Fishing is Another Hobby!

Check Out The 12 Pound Bass Below!
(and the 11 lb One Below It!!)

Details:  This 12 pound large mouth was caught off our dock on a 45 acre lake in South Carolina.  Since I normally do not catch lunker bass I was using my old Heddon 115 SP 6' 9" ultralight spinning rod and Ryobi 1000 ultralight reel with 12 pound test fused Spider Wire line.  The end of the pole is visible on my shorts since the lure is still in her mouth and would not remove easily- thank goodness!  I had just put on a new 1/4 oz Jimmy Houston signature Super Spot Rattle Lure using the rigging they recommended to obtain the best action. 

She was 24 1/2 inch long (note the yardstick my wife brought out with the camera she used to take the pictures!)  It was the end of June early on a Sunday morning.  It was not the hard hit I expected from such a large fish but I set the hook with a jerk.  She quickly surfaced and tried to spit out the lure!  The vision of that first "tail walking leap" with the hugh  wide open mouth is still burned into my brain!  I had no idea she was that big when I set the hook!  After a few jumps I was able to keep the tension on and walk off the dock to the shore. She tried to go under the dock where I had branches placed to attract bait fish.  The pole was bent quite a bit to keep her from going under it.  That helped keep the tension uniform and prevented the line from breaking.   When I finally pulled her gently to the shore I shouted loudly with excitement for my wife to get the camera.  Several neighbors came out to see what all the noise was about! 

Note the fins are in excellent shape.  The lure is still back in her throat thanks to the very sharp twisted trebles.  Took pliers to remove.

She went back in the lake for me to catch again!

The Taxidermist who made a fiberglass mount from these photos said the mouth was the size of a 15 pounder.  She probably would weight close to that if she still had eggs.

Some days you just get lucky!

Got Lucky Again!

This Time Only 11 lbs!

About 15 years after catching the 12 pounder, a lake record, went fishing on a very unusually warm, 78 degree, January day.  Wanted to see if the bass were biting. 

This time I  used a newer Shimano  7 foot  1M-6 graphite rod.  It was model CVS X70ML, Medium Light Extra Fast Action.  It was equipped with a Stratus ST-20  Ultra Light reel and 10 pound test yellow Spider Wire line.  The bass hit hard but did not surface, so unlike the above 12 lb bass, I wasn't sure just how big it was but knew it was big!  The pole bent over and the line was coming out on a fairly high drag.  I tightened the drag somewhat more but was careful not to have the line break.

This fish was smart-you don't get to be 11 years old for nothing (Largemouth Bass  in SC gain about 1 lb/yr.)

She went under the dock with the pole bent almost in half - great pole! Then she wrapped herself around one of the main 6x6 deck support posts!

I patently waited about 5 minuets expecting the line to break as she kept pulling.  Then she finally swam around the deck post the other way from the direction the line tangled and was free. Could not see her clearly but she was big! Then she tried going under the dock again so I kept sufficient tension to prevent it.  However she went under the stern of my pontoon boat moored on one the side of the dock! Kept pressure on the line and could tell she was getting tired. Finally pulled her out from under the boat and lead her on shore on the opposite side of the dock from the boat.

Called my neighbor as I ran in the house to get my camera and fish scale.  He came over quickly and took several pictures.  Could not easily get the lures treble hook from the corner of her mouth so cut it,  leaving only the point.  Being a steel hook it will dissolve quickly.  Put her back in the lake and she swam away for me to catch another day!