Bass fishing
From humble beginnings, the black bass has become the most specifically sought-after sport fish in the United States.
Depending upon species and various other factors such as water quality and availability of food, black bass may be found in lakes, reservoirs, ponds, rivers, streams, creeks, and even roadside ditches.
[1] Largemouth are known for their greater overall size and tolerance of urban environments, and also tend to jump more than other black bass and fight aggressively near the surface.
However, smallmouth bass tend to fight even more aggressively when hooked, favoring extremely powerful runs to underwater structures such as submerged logs, weed beds, and rock piles.
[5] The All-Tackle world record Black Bass was a largemouth that was caught at Montgomery Lake, GA by George Perry, weighing in at 22 lbs.
It is also important to wash hands frequently when handling fishing line, reels, rods, artificial baits, and particularly soft plastics.
[8] Bass fishing in the United States largely evolved on its own, and was not influenced by angling developments in Europe or other parts of the world.
During the early-to-mid-19th century, wealthy sport anglers in the United States (mostly located in the northeastern portion of the country) largely confined themselves to trout and salmon fishing using fly rods.
[5] The working-class heritage of bass fishing strongly influenced the sport and is manifested even today in its terminology, hobbyist literature, and media coverage.
[5][9] Floating wooden lures (plugs) or poppers of lightweight cork or balsa were introduced around 1900, sometimes combined with hooks dressed with artificial fur or feathers.
Soon, those who had stocked largemouth bass on their farm ponds began to pursue them on a burgeoning number of new reservoirs and impoundments built in the United States during the 1940s and 1950s.
This was especially true in the southern United States, where the largemouth bass thrived in waters too warm or turbid for other types of gamefish.
Smallmouth bass were often introduced to northern rivers now too warm for native trout, and slowly became a popular gamefish with many anglers.
[5] Equally adaptable to large, cool-water impoundments and reservoirs, the smallmouth also spread far beyond its original native range.
In recent years, a renewed emphasis on preserving water quality and riparian habitat in the nation's rivers and lakes, together with stricter management practices, eventually benefited smallmouth populations and has caused a resurgence in their popularity with anglers.
[citation needed] Fishermen, conservation groups, and governmental wildlife departments have introduced black bass of various species across the world for the sport of fishing.
Though surrounded by controversy it is widely accepted that in 1932 a 22-pound 4 ounce bass was caught by George Perry in Montgomery Lake, Georgia.
This record was tied on July 2, 2009 when Aichi Japan resident Manabu Kurita caught a 22-pound 4 ounce largemouth bass in Lake Biwa.
[16] The increasing popularity of the sport combined with "catch and release" practices have in some cases led to an overpopulation of bass.
[18] In 1955 Earl Golding of the Waco Tribune Herald decided it was time to put the "biggest fish tale" to the test and organized the first ever bass tournament on Lake Whitney in Texas.
The state of Illinois was the first to make competitive bass fishing a state-sanctioned high school sport in 2009.
Private groups have seen the opportunity to grow the industry as well through exposure of high school student to tournament bass fishing.
The top fifteen finishing teams in each of these regional qualifiers advance to the Regional Invitational tournament and have an opportunity to advance to the FLW College National Championship and fish for a place in the following year's Forrest L Woods Cup Professional Bass Tournament.
The University of Illinois was third to make a tournament bass fishing student organization, and the trend has grown tremendously ever since.
[citation needed] Competitive bass fishing has also spread to anglers in other countries such as Japan, Korea, Italy, Australia and South Africa.
Takahiro Omori [ja], a Japanese angler living in Texas, won the 2004 Bassmaster Classic title.
A relatively new and popular technique for many fledgling pro anglers is to document and record their fishing adventures, and post them online in order to gain a following and attract even more sponsors.
Gene Ellison the executive director of the Professional Anglers Association is quoted saying, "more than half of the guys out here this weekend are going broke", during the BASSMASTER Classic of 2006.
