Anyone that fishes the Motherlode lakes in California knows of the trophy Smallmouth fishing in Lake Pardee. This lake currently holds the California State record Smallmouth. Many trophy and experienced fisherman swear the next " world " record Smallmouth will come from this body of water. I love to fish this lake and mainly fish it when our other lakes here in the Motherlode become over-run with recreational boaters. Lake Pardee is a " no body contact " lake.

The thing that has been really bothering me lately is there is a few fisherman that are constantly catching and killing trophy Smallmouth and Largemouth from Pardee. These fisherman do not know or just don't care about the importance of " catch and release ". It appears that Lake Pardee itself does not care about " catch and release." Check out their weekly fishing report for Feb. 22, http://www.pardeelakerecreation.com/fishingreport.htm
Those are some really nice Smallmouth. I was recently talking to a local tackle shop owner who told me that one of the gentlemen in this photo came into his shop with an ice chest full of trophy Smallmouth, all dead. This gentlemen wanted his picture taken with his catch. Fortunately the shop owner informed him that he could not take a picture of his catch. " A picture like that would anger to many of my customers ". He informed the gentlemen about the importance of catch and release. To my understanding this
" GENTLEMEN " fishes Pardee 2-3 days a week, keeping everything he catches.

This past summer I ran into a self proclaimed " bass pro " at Pardee. This guy was very long winded, telling me about all his sponsers and all the sponsers he was about to get. At the end of the day I run into the " bass pro " again. He calls me over to show me his days catch. I did not count how many fish were in his livewell, I do know there was more then 5 and the smallest appeared to be over 5 lbs.. Told me he caught fish all day long. This guy then jumps in his truck and drives right out the gate. #1) It's against the law to transport live fish, #2) he had over his limit, and #3) and most important, why did'nt he release his catch ? wonder what his "sponsers " would think.

To protect this awesome fishery we need to practice " catch and release. " We need to encourage others to do the same. I know that 90% or more of us do practice good catch and release skills. I have nothing against people eating fish. Lake Pardee plants tons of trout in the lake and they are fairly easy to catch. An awesome example of catch and release can be seen on Fish Chris' www.trophybassonly.com site. Look under " Giant Smallmouth from Lk. Pardee." This is an awesome story. It is also one of the coolest things I have ever heard of one fisherman doing for another to show his appreciation for practicing catch and release. Class Act all the way, I hope Ryan received his mount.