Texas Sized Fish Story (Richardson, Conroe: house, school, camping)

[billybones]

Just when I thought I heard it all.....

Real fish story about a long-lost ring - Wonderful World- msnbc.com

BUNA, Texas - The one that didn't get away held an unlikely surprise for a Texas man. The blue-stoned class ring of Joe Richardson, engraved with his name, turned up inside an 8-pound bass 21 years after he lost it while fishing on Lake Sam Rayburn.

[lonestar2007]

Wow! What a story! I bet he WAS surprised!

[BobTex]

A nice story. The shame of the story is the snonymous fisherman killing a trophy bass in its breeding prime to eat! There are plenty of 15"-16" fish if someone is hungry for bass. The smaller ones are better to eat too.

Of course the world record bass ended up as table fare too in 1932.

[lonestar2007]

Originally Posted by BobTex

A nice story. The shame of the story is the snonymous fisherman killing a trophy bass in its breeding prime to eat! There are plenty of 15"-16" fish if someone is hungry for bass. The smaller ones are better to eat too.

Of course the world record bass ended up as table fare too in 1932.

True enough. I'll take crappie over bass any day, but the 'pan size' black bass aren't too bad. Once when we were camping at PK, we'd just wade out in the lake every morning at daybreak (the bass would be running at daybreak and again at dusk) and we'd catch a mess of them to fry later on that day. They might have been under the size limit, I don't think we ever checked .We just hooked our stringers to our belt loops on our cut-offs and only caught what we were going to eat that day, they were in the 10" to 12" size. Used to catch 17" and 18" at Joe Pool and to tell the truth, the flavor is just not there! Crappie rules! Well, got to add that a 'pan size' channel or blue cat out of a good flowing river is awfully darn good eating too!

[billybones]

I'm a sport fisherman myself, catch and release. Of course where I currently live, I wouldn't eat ANYTHING I caught anyway.

Up in northern WI some of the best fish I ever ate were Bluegill. My friend is a surgeon with a fillet knife so I'd hook em and he'd clean em.

I'm looking forward to doing some fishing down in Texas. I'd rather fish all day, then in the evening just order a catfish dinner somewhere with an ice cold brew.

I'm with you BobTex, let them lunkers go.

[desertsun41]

Ya know.......I have a hard time believing that story. I know a little something about Bass fishing. I have a lifetime of Bass fishing experience in some pretty big money regional tournamants as well as nearly all my spare time on the water. I worked with Fisheries Biologists tagging fish as well as electro shocking to do fish counts as well as squeezing out eggs for study. Im a Certified Scuba Diver who goes down to study fish behavior. I was also an accomplished writer for some well known fishing magazines like Outdoor Life, NJ Fisherman, and Fins and Feathers.

Maybe that can qualify me to say that this story is hogwash. If we catch a fish and the hook is too deep to pull out, we just cut the string and let the fish go with the hook still in it. Within 2-5 days the natural acids in a fishes body, the same acids that break down food, will decompose that hook safely and with no harm. Those hooks are usually steel unless it's an aberdeen hook which is a steel/brass blend so it's a soft bendable steel. Gold as in this gold ring is just about the softest metal there is. I would not doubt that purple stone whatever it is can not decompose and break down but the gold will.

Even if not enough time passed for that ring to decompose it would try to crap it out and it may not fit out the anus causing great pain, stress and eventual death within a week. Fish also have the nature given gift of being able to regurgitate an accidental swallow. And that 6 pound Bass in this article sure had the experience in nature to know how to do this.

In yet another known fact, there are underwater videos out there showing fishermen casting artificial lures and the fish inhales it and spits it back out without the fishermen ever noticing. Fish, especially Bass and Trout can sense in an instant if it is not food. I have practiced this myself using fish feeding bags while scuba diving. I can hold a fake worm in between one finger and a real worm between the next finger and watch the fish take it and spit it out without my fingers feeling it. So this being said, why would a fish swallow a ring that size?

Has anyone checked Snopes for this story?

Every couple of years a story like this hits the news. Does anyone remember the story with photos a few years ago where a hellicopter took pictures of a Alligator swallowing a Deer whole in Lake Conroe? Those pics are still circulating the internet to this day.

[billybones]

Nothing on Snopes about this but then again, it's a recent story so we'll have to wait and see on that.

As far as the gold and digestive juices, gold would hold up rather well. This is why it is used in electronics. Gold doesn't conduct electricity as well as copper and is far more expensive but the reason gold is used on electrical contacts is that it is corrosion resistant. Think steel or iron in salt water vs gold in salt water. Also, typical school rings have very little gold in them.

I have to agree, it seems unlikely a bass would swollow a ring. I also wondered what kind of health problems a fish would encounter with a gut full of metal of any kind.

Why didn't the fish either pass or puke up the ring? Maybe it was on it's way to the pawnshop? No matter what, it's a hell of a fish story, true or not.

[TexianPatriot]

Originally Posted by lonestar2007

True enough. I'll take crappie over bass any day, but the 'pan size' black bass aren't too bad. Once when we were camping at PK, we'd just wade out in the lake every morning at daybreak (the bass would be running at daybreak and again at dusk) and we'd catch a mess of them to fry later on that day. They might have been under the size limit, I don't think we ever checked .We just hooked our stringers to our belt loops on our cut-offs and only caught what we were going to eat that day, they were in the 10" to 12" size. Used to catch 17" and 18" at Joe Pool and to tell the truth, the flavor is just not there! Crappie rules! Well, got to add that a 'pan size' channel or blue cat out of a good flowing river is awfully darn good eating too!

My buddy's family has a lake house on PK. I hear it's a beautiful lake. I'll be going to Tarleton State, so we'll only be an hour or so out. I can't wait to come home with a stringer of whites and crappie.

[NCyank]

I heard the guy who owns the ring on TV this morning. He said it wasn't inside the gut of the fish, but popped out of the fishes mouth. My guess was that it got caught on the hook or rigging somehow and the fish bit it along with the bait...fishermen pull in the bass and it spits out the ring.

[case44]

Originally Posted by NCyank

I heard the guy who owns the ring on TV this morning. He said it wasn't inside the gut of the fish, but popped out of the fishes mouth. My guess was that it got caught on the hook or rigging somehow and the fish bit it along with the bait...fishermen pull in the bass and it spits out the ring.

Sounds like the ol' fishy needed the Heimlich.

But it is miraculous in many ways. What's not known is how he lost the ring in the first place. I wonder if he was wearing the ring, had taken it off, and misplaced it while he worked with the fishing lures. If it were loose, then who knows where he could have placed it?? Well, no matter now. It's found.