Did One Bass Change Your Life?

[crypt]

it wasn't a bass but the first fish I caught. a 15" sea trout on the Indian River when I was 6.  Dad knew fishing was for me. my first bass came about a year later.......then the obsession began. I thank my Dad everyday.........I miss him.

[steve carpenter]

Been fishing for bluegills, crappie since I was in elementary school. In the summer of 1961 I visited relatives in Arkansas. I fished a stock tank with an old fashioned metal bomber crankbait which was green and caught my first bass on a artificial lure. Probably about 12 inches. Have kept fishing ever since.

[DEPS_250]

I have 3 fish that really stand out and totally changed my life.

1. The one that sowed the seeds/started the bass fishing bug.
2. The one that got away. 
3. My first true swimbait fish & current PB. 

 

1. I started bass fishing around 15 years ago. Before this, I only did some light saltwater fishing from a pier with a spinning rod and reel a few times a year for mackerel just for grins and giggles. Nothing really serious, it was just an excuse to go to the beach/pier and drink a few beers while killing a few hours fishing for 1/4lb and less mackerels. Around 15-18 years ago, I decided to go freshwater fishing with some buddies at Lake Skinner. We didn't catch anything but it was still fun to rent a boat and just drive around. At the end of the day, I watched a bass boat getting out of the water and was in awe struck at all the tackle, gear and the boats! I went home and started doing some reading and researching on bass fishing and my curiosity/affinity for bass fishing kind of started from there. 

 

Fast forward maybe 2-3 years and I decided I would buy my first baitcaster rod and reel setup and give bass fishing a try. I did not know what the hell I was doing since I was a beginner. I had only been out a few times by myself in order to learn how to cast a baitcaster and properly work a bait. But, it was probably my 5th or 6th outing and I casted a 1/2 ounce Booyah white and chartreuse spinnerbait next to some tules and got whacked by a 2lb bass. Before this, I had only fished for mackerels that weighed a few ounces to maybe a 1/2lb on a spinning rod and reel. It was the first time I ever felt a fish that weighed over 1lb and that fought very aggressively and would jump in the air. I was so ecstatic and it was the HAPPIEST DAY of my life since I caught my first ever largemouth bass. That fish started the bass fishing bug for me. 

 

2. Fast forward another 5 years and I had already been bass fishing a while and tried out many different techniques and baits. Tried out top water fishing with walk the dog topwaters and instantly fell in love with it after I figured out the proper gear and technique to get the bait to walk from side to side. Bought a Paycheck Baits Repoman top water and went to a local lake during the middle of Summer when it was very HOT. Just as the sun was setting, I casted my bait over a long tapering point and my bait gets absolutely hammered by a very LARGE FISH! The blow up was so loud that it literally sounded like a bomb went off! My rod goes bendo and folds instantly in half! The blow up caught me totally off guard that I never even had enough time to set the hook and reel! A few seconds later, the fish goes for deep water and runs straight into some rocks and was able to come off. I never even saw the fish. To this day, I have never felt a fish so big and powerful before in my life! It was probably a big cat fish or a big striper! Whatever it was, this was the one that got away and I have been in the hunt for big fish ever since. 

 

3. Fast forward to spring 2023 and I decided I would dedicate to fishing swimbaits only since I have never caught a fish on a swimbait before. Just last month I finally BROKE my PB! It was the coolest, weirdest, craziest and most devastating bite I have ever experienced in my life! I don't think I will ever forget this fish. I think this fish has permanently planted the swimbaiting seed in me and now I think I won't be able to ever put down a swimbait ever again! There goes my bank account and all of my conventional bass fishing tackle!

 

It was a cool bite because I had never seen a fish hit my bait so hard and fast before in my life. It was the typical glide bait bite where I saw the fish's mouth open, than my bait goes missing, than I see the 'flash' from the fish's side as it turned to head back to cover and than all of a sudden, my rod goes bendo and there was this very heavy weight at the end of my rod! Let me remind you, I fish braid to leader, therefore all of my senses were heightened to the extreme. The fish smoked my bait so quick that I barely had the reaction time to swing on the hook set. I had never seen a fish bite my bait with so much aggression before in my life. 

 

It was a crazy bite because I had never caught a fish before where I felt like I was never going to lose it! I had 4 hook points buried deep past the barb and in the top of the fish's mouth in the very hard part. Most times when I catch a fish on a treble hook bait, I only have 1 or 2 points and they are usually barely hooked on the side of the mouth in the soft part where its easy to lose them. It's the first treble hook bait bite where I felt the fish was never coming off in a million years! I have never seen a fish hooked so GOOD before in my life! It was actually a bit of a struggle getting the hooks out with the pliers. 

 

It was a very weird bite/fish because it was the most DOCILE fish I have ever seen out of the water! After the fish fought and I got its head out of the water and lipped it, the fish never struggled, moved or even wiggled when I took it out of the water and handled it for pictures and removing hooks! Most fish I catch are always struggling when I get them out of the water. I had never seen such a docile fish before in my life. I had it out of the water for a pretty long time too, probably close to 5 mins. What's even more weird is, 3 seconds after I release it, it made 1 last jump out of the water. I have never seen a fish do this before. It was weird because I have never seen such a long fish with such a small head before. It looked like a hybrid between a spotted bass and a largemouth. This fish was very long. The fish was over 21 inches in length but the head and mouth was very small. The bait barely fit inside its mouth! 

 

It was also weird because it was the first time I was able to actually feel my intuition and feel that I was going to get bit. Most days I fish, I am usually indifferent and usually never give any thought to actually trying to call my shots and say to myself that I am going to get bit. But, for whatever reason, this was the very first time where I pulled up to a spot and something inside my gut said...'this is the JUICE, keep fishing it, I think you're about to get bit'. I was also very lucky too, because a few casts before I got bit, I had actually thought about moving and abandoning the spot since I was on a time crunch and wanted to check out the rest of the lake. 

 

It was also devastating because I for sure thought it was going to be 5 or even 6lbs! It fought so hard and the weight I felt when I lipped it, had my hopes up thinking I might have actually surpassed the 5lb mark. When I weighed it, it was only 4.5 lbs. I was so devastated because I have been trying to surpass that 5lb mark for a few years now! 

 

_ Tackle Breakdown

• Dobyns Fury 795SB 
• Daiwa Tatula 300XSL 8.1 _ Swapped out the stock 110 mm handle for a 100 mm handle from a Tatula 200 for better sensitivity when working glides. 
• 40lb Sufix 832 braid to a 20lb Seaguar InvizX fluorocarbon leader
• Uni to uni leader knot
• Bass Pro Shops XPS Swerve Glide Bait _ Crappie color 
• 2 gram golfers lead tape on the belly and chin.
• Owner ST-36 Size 2
• Hand tied 80lb braided line soft split rings
• SPRO Prime Snap Mini size 4
• Tornado HH knot to the snap

 

[JayMac89]

Iv told this story here before, but yes. 

 

I fished as a kid, mostly salt water. I'm the type of guy who goes all in and obsesses over hobbies. I don't have a ton. I surf, but there's not always waves. I play bass, but I'm an early riser and can't do that early without waking the wife. I train judo and bjj. But I needed a more "relaxing" hobby. Tried bass fishing. Specifically targeting bass rather than anything that'll bite like I have in the past. 

 

Anyway I had only caught 1 bass at this point. Went to a local lake and wasn't having luck. Snagging a bunch. Threw out a lipless and felt some weight. Was thinking I was snagged again. Then as I was realizing somthing felt different, I see this bass jump and throw my lure. Made multiple casts back but nothing. This bass looked huge. I couldn't stop thinking about it all day. Went back later in the day just wanting to catch a single fish. Spent hours getting frustrated. I was ready to call it quits. Started making my way back to my truck while making mindless casts. Right where I lost the fish in the morning, I saw a boil. Stepped back and made a cast. Boom. Solid 3 pounder. Which was huge for me at the time. I 110% belive it was the same fish I lost. Same spot. Same size and this lake doesn't have a ton of big fish. I was hooked right there. That's where my obsession kicked in. The chase, the excitement, the dedication, I was all in. That entire experience. Of things had kept going the way they were I would of gave it up. But that fish taught me to keep going and stay hungry. Now I fish whenever there aren't waves and I'm not working. 

[IcatchDinks]

My wife (at that time my girlfriend) and I were at one of the many riverside parks in our town: a common date location for us. I spontaneously suggested I run to the local store and grab a fishing pole and some lures and we try our hand at fishing in the river. I don't know why, it just seemed like a cute date idea. I hadn't been fishing in 18 years. The last time was when my grandpa took me and my siblings fishing for suckers. But something about the idea enamored me. 

 

I grabbed a small 30$ pole and some spoons and we went back to the park. 

To my deep chagrin, my pretty little girlfriend had to remind me how to use a spinning rod, and, not knowing any better, we started fishing the worst place to fish in that whole stretch of river. I caught one fish there that day: a nice little smallie. I've never caught a fish there since. 

 

That next week my work fired me. I was stunned and flabbergasted. But now that I was in between jobs, I had a ton of time on my hands. And I had this brand new pole and nothing better to do. So I started fishing. Every day. Non stop.

 

And maybe a month later, I had an incredible day of fishing in one spot. I caught fish after fish after fish, all from the same hole. I could hardly keep up with them. I lost count. And then a biggun hit.

 

I don't know that any single fish changed my life. I think that even if this big one hadn't bit I'd still be just as avid an angler today. But if any fish did change me, it was this one. When it hit, I realized that these things got big. In the grand scheme of things, the fish was just a good solid smallmouth. Probably 16-17 inches. I didn't measure my fish back then, so he may still even be my smallmouth PB (17 inches is the biggest I've ever caught.) But everything before that had been 13 or under. Something about the weight of that fish on the other end of my line hooked me far deeper than I hooked it. I marveled at it. I would hold it in the water to make sure it stayed alive, then pull it out and hold it and marvel at it again. I probably handled him too much. But I was in awe. I finally let him swim away. Hopefully, he's swimming still. 

 

 

That was almost three years ago. I've been learning and honing my craft ever since. 

[Swamp Girl]

Well told, @IcatchDinks!

[throttleplate]

The last bass i ate in 2021 changed my bass fishing fever to this day. While eating the bass i couldnt stop thinking about how i wasnt fond of eating bass and kept visualizing all the bass i caught and considered them a sporting fish, catch and release and not a fish that i want to eat.

So we stopped eating bass and turned ourselves into walleye and panfish anglers. We still catch bass while we use real minnows for the walleye and i enjoy catching the bigger bass but the days of targeting only bass are over.

[GreenPig]

In 1999 I was 19 and fishing on a 15 acre farm when I caught a 7lb 2oz LM on 2lb mono. That girl hit a Renosky Keystone minnow. I was already consumed with bass fishing but from that point I started using more appropriately sized gear. 

[islandbass]

The answer for me is a major yes. 
 

I came late to the fishing game, although since I was a kid, I always wanted to go.  No opportunity to do so until I was in my mid thirties. 
 

After doing my research and learning from reading books I decided to try trout fishing and purchased a generic Walmart special 6.5’ med light rod.  I hadn’t caught anything using the standard power bait stuff so I tied on a size 5 floating Rapala minnow. 
 

I recall feeling a very slight mushy feel but after that I thought I was just hauling in a bunch of grass. It turned out that a bass maybe 5 times bigger than the minnow was hooked. So my first real fish caught (excluding trout farms) on an actual lake was a bass. I was hooked ever since. That was about 20 years ago this month.
 

I too have named some fish. I call her big momma. The tone of her green skin would make any green lantern jealous.  She’s stingy in taking my offers, but I don’t mind the chase, lol. 
 

 

[Bankbeater]

I can think of two bass, but I don't know if they changed my life or not. 

First one happened when I was around 9 or 10.  Dad was getting the boat ready and I was casting a Rebel jointed minnow.  I was bringing the bait back in and the rod loaded with some weight.  I pulled back to set the hook, and the bass jumped.  I couldn't tell how big it was, but it threw my broken minnow.  Until then, I didn't know they could do that.

Second one happened when I was around 15, and we were catfishing in a 3 or so acre pond.  We were fishing with dough bait on the bottom.  The pond was clear and shallow so you could see when the fish took the bait.  I had a cat messing with the bait, I see a flash under the water, and my line starts moving off.  I landed a bass that weighed about a pound.

[Bazoo]

I don't remember many specific fish, but when I got back into fishing last year, I remember one day I was fishing a Texas rigged lizard and caught several in short succession at a local pond. It was the first time I was successful with soft plastics. I had caught 1 fish on a plastic worm previously, but I rarely used them and never could get them to work right. I always used crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and topwater.

 

After that day, I always have 1 rod rigged with a Texas rig of some variety, and usually a Lizard. I've tried all sorts of soft plastics, hooks, weights, and retrieves. The Texas rig is now probably my confidence bait, and I have often fished with nothing else on days I want to just go light and simple. 1 rod, a bag of plastics, a small bag of extra hooks and weights.

 

One of the specific fish I remember though is this guy.

 

I had been fishing at the local heavily pressured city lake, and it started to rain and I decided to leave. My wife and my friend that was with me and I all left and went up the road to a gas station. While getting some fuel I decided to go back - I wasn't done.

 

We got back in and went back and I started fishing in the rain with a buzzbait. A strike and a miss prompted me to add a trailer hook. I fished around the edge a bit, and wham, right in the spot that everyone always hits as they enter and leave the lake... this nice one hit my buzzbait. It started stripping line off and I played her. I got her to shore, and set down on the ledge and reached down to get her. My scale wasn't working and I estimated her to weigh 5 pounds, which was the same as my tackle box at the time. I often doubt and think it was 4 pounds... but nevertheless, myself and my friends call that spot 5 Pound Corner.

 

What it taught me is... don't quit fishing when your gut says to keep at it. And that even though the lake is heavily pressured, there is ways to coax old Iron Jaws into biting. It started a passion for me to figure out how to get bit under the worst of pressured conditions.

 

That particular fish, I think bit because it had been raining, and the fish probably have learned that most of the pressure stops during the rain. Also, it likely wouldn't have hit a whopper plopper as that's a popular lure that everyone uses here. Not many use a buzzbait anymore. So a lure that likely is more obscure, coupled with conditions that the fish might consider to be less likely for anglers to be out produced my PB. 

 

Next, was this guy. 3lb 14oz (with my scale being .75 of ounce off, so more close to 3lb 15oz).

 

I think this one was physically bigger than the above fish, though they were very close. But what set this fish apart was not just it's size... but also the conditions in which it was caught. My buddies and I met at the local reservoir, and we all fished in line for a while and didn't get anything. One of them started to leave, and they were all flapping their jaws... I continued to fish, and after the lures stopped flying, this monster decided it was safe to bite my 4" Fat Albert Grub.

 

One of the things that may contribute is that my buddies (and everyone else) all fish ned rigs... I rarely do (I do want to learn ned rigs), instead, I fish Zoom Fat Albert Grubs, rigged with a 1/0 hook (in this case it was an Ozark Trails brand), and a 1/16 ounce Eagle Claw bullet weight. The result is, I often get bit with what is slightly less common of a lure, and my confidence with this rig is as high as it gets, you can see why.

 

One of the things that it taught me is after things settle down and folks stop fishing... don't stop, keep fishing.

[Big Hands]

On 5/28/2024 at 7:04 AM, Catt said:

Some where in the mid 60s I caught my first bass on Creme Scoundrel.

 

A Creme Scoundrel that had been sitting in my small plastic tackle box for at least a few years. . . . waiting. . . . patiently for that fateful day. It was a 6" grape, pre-rigged with the propellers front and rear.

 

How it came to pass. . . . I regularly fished a local suburban golf course pond, mostly for bluegill and occasionally a catfish. There was a small pocket in the reeds on the shoreline about 6 feet wide, and maybe three feet deep. I (and occasionally someone else would be there too) would fish with worms I dug up, or biscuit dough and catch bluegill. One day, a kid a few years younger than me was sitting on the bank next to me and a solid three pound bass exploded on his worm.

 

His tiny rod was doubled over to the reel seat and the water was splashing all over the place. He finally hollered (screamed?) quite loudly and hoisted it onto the bank and then pounced on top of it like a pit bull on a poodle. I had never seen a bass in person before, but had checked out several books from the library to read tales about anglers that caught them in faraway places. They had intrigued me unlike catching any other type of fish. 

 

I saved up my allowance and splurged to purchase the pre-rigged Scoundrel from the local store and kept it in my tackle box, waiting for a day when I felt like I had a chance to catch a fish like that kid had caught that one foggy morning.

 

A few years later, I was at the same golf course pond, and there was another opening in the reeds that was about ten feet wide and was open all the way out to the main part of the pond. As I walked by that opening, I saw a bass that dwarfed the three pounder that the kid had caught years earlier. I'm gonna say 6-8 lbs. 

 

I ran back to where my tackle box was sitting (by that same pocket the kid caught the original bass from) and nervously eyed the pre-rigged Creme Scoundrel, in the packaging that was old enough to have started to deteriorate. My hands were shaking as I tied it on, and then headed back to the cut only to find the fish was not there.

 

My heart sank, and I had tied on the worm I had been saving for so long, and it was now out of the package. Finally I thought, "what the heck" and tossed the worm into the water about ten feet from the bank and just let it sit there for several seconds. The monster bass suddenly appeared and swam over directly behind the pre-rigged grape Scoundrel and just stared at it for several seconds. I was paralyzed and didn't know what to do, so I just stayed motionless. 

 

Next thing I knew, I noticed the gills of the big bass were moving back and forth, her mouth slightly open. Then, the worm began to vibrate for what seemed like an eternity, and finally, even the little propeller began to spin. In the blink of an eye, the worm disappeared. I reared back and set the hook and the fight was on. The water was splashing like mad since it was only a foot or so deep. After no more than half a minute, the line gave way and it was over as suddenly as it had started. I was gutted that I hadn't landed the behemoth golf course pond bass, but the adrenaline rush from watching what had just taken place (I can honestly say) changed my life.

 

[Bazoo]

I enjoyed reading this thread, thank you all for sharing.

[thediscochef]

My first "Real PB". Christmas Day 2021, first holidays without Dad. 6.82# on a chatterbait micro. Meant a lot to me and I think set me on the path to trying harder. The 4-1 smallmouth with someone else's bait in its mouth was also a special moment. As cool as it was to catch my 7-10 PB, I think those other two were more unique experiences 

[scaleface]

  I was a bass fisherman before I even started bass fishing . I'd go to the tackle stores or depts and just drool over the fancy bass lures. Then there were the magazines like Field and Stream , Sports Afield... that had the occasional bass article. So when I finally got a chance to bass fish , I was biting at the bit. My first Texas rigged caught bass changed the way I fished.

[Swamp Girl]

7 minutes ago, scaleface said:

I'd go to the tackle stores or depts and just drool over the fancy bass lures.

 

Me too! I have always loved lures. My brothers and I used to have the Battle of the Lures, where we'd lay our lures on the kitchen table and argue about who had the best collection. 

[scaleface]

2 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

 

Me too! I have always loved lures. My brothers and I used to have the Battle of the Lures, where we'd lay our lures on the kitchen table and argue about who had the best collection. 

Sounds like me and my brothers with baseball cards.

[txchaser]

Round1: 3lb bass on a 5wt fly rod. The whole experience was magic. I had to get off the fly pretty quick though, I'm in texas and it's pretty unrealistic in most circumstances.

 

Round2: First DD. Got me hunting for big fish instead of just fishing. "Oh, I can do this." It has some negative side effects, sometimes I need to 'just fish' instead of getting worked up about how to get on a big fish. I'm ok with the trade though. 

 

[river-rat]

I was fortunate enough to have my Grandfather and Dad take me fishing at an early age. When I was 12 they started to teach me to throw a baitcaster so that I could go bass fishing with them.

 

When I was 14 (this would have been in 1966) I was fishing a local pond that had a lot of vegetation near shore. My Dad gave me an Uncle Josh Pork Frog on a weedless hook and told me to cast it out and twitch it across the vegetation. On about the third cast the water exploded and I somehow managed to catch my first largemouth over 7 pounds. 

 

Been hooked ever since.

 

 

[Swamp Girl]

1 minute ago, riverat said:

I was fortunate enough to have my Grandfather and Dad take me fishing at an early age. When I was 12 they started to teach me to throw a baitcaster so that I could go bass fishing with them.

 

When I was 14 (this would have been in 1966) I was fishing a local pond that had a lot of vegetation near shore. My Dad gave me an Uncle Josh Pork Frog on a weedless hook and told me to cast it out and twitch it across the vegetation. On about the third cast the water exploded and I somehow managed to catch my first largemouth over 7 pounds. 

 

Been hooked ever since.

 

 

 

Great story. What a moment and what a memory.

[CutNRun]

The first bass I ever caught was on a creek in Pennsylvania when I was 7.  My Dad was cutting wood for my Grandfather (who we were visiting) and I went along to help load.  My Dad used to tie flies (He was a trout guy) and he'd taught me some basics.  I'd tied a yellow streamer and crimped a piece of split shot on behind the eye (hard enough to leave plier grooves), making it more like a jig.  I painted the head with yellow model paint on a Q-tip.  I'd gone down to the creek and was making random casts in the creek.  The current swept the jig behind a big rock.  Right then, I saw a flash, felt a thump up the line, and saw a smallmouth cartwheeling out of the water all around the pool.  It wasn't a big fish, but it fought like it was the baddest fish I'd ever hooked onto.  I became obsessed and would go to the nearest creek, hoping to catch more bass.

 

The other fish that changed my life was also a bass.  In early March of 1973 (I was 12), my neighbor mentioned that he and his father were going to a regional lake to rent a boat and fish...and did I want to go?(!).  It took me less than 3 minutes to grab my gear and be ready to go.  We got to the lake, loaded the jon boat and fired up the trolling motor.  The father and son were both fishing with Cordell Spots, casting to the bank and catching a few small bass.  They'd cast within two feet of one another, so I turned to fish off the other side of the boat.  I saw a stump or log out near deeper water and cast my red Burke Buckshot worm to it. The father started moving the boat foreward, so I reeled down on my line and thought I was hung on the stump.  Next thing I knew, my rod bent into a deep C bend and the biggest bass I'd ever seen exploded to the surface.  The bass burnt drag and I kept pressure on the rod.  When I reeled it up beside the boat, my neighbor's father slid the net under the bass and hoisted it on board.  The first words out of my mouth was d**n what a fish!  It was 22.75 inches long and a little over 6 pounds.  They took my picture for the bragging board at the boathouse.  As great a feeling as catching a big bass was, I knew I wanted to catch even bigger.  It still drives me.

 

Jim

[Scott F]

It wasn’t one bass that changed my life, but one fishing trip. In 1965, when I was 10, I went on my first fishing road trip with my father. Dad didn’t take many vacations but every year, he’d go to the St Lawrence River for the opening of the smallmouth fishing season in upstate New York. In the past, dad had taken one of my older sisters but now it was my turn. We left home in Northwest Indiana on Friday night and drove all night through Michigan and then into Ontario Canada then crossing the bridge over the river back into New York, and the town where dad grew up. We arrived in the morning and went straight to the boathouse. We loaded our suitcases and gear in a wooden boat, and drove out to an island where my uncle was the caretaker of an island property with a big stone mansion. My uncle was waiting for us at the dock with a new Zebco rod and reel for me. We stayed in the house overlooking the river and the ocean going ships that passed by. We spent the next 5 days, fishing for smallmouth, my first ever time catching them, going to stock car races, taking boat rides and visiting the beautiful homes and islands in classic wooden Cris Craft boats. It was a magical experience. I couldn’t have been more thrilled if we’d gone to Disneyland. Dad and I made the trip together for the next several years. It was from these trips that I fell in love with the river and the rugged rocky islands of the Thousand Islands region. My dad passed away in 1981 and didn’t live to see how that trip affected my life. I became a life long smallmouth fisherman even being an officer in the Illinois Smallmouth Alliance. While I didn’t make it back to the St. Lawrence to fish, I did make dozens and dozens of road trips to fish for smallies (and other fish) all over Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, many other US states and several Canadian provinces. My love of the Northwoods began on that first trip to New York. Even my house is decorated to resemble an Northwoods lodge. That first trip was the single biggest event that influenced the majority of my adult life.