Bass Attacks Fisherman and Gets Caught
John E. Phillips 06.14.12
“Don’t put your hands in that water, or the bass will bite you,” Barry Smith of American Sport Fish Hatchery, in Montgomery, Alabama, would tell his employees, when the men came around a tank full of genetically-engineered Tiger Bass. But not until Spencer Ross of Chatom, Alabama, sent Smith a copy of a video, showing a bass attacking his hand when he put his fingers in the water, did the term “man-eating Tiger Bass” begin to surface. Once Ross got tired of just letting bass from 6 to 10 pounds bite his fingers in a private lake, he decided to attempt to actually catch those bass. Ross would put his fingers in the water and turn his hand over, so that when these big bass bit his fingers, his thumb would be in the right position to lift the bass and land it. Ross explains, “I have had bass 10 pounds and larger inhale my entire hand and bite me on my wrist that I’ve hand-caught.”
There’s an area of Bear Lake (a private lake in south Alabama) where fishermen occasionally feed the bream in the lake after they come in from fishing. There’s also a fish feeder on the dock. Once the bream start feeding, the Tiger Bass move in to feed on the bream. “I noticed that when there were only three or four bass feeding on the bream, the bass were very cautious,” Ross explains. “But, when I could get a feeding frenzy going, and eight or 10 bass that weigh from 6 to 10 pounds each started feeding on the bream, the bass became very aggressive and would attack anything that hit the water. So, I put my fingers in the water and started wiggling them to look like bream. Suddenly, a bass came up out of the water and bit my fingers.” Today, Ross fishes Bear Lake about 3 days a week and has caught over 100 bass weighing 10 pounds or more with his hands. Ross says, “our lake was stocked with these man-eating Tiger Bass in 2003, and the fishing has been phenomenal.”
Check out this video of Ross catching a Tiger Bass with his hands.
httpv://youtu.be/Mq76pbE6qDg
Fathers of the Tiger Bass
Two fishery scientists, Barry Smith and Don Keller, had experimented with different strains of bass since 1986. “We always wanted to create a big bass like the Florida strain of bass that would bite as aggressively as the northern strain of bass,” Smith remembers. For 20 years, Smith and Keller selected the most aggressive, northern strain largemouths from each year class of bass they spawned and then trained those bass to eat pelleted fish food that floated on the surface. “We finally had some northern strain bass that would attack most anything on the surface of the water,” Keller reports. Smith and Keller also selected Florida strain largemouth females that consistently produced offspring that would weigh 10 pounds or more, selected the most-aggressive male northern bass in their breeding program and then bred the two to produce the Tiger Bass. The Tiger Bass carried the genetic traits of being super-aggressive from their northern fathers and had a fast growth rate like their Florida strain black bass mothers. Today the Tiger Bass is one of the most-used bass for stocking in ponds and lakes, because they grow quickly, are easy to catch and now have become man-eaters.
For more information about Tiger Bass, visit the American Sportfish Hatchery’s site here.
To learn more about how to catch all types of bass from some of the best bass fishermen in the nation, get the new Kindle eBook, “How to Bass Fish Like a Pro” by John E. Phillips. Go to http://www.amazon.com/How-Bass-Fish-Like-ebook/dp/B007RP2LZS/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334954996&sr=1-1. Or, you can go to http://www.amazon.com/kindle-ebooks and type in the name of the book to find it.
John, the 2008 Crossbow Communicator of the year and the 2007 Legendary Communicator chosen for induction into the National Fresh Water Hall of Fame, is a freelance writer (over 6,000 magazine articles for about 100 magazines and several thousand newspaper columns published), magazine editor, photographer for print media as well as industry catalogues (over 25,000 photos published), lecturer, outdoor consultant, marketing consultant, book author and daily internet content provider with an overview of the outdoors.
Phillips has been a contributor to many national magazines, has been affiliated with 27 radio stations across Alabama serving as their outdoor editor and wrote for a weekly syndicated column, "Alabama Outdoors," for 38-Alabama newspapers for more than 13 years. Phillips was Outdoor Editor for the "Birmingham Post-Herald" for 24 years. Phillips was also the executive editor for "Great Days Outdoors" magazine for 3 years.
The author of almost 30 books on the outdoors, Phillips is a founding member of the Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA) and an active member of the Southeastern Outdoors Press Association (SEOPA). Phillips also is the owner of Night Hawk Publications, a marketing and publishing firm, and president of Creative Concepts, an outdoor consulting group.
Phillips conducts seminars across the nation at colleges in freelance writing, photography and outdoor education besides teaching courses in how to sell what you write to writers' groups. Phillips received his photography training as a still-lab photo specialist for six years in the Air Force. He was the chief photographer for Mannequins, Inc., a Birmingham modeling agency, for 11 years.
While serving as 2nd Vice President of the Alabama Wildlife Federation, Phillips was in charge of all press releases for the organization as well as serving as Chairman of Alabama's Big Buck Contest, which he founded more than 30 years ago. He also was president of the Alabama Sportsman's Association for three years.
Phillips is the recipient of a Certificate of Merit from the Governor of Alabama and the Department of Conservation for his work in the outdoor field. Phillips is vitally interested in the outdoors and travels the nation collecting personalities, stories and how-to information for his articles and features.
EDUCATION: B.S. degree from the University of West Alabama with a physical education major and a history minor.
EXPERIENCE: 10 years parttime and fulltime physical director for YMCAs and 34 years as a freelance writer, photographer, editor, book author, lecturer and daily-content provider for websites. Currently, Phillips is a field editor for Game and Fish Publications; serves on the editorial board of Grandview Media; is a regular contributor to 12 internet magazines and a daily content provider for 8 websites.
WRITING AWARDS: Runnerup - Best Outdoor Magazine Feature - 1981 - SEOPA; Certificate of Merit - Awarded by Alabama's Governor for writings on conservation; Most Outstanding Sports Writer in Southeast - 1983 & 1984; Best Outdoor Feature in Alabama, 1987 - Alabama Sportswriters' Association 3rd Place; Best Book of the Year - 1989 - SEOPA; 2007 - inducted into the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame as a Legendary Communicator; 2008 - received award naming him 2008 Crossbow Communicator of the Year from the Crossbow Manufacturers' Association; 2009 - GAMMA Honorable Mention for Consumer/Paid Best Essay for July/August 2008 in "Southern Sporting Journal."
