Ha. That's good. Sorry for the lack of an intro, but stories like these tend to pop up every few months or so. Maybe I'm too cynical.
I'm from Orange County, NY near Newburgh. I fish for both largemouth and smallmouth (where I can find them) but unfortunately I only get out once every few weeks. Even so - I will always renew my license in September because October and November can be great times for catching bass as long as the weather cooperates (and yes, I know that year-round catch-and-release for bass is a very recent regulation change in New York).
braveviper, in an earlier post you mentioned that if you caught a possible NYS record bass, you would have the pics up within minutes. So would I, because I wouldn't post the story until I had the pictures in hand. Any time you're talking about a potential record-sized bass, people are going to want to see the proof. If someone says they caught a 6 lb. largemouth that they weighed on a digital scale, I'll tend to believe them even if they didn't take a picture. BUT, if someone says they caught a 13 lb. largemouth (in New York State), you bet I want to see the pics before I believe the story!
mrs.redg8r, that' a funny photo of your father-in-law, and I love the fact that he used it as his Christmas card picture. You're right, you can't even believe pictures these days, but unless someone is REALLY talented with Photoshop, it's pretty easy to spot a fake. There will always be out-of-place pixels/fragments around the areas that were edited. All you have to do to spot them is magnify the photo 2x - 5x to find them. In the case of your photo below, the fact that the bass are a) identical, blurry, and c) levitating is enough. Still a funny pic though.
One more thing, when a story has one detail that's amazing/crazy/unbelievable (a largemouth caught in NYS that is over a pound a a half larger than the current state record), it causes you to raise an eyebrow. When it has two details that are amazing/crazy/unbelievable (a largemouth caught in NYS that is over a pound a a half larger than the current state record after the person's rod snapped in half), you definitely want to see proof. When it has three or more details that are amazing/crazy/unbelievable (a largemouth caught in NYS that is over a pound a a half larger than the current state record after the person's rod snapped in half by someone fishing without a license at a pond that no one else fishes that was witnessed by a game warden who decided to turn a blind eye to the fact that the fisherman was breaking the law), well...