Monster Bass In Small Ponds
Location: Raleigh
Time: 7:40 p.m.
Date: 5/16/07
I had planned to go to Lake Jordan today and put my angler skill to the test. My plan was to catch a mess of 'Slab' crappie, clean them, fry them to a golden brown, and peel the flaky white meat off the bone. Needless to say, it didn't happen as I had pictured it in my mind. When I got to Lake Jordan, it was blowing a gale, at least 20 to 30 mph winds. I was skunked. Fishing off the banks was not productive.
Feeling depressed and low, I went home and decided to catch some large bream at a pond in my apartment complex. It was great pitching tubes to strong little slab bream, some were bigger than the closed palm of your hand. Bream are one of the hardest fighting fish anywhere pound for pound.
This is where the story gets interesting. I like to let the fish run a little and tire itself out before pulling it in. All of a sudden, a large swirl and splash occured next to the shoreline where I was standing. My forearms flexed as it held a tight grip on the rod. The reel was singing as the fish ran and took drag.
In my mind I was thinking, 'What the hell, this is the strongest bream in the world, there is something in these waters!' A bass had swallowed the bream whole and was running to the deep end. I tried with all my might to turn the fish. I knew that I could never hook it because the I had a tiny little hook, and it was in the mouth of the bream, that was trapped inside the mouth of the monster bass.
Finally, the bass spat out the bream unharmed. That was a jolt of adrenaline in my body that is truly the trill of catching big bass. It's equivalent to a knockout, a home-run, a touch down, a try, what every you call it, it's an emotional high and it feels great.
Nothing eventful happened after that, and I continued taking pleasure in catching blackberry size bream. Finally I caught a bream that was just the right size, not too big, but not too small. Somewhere in the mixture of cloudy muddy swirls and clear water lurked a monster. The large mouth bass is the Apex predator of these fresh water ponds.
Can lighting strike twice, I'm living proof of it. A monster bass pounced on my helpless bream swimming back and forth in the semi-clear water. The reel screamed like banshee. Line was peeling off my reel like there was no tomorrow. This time I played it cool and didn't fight the bass as much. I loosened up my drag and let her run.
The line was piano string tight as it pointed toward the deep end of the pond. Once I was sure that the bass had swallowed the bream, I began the fight. On my line was 4 lb. test, and I was careful not to break it or allow the fish to get tangled on structure. When the fish finally came to the surface, my eyes bulged and heart raced as I could see that she was a monster.
I knew I had to get a photo of this. I found a large hole, that looked like it was made by a gopher and put my rod and reel in it. Then I found a rock to anchor it down, hoping that the fish didn't come back to life and pull my rig in as I ran as fast as I could to my apartment to get the camera.
As I was running back I passed by a couple and they were able to take a couple of photos of the monster that swam in the apartment pond. The couple were taken back when they saw the fish and commented that it was bigger than their pet poodle, which the woman held tightly against her chest.
Once the picture was taken, we could see the still wiggling bream's tail inside the gullet of the large bass. I was able to get the hook out and got the fish back in the water. She came back to life immediately and swam towards the deep end. This is the largest bass I have ever caught, and I'm happy to share my fish tale with you. A bad day turned out good, that's my story and I'm sticking to it! I figured the bass might have weighed 8 to 10 lbs. and measured 22' long.
Sonny
Time: 7:40 p.m.
Date: 5/16/07
I had planned to go to Lake Jordan today and put my angler skill to the test. My plan was to catch a mess of 'Slab' crappie, clean them, fry them to a golden brown, and peel the flaky white meat off the bone. Needless to say, it didn't happen as I had pictured it in my mind. When I got to Lake Jordan, it was blowing a gale, at least 20 to 30 mph winds. I was skunked. Fishing off the banks was not productive.
Feeling depressed and low, I went home and decided to catch some large bream at a pond in my apartment complex. It was great pitching tubes to strong little slab bream, some were bigger than the closed palm of your hand. Bream are one of the hardest fighting fish anywhere pound for pound.
This is where the story gets interesting. I like to let the fish run a little and tire itself out before pulling it in. All of a sudden, a large swirl and splash occured next to the shoreline where I was standing. My forearms flexed as it held a tight grip on the rod. The reel was singing as the fish ran and took drag.
In my mind I was thinking, 'What the hell, this is the strongest bream in the world, there is something in these waters!' A bass had swallowed the bream whole and was running to the deep end. I tried with all my might to turn the fish. I knew that I could never hook it because the I had a tiny little hook, and it was in the mouth of the bream, that was trapped inside the mouth of the monster bass.
Finally, the bass spat out the bream unharmed. That was a jolt of adrenaline in my body that is truly the trill of catching big bass. It's equivalent to a knockout, a home-run, a touch down, a try, what every you call it, it's an emotional high and it feels great.
Nothing eventful happened after that, and I continued taking pleasure in catching blackberry size bream. Finally I caught a bream that was just the right size, not too big, but not too small. Somewhere in the mixture of cloudy muddy swirls and clear water lurked a monster. The large mouth bass is the Apex predator of these fresh water ponds.
Can lighting strike twice, I'm living proof of it. A monster bass pounced on my helpless bream swimming back and forth in the semi-clear water. The reel screamed like banshee. Line was peeling off my reel like there was no tomorrow. This time I played it cool and didn't fight the bass as much. I loosened up my drag and let her run.
The line was piano string tight as it pointed toward the deep end of the pond. Once I was sure that the bass had swallowed the bream, I began the fight. On my line was 4 lb. test, and I was careful not to break it or allow the fish to get tangled on structure. When the fish finally came to the surface, my eyes bulged and heart raced as I could see that she was a monster.
I knew I had to get a photo of this. I found a large hole, that looked like it was made by a gopher and put my rod and reel in it. Then I found a rock to anchor it down, hoping that the fish didn't come back to life and pull my rig in as I ran as fast as I could to my apartment to get the camera.
As I was running back I passed by a couple and they were able to take a couple of photos of the monster that swam in the apartment pond. The couple were taken back when they saw the fish and commented that it was bigger than their pet poodle, which the woman held tightly against her chest.
Once the picture was taken, we could see the still wiggling bream's tail inside the gullet of the large bass. I was able to get the hook out and got the fish back in the water. She came back to life immediately and swam towards the deep end. This is the largest bass I have ever caught, and I'm happy to share my fish tale with you. A bad day turned out good, that's my story and I'm sticking to it! I figured the bass might have weighed 8 to 10 lbs. and measured 22' long.
Sonny
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