Woot! The Pay off! And dare I say a PB...

[Syppy]

SO the last few times out I've been horribly frustrated.  Haven't caught anything decent pretty much since July, and I was starting to REALLY lose hope.

Read the articles, posted questions, hunted, and threw everything I could think of at them.

Today was shaping up to be much like the rest, and I was about to pack it in when I decided to try out a point I'd had my eye on after all the help with my electronics here on the forums, and all the articles I've read about finding fish in summertime.

Really truly and carefully fished a Carolina Rig for the first time, and was about to call it quits with that in frustration when suddenly things went lightening fast.  On what was to be my last retrieve I thought for a second that I'd caught up on the bottom or something cause it became real hard to pull.  Then it started swimming away and pulling line off the drag. "WOAH!" was all I could think as I started reeling and the beauty popped to the surface leaping and thrashing around.

First ever deep, slow soft-bait worm fish, and a PB =)

18 Inches and 5 pounds by the scale.  My summer drought has reprieve .  Thanks all here on the forums for great articles, answers to questions, and patience with my newbie-ness 

[Grey Wolf]

Most 18 inch bass weigh around 3lb. I believe your scale is way off.

[smashingsmallies]

But it sure does look like a pb--nice carolina rig bass buddy!  Fish on, John.

[Fat-G]

Nice fish man!

Carolina rigs can be killer in the Summer.

[K_Mac]

Nice fish man!

Carolina rigs can be killer in the Summer.

Yup, keep up the good work. 8-)

[flipin4bass]

It's a beaut! Good catch!

[farmpond1]

Don't you just love breaking a slump!  Nice catch!  And using a new technique, too!  How sweet it is!

[Nibbles]

Most 18 inch bass weigh around 3lb. I believe your scale is way off.

You're correct that most 18 inchers are around 3. However, note that it's a LMB whose head/mouth looks surprisingly small. We've all been taught that underfed bass tend to look like their heads are bigger than their bodies. With this fish, its body looks much larger than its head, so it could just be an extremely healthy and well-fed 18 incher, in which case 5 lbs would be pretty believable.

[Grey Wolf]

Most 18 inch bass weigh around 3lb. I believe your scale is way off.

You're correct that most 18 inchers are around 3. However, note that it's a LMB whose head/mouth looks surprisingly small. We've all been taught that underfed bass tend to look like their heads are bigger than their bodies. With this fish, its body looks much larger than its head, so it could just be an extremely healthy and well-fed 18 incher, in which case 5 lbs would be pretty believable.

OK.

[BASSINATORBIGJOE]

That sure is a healthy fish Sippi. Just keep dredging the depths this time of year and it won't be long before that PB# will go way up. Mike 8-)

[Syppy]

Most 18 inch bass weigh around 3lb. I believe your scale is way off.

You're correct that most 18 inchers are around 3. However, note that it's a LMB whose head/mouth looks surprisingly small. We've all been taught that underfed bass tend to look like their heads are bigger than their bodies. With this fish, its body looks much larger than its head, so it could just be an extremely healthy and well-fed 18 incher, in which case 5 lbs would be pretty believable.

Should I throw the scale out, or verify it somehow?  Caught another one today (I think this lake is cursing me with a 1 bass a day limit).  I weighed it carefully this time around and 4.5lbs with and just under 17inches. Or maybe there are just good healthy fish where I'm at?

[Big-O]

Nice healthy Fish and a C rig in deeper water is a fine way to catch'em 

Big O

www.ragetail.com

[moundhill]

Sweet bass Sippi.  Congrats

[Hook Set]

Nice one, congrats!

[Big Tom]

Should I throw the scale out, or verify it somehow?  Caught another one today (I think this lake is cursing me with a 1 bass a day limit).  I weighed it carefully this time around and 4.5lbs with and just under 17inches. Or maybe there are just good healthy fish where I'm at?

It wouldn't hurt to get it verified somewhere.  The lengths compared to weight sound a little off.  Nice summertime bass regardless.

[endless]

Even if scale off, 18'' is still nice. For this year I finally landed a 2 lber. WTG! If curious about scale I would at least check it first before throwing out, you just never know.

[tyrius.]

Should I throw the scale out, or verify it somehow? Caught another one today (I think this lake is cursing me with a 1 bass a day limit). I weighed it carefully this time around and 4.5lbs with and just under 17inches. Or maybe there are just good healthy fish where I'm at?

Get 5 lb bag of flour/sugar, put in plastic grocery bag, hang grocery bag from scale, see what scale says.  If 5 lbs then your scale is verified.

[islandbass]

5lbs or not that is still a nice fish. Congrats. I definitely need to add the C-rig to my arsenal.

[swimbait]

Congrats on your new PB and with a new bait presentation at that.

[evrgladesbasser]

Nice fish caught on your last retreive. That's why you should always throw one more cast, just one more. I agree the length/ weight don't seem to match. Verify your scale like someone mentioned above and problem solved.