Went fishing this AM and caught my biggest LMB of the year so far. I started off the morning throwing the Swim Bait for the first hour and a half and I didn't get any takers. I did have two short strikes but no takers. I switched up and threw the Senko for a few cookie cutters. I really don't like the Senko but the bass love em'. After catching a few 1-2lb bass I thought I would try my luck a little deeper since the morning water temps are in the low 60's. I fished a few secondary points and the size and quality of the fish got a lot better. I turned on my Lowrance HD-S fish finder and noticed a big group of bass hanging out on the end of a point in 35-40 feet of water. I turned it off quickly because I didn't want to spook them.....I made a long cast and as soon as my bait got to the bottom it was "Fish On"......Nice hard strikes.
After boating a few keepers, I repositioned my boat and made another cast at a different angle. As soon as the bait hit the bottom, I felt the fish pick up the bait and started to swim off with it. I set the hook and felt the weight of what I thought was a pretty good fish. Then all of a sudden I could not feel anything. I thought the fish became un-buttoned. As I continued to reel I noticed my line going sideways. The fish was still on but was trying to swim upwards to get enough slack in the line so she could get off. I caught up to the fish and then she realized that she was not going to spit the hook. The bass immediately turned and headed back for deep water peeling off drag for a while. I patiently fought her and got her to the surface. She took one look at the net and back down to the bottom she went. I reeled her back up again and into the net she went. I could have swore she was a Double Digit (DD). I placed her in the live well and pulled out my digital scale. My heart was racing because my biggest LMB at DVL is 9.6 lbs. She weighed 8.2. Already dropped her eggs but had a head the size of Texas.......Big ole Bucket Mouth............Catching a quality fish like this reminds me of the good ole days of DVL when 5, 6, & 7 pounders were the norm.
Now days if you can get a 4 pounder or two you're doing pretty good. Hopefully this is a sign that things are going to get better in the near future....I will try and post pic later......
Until next time,
Tight Lines......