Hi Barbara - actually, the bass in the picture was let go after the reporter got done with the interview. I do like to eat the smaller, male bass - there's LOTS of those - but the big females I just take their picture then either let them go exactly where I caught them (I've motored 8 miles to release one after a picture) or I bring them home and let them go in the fair sized lake I live on. I have a larger one - my first - "skin" mounted, but the taxidermist gave me the filets from that one. Great tasting fish! I flirted with the idea of becoming a full-time fishing guide at one time but I didn't do it because most of the clients wanted to kill the fish and I only allowed a picture and measurements taken for a "replica mount". I did guarrantee a trophy fish would be caught but that wasn't enough. The reason there aren't many 16lb bass anymore is that people caught them and then took them home for dinner and their traits for large size were gradually taken out of the gene pool. Kinda like if they got rid of everyone over 5 feet tall - we'd be a race of Tatoos! "De plane, Boss, De plane"! :>) I get just as much of a "macho testosterone rush" from carrying around a picture of my fish as I could dragging its carcass to all my friends houses. :>) Rick