An awesome 15 minutes of fishing

[SuperT]

Well, I had a few extra minutes after work today so I decided to hit a pair of local ponds. I got to the first one and hooked into one on my second cast. Not huge, but he was 15 to 16 inches. About average for this pond. I made a few more casts with nothing and decided to try the other pond just a few hundred yards away.

Again, on just the second cast, my line starts to move. I real in the slack and set the hook. At first, it seemed like another average fish, but as I kept reeling my line got tighter and tighter. All the sudden, she bolted. The drag starts singing and my new rod had a bend in it that it hadn't seen before. I still didn't know quite how big she was, but after a few minutes she hung up on a branch in the water. I really wanted to see what I had so into the water I went.

I pulled off my boots and headed in. I reached down to pull my line off the branch not realizing she was right there. That's when the shakes started. She was huge! The line slipped off the branch and she ran again, this time into open water. After two brief runs, she was ready to come in. I'm no small guy so when I went to pick her up and my hand almost fit inside her mouth I started shaking more. I couldn't grab her cleanly the first time, but luckily she didn't leave and I got her on attempt number two.

I didn't have a scale so I called home and had my daughter enter her measurements into a weight calculator on-line. 24" long, 17" around and according to the calculator, 8.16 pounds! My biggest bass ever by over 2 pounds!

Well, I had told my wife that my first bass over 8 goes on the wall. Well here it is. She has a date with the taxidermist tomorrow.

Oh, and for those of you who would criticize me for keeping her. She was spawned out. Two weeks ago, she would have gone back and I probably would have cried.

Here she is (Keep in mind that I'm 6'3" 270)



A CD for scale since I don't cut it.

[lor]

Originally Posted by SuperT

Oh, and for those of you who would criticize me for keeping her.

I wouldn't think of criticizing you, its your fish.
Looks like a nice one and it should make a good mount.

[hunter9]

did you get the actual weight.cause the calculator weight is always off. some times ounces and even a pound on some fish.thats still a nice fish.well i hope people don't give you a hard time like they did to me.

[EZOP]

I'm not sure about the weight either, your 270 come on .
Nice fish by the way. I've been hitting ponds around Emmett also, been seeing alot of big fish, but only lucky enough to hook a few.

[Super Fluke]

That thing is HUGE, as long as it's not going to stay in your freezer for ever, and you bring it to a taxidermist I really don't care you kept it. What kind of mount are you going to get?

[johndeeregreen]

Nice fish! You caught it. Do what you want with it.

[pdxkevin]

WOW that is one huge fish. I hope it tasted as good as it fought and looks.

Congrats!

[UnameIT]

Thats cool you caught that fish, its a shame that nobody else will be able to get it when it got bigger. But nice fish regardless

[12244]

Nice fish, good photos, still have that grin? cool. Your fish, thanks for sharing.

[fishheadko]

Do you know that you can have a fiberglass replica of the bass without killing it. All you need is all the measurements. Length,girth, and photos sent to your Taxidermist. They can do the rest. Nice Fish BTW.

[SuperT]

Originally Posted by fishheadko

Do you know that you can have a fiberglass replica of the bass without killing it. All you need is all the measurements. Length,girth, and photos sent to your Taxidermist. They can do the rest.

Yeah I know. I still feel kind of bad for keeping it, but I didn't have a camera with me other than my cell phone and we all know the picture quality there. One of my next purchases is going to be a cheap digital camera that always stays in my bag so I don't have to worry about doing that again.

[ExBassGuide]

Nice fish! but its not 8lbs sorry.
I have seen many fish 7lbs and more.
Dave? what do you think?
Great catch!
Roger

[Super Fluke]

Originally Posted by fishheadko

Do you know that you can have a fiberglass replica of the bass without killing it. All you need is all the measurements. Length,girth, and photos sent to your Taxidermist. They can do the rest. Nice Fish BTW.

If you kill it you will the exact measurments of your fish for a fiberglass mount.

[DJD]

I remember being able to get both fists in the maw of my largest bass! She weighed 7lbs 15oz on my rapala scales in late august. I suppose now that I am actually carrying a digital camera around, I wont catch any more big ones. GREAT FISH!!! by the way DJD

[HOOKUP]

nice fish, and there is no shame in keeping bass! Thats only for southerners who dont have real fish salmon, steelhead and gators!

[ExBassGuide]

Originally Posted by HOOKUP

nice fish, and there is no shame in keeping bass! Thats only for southerners who dont have real fish salmon, steelhead and gators!

real fish give me a break I would take a 6 lb bass over a 50 pound king any day!
EBG

[UnameIT]

It doesnt matter really both of the fish are a blast to catch and a trophy in there own way. I believe he was implying that salmon are a more superior table fare

[bassin newbie]

yes they are, but nothing beats saltwater fish (tuna, ono, mackerel) in my book
mmmmmmmm