I agree buck and don't argue that whatsoever. I guess my point was that even with a small % of tournament guys fishing this style we would see a higher production of bigger fish (if they were in fact there) and even w/ aritificials.

I don't doubt for a second that you are a very knowledgeable sportsman. I've read to many of your posts to know better. I was focusing on my time on Connecticut waters, not only fishing but observing.

As we know they don't get big for being stupid but I believe there just isn't that many giants to be had in our waters. I'm sure there are a some and I've gone as far as saying I believe there is a new record out there but that may be self serving if you know what I mean.

I have spent a lot of time at places like Beach , Long Pond and Amos w/ live bait over the years and have had similar results as I do w/ artificial's. One of my craziest experiences was at Beach Pond. I had been striper fishing and was live lining eels. That gave me the idea to try them for LMB. So I went to the bait store and picked out six of the smallest I could find, they were about nine inches or so. I caught fish and the biggest was about six lbs or so.

I've seen one ten lb fish that was certified in my lifetime. I caught one that went 9.1 at Beach Pond and know of a 9.14 that was caught at Beach only one month later. There was a 9 caught at Cwood a few years back and another big one (or two) this year. So in a nutshell I've known about a dozen or so fish that could be considered trophy sized or whatever you want to call them. I know its only one person but big fish stories typically travel around the horn pretty efficiently.

With that said, I believe that Connecticut large mouth just don't grow that big on average. No matter what you throw at them.