What a beautiful day on the river. There is something special about being out at 1st light on flat water that I just love. For many years we used to put fish on a stringer and leave them in the water as long as we were on the water. We never thought much past that. When we started dropping them in ice (with just a little water) the quality of the meat went up astronomically. This is definitely needed when fishing Rock Bass as their meat quality degrades really quick. If put on ice immediately the Rock Bass tastes AMAZING. A bag of ice and a 5-gallon bucket will turn decent fish into incredible lunches and dinners.
Love them rockies! Not very hard fighters but a very beautiful fish. Trying to find the big ones is a challenge. Awesome footage of the action the hellgrammite makes in the water. Congrats on that beast! Such an awesome pattern on that Rocky.