Lake legend LANDED! Weight approximation request

[Ryan N]

I’m a complete amateur at bass fishing. I exclusively fish this lake that's next to my home every day. I would catch these lunkers:

Around this time, I had some small talk with a resident who also lived by this lake. He stated he seen a gigantic bass by where he was fish feeding, and well, I didn’t believe him. To paraphrase, he wanted me to make it a mission to catch this lake monster, I threw a few casts near that area, and well nothing.

Weeks later, I thought I’d try the mini frog lure near the tall grass cover over there and BAM! My rod is C shaped, reel is screeching and I’m fighting for my life! I eventually slid the behemoth onto land, where I was questioning what I even caught and if I dare put my thumb in its mouth haha!

I don’t have a measure or scale on me because I never catch anything big, but this day I truly regret not buying one of those things.
The only measurement I had was my rod, so I did a bit of photoshop to get a dubious measurement at least.

 

It's around 22 - 23 inches. Let's just say it's 21 inches. That's DOUBLE the length of what I usually catch! 

 

My thumb is shredded

 

Can you experienced bass fishermen give me an estimate on the weight of this guy? I'm guessing it's a 5 pounder

Lure: Lunkerhunt Pocket Frog

Technique: Popping with 1 - 2 second pauses, occasional rapid popping to simulate panic

Combo: Abu Garcia Black Max, 6'8 Medium fast rod

The fish was barely hooked, one touch and the lure dislodged. It went in deep though so that's a bit of a miracle.

Line: 30lbs J-Braid x4 with 3 feet of 15lbs Berkley Vanish

[MN Fisher]

Looks to be about 22" - according to a chart printed years ago in 'In Fisherman', that'd equate to just over 6-1/2lb for a bass. Nice catch.

 

[casts_by_fly]

A spawned out 22” fish will be about 6 lb. A well fed summer fish at 20” is going to nip right up to 5 lb give or take a couple ounces. I figured a half pound per inch at that size. 

[Ryan N]

1 hour ago, MN Fisher said:

Looks to be about 22" - according to a chart printed years ago in 'In Fisherman', that'd equate to just over 6-1/2lb for a bass. Nice catch.

 

That's incredible. I'm at the early point of fishing where I'm happy to catch anything, but this one had me shaking! Now that I know where the monster lives, I should come back once I get a proper scale and measure with me.

[Swamp Girl]

It's a beauty! 

[Swamp Girl]

 

Here are three fish to compare with yours. The first is shorter than yours, but with big shoulders. She weighed 6.52 lbs. The second is about the same length as yours at 22.25" and she weighed 6.71 lbs. Note that she's skinny like yours. The last one is also 22.25", but I didn't have a scale aboard, so she wasn't weighed. I'm pretty sure she went between seven and eight pounds since she has shoulders and a belly.

[Pat Brown]

Heck of a story and a great introduction to frog fishing. Congratulations on the beautiful bass!  I agree with most here saying probably 5-6 lber!  Killer!  Now you need to find her granny 😎🎣

[Ryan N]

Thanks @ol'crickety for the comparisons! Those are some behemoth catches you have there, especially the last one, that's a trophy fish for sure.

@Pat Brown I don't know if I can top this one for a long time haha, it was a very unexpected catch.