Spring lake, CA Monster!

27.0" Largemouth Bass caught by Steve Mckerracher fishing on Tuesday April 22, 2014 at 08:30 near Santa Rosa in Sonoma County, California (CA), United States North Americausing a Brass, #2 spinner with 1.5" trailer /clear/grn/blk a In-Line Spinner by Panther Martin

I had a couple of hours before work, and there was supposed to be showers later, so I went out shore fishing Spring Lake, thinking pre-front. (There was no storm or shower, musta missed us)

I started with a 1/2 Rat trap in Bleeding shad, and lost it on a snag. Tried a couple other lures, nothing. I could see swirls and splashes, I knew they were chasing bait fish, but they weren't biting anything I had. I ended up backlashing my baitcaster, so I switched to my backup, a 5 ft ultralight (UglyStick) ultralight spinning reel (Mitchell), with 8lb test mono.

I had the thought (I've been reading a lot of articles at BassResource.com) that maybe the baitfish were tiny because of the spawn, and my lures were too big. So I chose the smallest lure I had, a #2 brass (very dirty water) Panther Martin, with a 1.5 in soft clear/green/black fish trailer on it.

Sure enough, second cast I haul in a nice 2.2 pound bass for dinner.

I start moving back towards my car, and the last place I cast, not 5 minutes after I caught the previous fish was a 20 ft wide opening, with cattails on one side, and trees/bushes on the other, and a couple rocks to stand on. I cast into water no more then 4-6 feet deep, probably less, and it was only probably a 10-15 yard cast with such a light lure, but I did manage to feather the landing and make it soft.

I let it sink to the count of five, and started a very slow retrieve. Just barely fast enough for the blade to spin.

10 ft or so into the retrieve I feel a little strike that I thought was probably a weed, but I set the hook anyway. BAM!!!

I could tell instantly it was by far the biggest fish of my life! She made a little run towards the weeds, I got her turned, and saw my first flash within a minute. At first I thought it was belly, but then I realized it was this things cavernous maw of a mouth!

She dashed to the bushy side, and instantly wrapped my delicate 8lb line on a log, I thought I was losing her for sure! But I got lucky, she came back around the same way she went.

After 2-3 minutes I had her within a few feet, and jumped in the water (Iphone and wallet and all, fortunately I didn't get wet past the hips!!!) to land it with my net. I had a small trout net probably only 12 in deep I wear on a stretchy cord over my head and shoulder, and I'm glad I did, if I had to fumble for the net and fight this Hawg at the same time I never would have landed it.

I knew this was the dangerous part with the greatest risk of losing her, so no hesitation, I jumped into the water and guided her massive head into the net in one smooth motion.

I've never even seen a Bass this big in person!

I measured it at 27 inches, but I didn't have a scale... could be anywhere from 10-12+, expert tips on size would be appreciated!

Keep in mind I'm holding her to the side, most pics they are shoving it toward the camera and screwing perspective. But you can tell from the pic I could fit my fist down its gullet halfway to my elbow without touching anything!

You can also see it goes from shoulder height, to the bottom of my pocket, and I could have fit my arm inside its girth probably 4 times.

I fish to eat, but I would never eat a fish this big. It takes so much to make a lunker that big, I want her to pass on her genes as much as possible. I should have kept her long enough to find someone with a scale, but I didn't want to disturb her anymore then I had to, considering it is spawning season.

Who would have thought a Bass this big would be in a 72 acre public manmade lake LITERALLY at the edge of a large population center? Santa Rosa. Look at the map!