The 1998 Catch & Release Contest recognizes thousands of outstanding catches made by Club members. Leading the contest are top fishermen from around the continent. One of them is Texan Chuck Bauer, who tallied an unbelievable 46 bass over 20 inches last year. His largest bass was a 25.5-incher.

Ironically, Bauer's total is not enough to win the multiple-entry award. His biggest bass will not be selected as one of 1998's Top 30 Releases either.

Bauer's total was so amazing, however, that we called him to find out more about his techniques. We learned he catches a lot of monster bass because he only targets monster bass.

"To catch big bass, you have to get out of the small bass box," he says. "Fellow members Paul Duclos and Bob Crupi taught me that. Everytime I go out, I know I will catch a bass over 22-inches and I have to do things differently to accomplish that. When other anglers are beating the bank for 3-pound bass, I want to be deep, sitting right on top of the spots where big bass are most likely to congregate."

Bauer relies heavily on live bait for his success. "I know many fishermen are against the use of live bait. However, Paul Duclos and Bob Crupi both told me the same thing, 'Would you rather have a real steak or a rubber steak?' The same applies to big bass. Bluegills, waterdogs and crawdads are my rule of thumb. With live bait, I am very slow and methodical. I prepare myself mentally to achieve the patience it takes to consistently catch big bass."

Bauer's home water is Lake Ray Roberts, Texas. "I truly believe Lake Roberts holds a number of 14-pound bass. Plus, it doesn't get the pressure that Lake Fork receives. I had one day last year at Ray Roberts with four bass totalling 34 pounds."