Does catching a fish twice count? On live bait? It worries me that I caught two fish twice - seems like they are real hungry but there are lots of bream in the pond. And the fish are poor - like they are not getting enough to eat. Guess I better call the fish doctors!

Not sure how to score this - if everything counts, my best 5 weighed 17 lbs. 5 ozs. If catching a fish twice does not count, that lowers my weight. And if live bait does not count my total is real low. Big fish is either 4-10 or 4-12, depending on which time I weighed it!

This was the first time I really fished my pond. Other times I have fished it for an hour or so. The first day I fished it - four years ago this July, I caught a 6.5 pound bass on a floating Rapala. I caught that same fish or one just like it several times. There were two others I seemed to catch several times that weighed between 5 and 5.5 pounds. I also landed four or five in the four to 4.5 pound range.

During the winter of 2001 I saw a school of bass just under the surface on a warm, sunny day. I counted 22 before losing track of them. That was right after I got rid of the first otter in the pond. I had found the remains of a 4 pound plus bass it was eating one day - the first time I shot at it.

I had not fished for bass in this pond since last fall. During the winter there were two otters there for a couple of weeks, before I finally got rid of them. Wonder how many of the bigger bass they killed. I have caught bluegill that weighed a pound even, and some 12 to 14 ounces, here so I know they are growing.