that bass looks like it would be about 2-4 pounds depending on the overall thickness of the fish, if it was skinny it would be about 2-3 pounds but if it had been eating good like u said it was probably 4 pounds, nice one!

At 17" I would guess it close to 3 pounds, but that's just a ballpark. Go to the bass fishing forum and look for the thread on bass clubs. There you will find a link to Mt. St.Helens Bassmasters. They have a page entitled How Big Is It. That should get you pretty close also. Sure is a pretty fish, ain't it?

jto18, Hope this will help you next time at Terrell or at the very least it would be good info for next Spring before the weeds go crazy. Back in 1987 or 1988, the state had drawn down the water levels in Terrell drastically for some maintenance project. Where all those lily pad fields are now, those areas were left high and dry. What was revealed was a forest of tree stumps throughout the lake. The two largest concentrations of stumps were on the bank to the right of the boat ramp swinging in a radius around that side of the lake. The other major concentration was an old creek bed that ran into the lake directly opposite of the boat ramp or maybe closer to the 10 o'clock position from the boat ramp. Both sides of the creek channel were lined with big stumps with exposed roots. The first trip that year was in late March and we caught so many bass that we ran out of film in our disposable camera. We would crank a single blade spinnerbait into the stump and then let it fall toward the roots, where it would get picked up. The next time was a month later and the spinnerbaits failed but hopping bass jigs slayed 'em.

Why is this important? Those stumps are still there in deeper water now. And no one fishes them because no one knows they are there. Almost everyone fishes closer to the shore. The rest is up to you! Locate those stumps on sonar and especially the creek channel which is deeper. You'll know what to do.

I have weighed dozens of 17 inch bass and they would average out at 3 pounds even.