Go Big or Go Home

The weather has still not brightened up, so I decided to pack up my kayak and brave the weather in the search for big bass. Last week, I decided to stop being lazy and paddle all the way to the back of the pond that I have been fishing at. This new spot is between the large trees that look like a gateway in my big blog picture. I soon discovered that my new spot was well worth the extra paddling to get to the back of the pond. There were stumps all over the place, and if you know anything about fishing, bass love to live in stumps. I would paddle over to a stump cast around it and inevitably a bass would jump out of water for my lure at every stump. Yesterday, after about an hour of fishing, catching small or medium sized bass, I decided to put a bigger lure on. I was also running out of fishing line, so I re-strung my pole with heavier line that I had bought earlier in the week. After the heavier line was put on and my bigger lure was tied on, I was skeptical anything would bite my much bigger lure. On the second cast, a pretty good sized pickerel hit my lure, so I knew it wasn't too big. I moved to a new stump, casted twice, and on the third cast aftering popping my lure a few times, the water exploded. My rod bent forefully, my line was extremely taught, and I knew I had a huge fish on the end of my line. I reeled hard and when I saw the fish swimming along side the boat, I was shocked. I didn't want t lose her, so I grabbed the line about a foot from where she was hooked and pulled her into the kayak. Anyone who has been in a kayak before knows that there is not much space, so I had probably a five pound bass sitting in my lap. I have not caught a bass as large as this one in a long time. I took the hook out held it up and took some great pictures with my phone. As I was doing so, there was another fisherman in a kayak about 100 yards away and I heard, "Shittttt, thats a nice one over there!" I held it up so he could see the immense size of her and then put a bungee cord cord through her gills, so I could put him back in the water to get a breath (or whatever they do). When he tried to swim away, his tail was so powerful it splashed up onto me. He made a few more attempts at ripping away while I was holding the bungee cord, and it felt similar to holding a young dog that suddenly lurches forward on a leash. When I was done taking pictures and she got her energy back, I picked her up, took the bungee off, and placed her back in the water. It was a great feeling to catch a fish like that. Fishing is all about having a great time and trying to catch the "mother of all fish." I finally caught a monster bass, and hope to catch even more throughout the rest of the summer. Anyone who reads this blog, and wants to go fishing, just let me know, and I will take you out. Its fun to go fishing, but its always more fun with extra company. I now know, the common saying, "go big or go home" applies to fishing as well. Here are some pictures (sorry they are kind of small they are off my phone) enjoy!