New Lmb Pb - 9.54Lb - Not A Dd...but Close!

[Goose52]

Fishing from the bank on the dam of one of my small (11 acre) neighborhood lakes this evening. It was that "magic time" - about 15 minutes after sunset, moon up, and three nights before full-moon. Cast a lipless crank diagonal to the bank, splashed down in about 10-12 FOW, counted it down about 5 seconds, then started a rip-n-pause retrieve, trying to parallel the dam.

On the second fall - BAM. Probably in less than 8 FOW by then. Drag pulled, fish jumps, HUGE bass, she heads for deep water, pulls more drag, she jumps again, HUGE bass - gills flared on the jump - head shake, dives, pulls drag for last time, makes a run to the right, got her stopped, she runs to the left, got her stopped, then a few seconds later, at the bank, lipped, and it's over.

Quick photo (doesn't do her justice), measure length at 25 3/4", weight on the scale - 9.54.

Back in the water, she swims right into a thick mat of slop and gets stuck. Off with my shoes and socks, into calf-high water, pull her out, had to clean snotgrass out of her mouth and gill slits. Not looking good - she's laboring. Held her upright for a LONG time. Three other anglers come over, one offers to eat her if she doesn't make it. No way, says I - keep holding her upright. She's breathing. Time goes by. Full dark by now - mosquitos out - getting bit. Lift her head out of the water for another quick photo - HUGE mouth and gills. Then, she lets me know that she's ready to go. Point her to deep water. Let her go and touch her tail. FLASH - she's gone. Hope she's OK. I want to catch her again when she's over 10.

Got home and prepared a known weight to perform a test pull on my scale. Test weight was 9.574 pounds - scale read 9.59 pounds. Scary accurate.

Tackle was a St. Croix Premier 7'mf, BPS PQ (the PQ Five-Year Challenge test reel) w/10lb YZ Ultrasoft, and a 5/8oz Academy H2O lipless crank - blue over chrome.

My old PB was 9.06 - upped it by 1/2 pound.

Still jazzed...

[Jay Ell Gee]

Great story, but even greater bass! Congratulations! Good on you to go in after the distressed fish. I can't wait to see a head like that pop up on the end of my line.

[Big-O]

AWESOME Fish and story Goose52 Bet she's fine and hope you get a chance to visit her again early next Spring... will be a Nice Reunion

[topwaterrob]

nice fish........ what a horse....

[TrippyJai]

Awesome fish... the head looks huge in the second photo.

[Will Wetline]

Congrats to you, sir, for a trophy catch (and release) and a well told tale.

[tholmes]

Congrats, Goose! Great story and, man, what a sow!

Tom

[roadwarrior]

Woo-Hoo!

:respect-059:

[kylek]

Congrats!!! Very nice!!!

[MCS]

Awesome fish! congrats

[00 mod]

Congrats on the new PB! A DD is right around the corner!

Jeff

[LgMouthGambler]

I got a chub reading that, lol.

[MarkH024]

Nice BIG OL' PIG! Ohhhhhhhhh my gaaaaaaaaaaaaawd. -Shaw G.

[HookSetDon]

What a fish!

[dale.m]

Mmmmm I love it when they strip off line like nothing. Good post OP! Congrats on the PB!

[AK-Jax86]

great story great fish good thing you went the extra mile to keep it alive!! Now it will definitly get to over 10# hopefully you catch it again.

[A-Jay]

WAY TO GO Goose !

What a Dynamite story and a Fantastic Bass !

That head shot is OBSCENE ~

Your bait in her mouth must have looked like a bumble bee in the Astrodome !

And why is that not your new avatar ?

btw- for a 11 acre puddle of a pond, that place is beyond fertile.

Nice Job

A-Jay

[Dwight Hottle]

Pretty impressive Goose. Congrats on the new pb. I would get a framed picture of that head shot to hang in my man cave.

[deep]

Great catch Goose! Congrats!

Don't you wish that fish had a little belly to get it into DD range?

[sprirobass]

Excellent catch!

[Lake Forest Bassin]

Geat catch and a great story,Thx for sharing.

[Bassego]

Awesome story and amazing fish, congrats!

[BassinLou]

Awesome job landing and helping that beauty.

[Goose52]

Thanks everyone. It was a great fish. Like Big-O said, I hope I meet her in the spring...when she has that belly that "deep" mentioned.

MEANWHILE, I spent a few hours this morning in the canoe in one of the smallest ponds I fish...got 12 bass...nothing bigger than 13 inches...I guess I'm back in the real world... BUT - guess which lake I'll be fishing this evening!

btw- for a 11 acre puddle of a pond, that place is beyond fertile.

A-Jay - that 11 acre lake is the only lake I fish that has timber in the middle (at between 10 to 14 FOW). Max depth is 18ft. Plus, there's no boat ramp so the bass boaters can't get in there. It gets LOTS of fishing pressure from casual anglers...but they mostly fish where the fish aren't. I can get my canoe in no problem. Plus, I fish it a lot from the bank. I'm not sure it's any more fertile than my other lakes, but with no boat ramp, the timber, enough depth but not too much, conditions are about as good as it gets in my little lakes for big bass. I'd bet there's a 10 pounder in there. Not sure about anything 11 or bigger. I'll keep trying to find out...

Pretty impressive Goose. Congrats on the new pb. I would get a framed picture of that head shot to hang in my man cave.

That framed photo is already planned. I've also got to print out the photos and send off for another TN Recognition certificate. It's only a 9.5..but the TN record is only 14.5 so it's a nice fish...

[Mitch G.]

Very nice pix and story!!!....Thumbs up bro!!!....Congrats on the new PB!