I have no problem with that, but doubt if I caught another state record fish I'd even bother entering it. It's amazing the jealousy out there when someone gets a record fish or deer. Seems there are always people that scream it wasn't taken legally, or was brought in from a game farm, or caught somewhere else. Never fails.
Are you sure there are big bucks with fish endorsements for state records? I could see it with world records. I'm not so sure of that.
I entered a yellow perch that was 5 ounces larger than our state record way back in 2005. Caught it in my private pond. Had only one pond then and wasn't doing anything different than the average pond owner. I did feed the fish but so do other pond owners of which we have 12 state records out of ponds here. Some jackass outdoor writer decided to make a negative story out of it asking if I should be able to enter a fish caught in a pond. And it didn't help I needed a Fish Hauler's and Supplier's permit to cross state lines to bring in some trout to throw in my pond for winter fishing. That made me a fish farmer with that free permit? Next thing I know it won't be allowed as a state record, never mind the last state record yellow perch was caught in private waters also. And of course the outdoor writer's article had people up in arms. Unbelievable how nasty some people were. One guy was going to come to my house and beat me up.
He also felt any fish stocked in any waters should not be allowed as state records. That went for all the stocked trout and salmon stocked as fingerings in state waters according to him.
No skin off my back as I consider it my "unofficial state record" and it is the biggest yellow perch ever caught in the state let alone many states. I have it mounted in a glass case with an ice fishing scene. I know a good fish taxidermist.
I've never been able to produce one that big since even though I still feed them and hatch my own now. I know it has little to do with feeding, as if it did I would be producing state record size yellow perch every year. Haven't done it since.
Ironically a year or two after I caught it I got a call from a biologist that wanted to use a picture of it for a conference they were having with out of state biologists, and wanted to push it tongue in cheek as a typical Indiana yellow perch. I said, "no." I said, "if it wasn't good enough for a state record then...
