sole fault of poor fish care by the anglers. That laying of blame really made me question whether I'd ever donate (may never be a real problem, but a guy can dream), because I, like most of the anglers I know, respect and take care of big fish, and I wouldn't want my name being tossed out by TPWD for killing a giant.

What a toad. And look at the mouth and eyes-still young so to speak, but already dwarfing his hand. Then the belly…
Sorry, I digress, but yeah the lower jaw thing is a little overblown-obviously.

I like it!

(BTW, if this thesis and article was submitted for peer review, I’m thinking they’d poke holes in the n=1 part.)

No doubt about it, Fork bass were a whole lot tougher back then for sure.

That fish must have looked HUGE on his livescope!......Oh wait, there weren't any!

Angles matter!
Carry on'

Bass, Largemouth 18.18 25.50 Jan 24, 1992 Lake Fork Barry StClair