Personal Best stories?

[Tokyo Tony]

I know there have been similar threads, but it would be interesting (and fun for everyone to relive his experience) to describe your PB: size, LM/SM, bait used, time of year, time of day, weather, and any other pertinent information.  So here's mine -

When I caught my biggest bass, I went out January 7th (I live in CT) 2007, the day after a freakishly warm Jan 6th (about 70 degrees), around 2 pm, and fished from shore on a lake (Silver Lake in Berlin, CT) that is known for holding a TON of dinks.  I wasn't expecting to do too well that day seeing as how it was JANUARY in Connecticut, but I just wanted to get outside and blow the stink off.  That day there were at least 5 boats on the lake, so while I was making 10-minute-plus casts I was watching the other boats.  Up to that day the biggest fish I had pulled out of there was 2 lbs (in 10-plus trips).  I cast out a purple with green flake GYCB Kreature, t-rigged on a red Gamakatsu #3 EWG, the whole rig doused in Yum Craw scent and let it sit for like 5 minutes.  I twitched it ever so slightly and let it sit for another few minutes.  Right after the next twitch I felt a tap-tap, I gave it a second, reeled down and set the hook, only to listen to my drag zip out for a good 5 seconds.  I almost soiled my pants at that point, but just figured it was an oversized pickerel.  After a good two minutes, several more runs and almost losing the hawg in the remaining lily pad stalks, I caught a glimpse of the fish and once again almost soiled myself because it was a bass (LM), not a pickerel.  Ended up being 6 lbs even, which I know is not huge for a lot of you guys, but for CT it's a hawg and the biggest bass I've seen out of the water in person.  I removed the hook, looked it over in admiration for a good 15 seconds, shaking the whole time (not from the cold), and released the beauty.  After that I threw one more cast then just called it a day.  Even after I catch the state record this fall  , I'll still never forget that day.  What made it better was that just being able to be outside that time of year without being in pain was a priviledge, not to mention catching that beauty.

How about y'all, as the southerners would say?

[Gatorbassman]

Here's mine.

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1157838825

[S I G M A]

I was fishing with my dad one day and caught a 15" smallie(my biggest smallie), like half an hour later he caught an 18" smallie... the biggest bass i've ever seen (we fish off shore by a dam where everyone else and their cousin fishes). He rubs it in until this day...

[KU_Bassmaster.]

Spring 2005 my dad and I decide to make a father/son trip to Lake Fork.  This was the first time I had ever been on a lake where a double digit bass was even a possibility.  The months leading up to the trip were excruciating ..... and expensive.  Many trips with the bait monkey to Cabelas.  So the night before the trip I make one last trip up to Cabelas and just browse more than anything.  I was about to leave emptied handed when I spotted the "Bargain Bin".  I can't remember the price (it was either $.99 or $1.99), but they had some square lipped crankbaits .... Strike King Series 4S to be exact.  I picked up about 2 of every color I could find.

So we drive down and I will never forget seeing the lake for the first time.  Talk about being blown away .  Bass Heaven!!!!!!  The morning couldn't come soon enough.  That morning was awesome.  It was just one of those days where you feel like you are on cloud nine.  So we hit the lake around 10:00.  I was up and ready to go MUCH earlier, but the boat rental guy held us back a couple hours (yes the infamous Ricky ).  We mainly drove around the lake for an hour just checking it out.  Found Little Caney to our liking and found the first strip of "open" water and hit it.  I first threw one of my Strike King Series 4S cranks I got out of the bargain bin.  My plan was to hit areas near spawning flats and see if I couldn't get a big prespawn female.  30 minutes went by and nothing.  I made a cast to an area that had a small creek channel that dumped into a BIG spawning area.  I made a cast past the channel and cranked her in trying to hit every tree I could.  I bounced off a little tree and felt a tick.  I continued to reel in and found my a bunch of grass on my crank.  So I thought the "tick" was just going through the grass.  But I decided to make the same cast once more to be sure.  This time I bounced off the same tree and WHAM!!!!!!  I knew I had something descent on, but had no clue just how big.  She dove straight towards the boat and I reeled with everything I had to keep up.  She stayed deep for what seemed like forever.  Then I finally got my first glimpse of her ...... WOW .  I had never seen a fish that big so I had no clue how big she was.  I remember thinking to myself it was for sure a Share-a-Lunker and maybe even close to a state record ;D :  But what did I know.  All I knew that it was SIGNIGANTLY bigger than any other bass I had ever caught.  She broke the surface right around the boat and that drew in quite the crowd.  For all that have fished Fork during the spawn you know that you are about a three or four cast links away from another boat at just about all times.  About 4 or 5 other boats came around and watched me land her which I thought was kind of cool.  She made a couple hard runs by the boat, but alas I lipped her and she was in the boat.

I just kind of sat there for a moment completely blown away by what just happened while my dad stumbled around for the camera.  A couple other boats came right by us and examined the fish and congradulated me.  I even had another guy ask me for a picture.  ........ then I heard my dad say "You're going to kill me.  I left the camera back in the room."  NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  By that time the guy who had just snapped my pic had zoomed off and there was no way were going to catch him in the little boat we had.  All I have is a crappy picture from a camera phone .  Somewhere out there some guy has a better pic of my PB than I do.  We considered putting her in the livewell and going to get the camera and then release her, but I didn't want to put her through the stress.

She went 10 lbs 8 oz off a bait in the bargain bin.  Not a bad deal

Here's the link from back in 2005

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1112129041/0

[Alpster]

Here's my crazy story......

I spotted a beautiful 6 acre pond in Amite, LA when I was surveying the right of way for a 500 KV power transmission line from the Pearl river in MS to Baton Rouge. I stopped to ask the owner (turned out to be the care taker the owner lived in NY) if I could fish the pond. His answer was an emphatic NNNOOO!! So I changed the subject and asked what he knew about the big power line that was comming through. He was very interested (as was everyone as this was a very controversial project) so I gave him a few juicy pieces of information and promised I would stop by from time to time and keep him up to date on the power line.  

Anyway, I stopped by once a week or so and chewed the fat with the old guy and told him what I knew about the power line, which wasn't much, but he enjoyed the conversation. One day I learned he was partial to Mountain Dew soft drinks and salty peanuts, so I began bringing some along on my visits. After almost a year went by, during one of these visits I asked, "so when are you gonna let me fish that pond?"  

He laughed out loud and said "you can fish it anytime, just don't leave a mess and let me know you are here".

After work on May 18, 1982 I stopped to fish with a guy from work. After checking in with the care taker we started casting the banks. My friend hooked up right away with a nice big fish and I watched from across the pond as she jumped and spit the lure. I remember thinking that fish had to be 5lbs. My adrenalin was pumping big time. He landed a couple more about 3 lbs and I'm working hard without a bite. I had a brand new ABU 5600 (I think this was the first ABU reel with a thumb bar spool release) and a "Worm" brand rod. I had over a hundred $ in that setup and that was lot of money 25 years ago. I tied on a 1/2 oz Arkie jig with an "Uncle Josh" black widow eel and made a perfect cast into a pile of myrtle bushes along the bank and #@%*! the freakin reel wouldn't retrieve. I fooled with it for a while and couldn't get it to engage the spool and finally gave up. That was the last time I didn't have back up rig since then. I yelled for my buddy to ask if he had an extra rod. He sent me to his pickup to see. I found a combo, LOL a "Zebco" 202 with a 5 1/2' rod with one of the guides busted off. Undeterred, I tied the jig and eel on the twisted up line and made 6 or 8 casts against the only bluff bank on the pond and finally the jig & eel bounced off the bank and as soon as it hit the water the line took off like a rocket towards the middle of the pond. I reeled down and set the hook hard. Only then did I learn that the drag on the little zebco just didn't work. It was miracle that the hook snagged the tounge of this bass. So now I am hooked up with a 6 1/2 pound bass and can't reel him in. This I can't retrieve line thing is getting to be a big problem. I am screaming at my buddy to get his butt over to help me. I finally wrap the line around my hand and walk backwards up the bank and just as I get her to the edge of the pond she makes one last bolt into a myrtle bush and gets tangled up. I am screaming like an idiot for my bud to get in there and get that fish or come hold the line so I can. This whole thing looked like Abbot and Costello meets the Little Rascals. My man jumped in the pond waist deep and gently untangled my prize from the herbs.

My heart was beating the buttons off my shirt. I remember carrying that bass back to the truck and looking at her mouth and thinking "this is why they call them Large Mouth bass". The taxidermist said she weighed about 6 1/2 lbs. I have caught a few that have come close, but she is still # 1.  After 25 more years of fishing she was certainly worth the time & Mountain Dews.

Thats my crazy story. Oh Yea!

THE FISH................

[Needemp]

Mine came while fishing the MO Bass Resources.com Tournament earlier this spring. I caught a 6lb 8oz, 5lb 4oz and my pb 8lb 3oz. Gave me a total of 23.5lbs. Here is the link:

Page 1 has the details and page 3 has the pics

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1177208309

[CJ]

KU,I hope to be able to write that up next Spring.Me and my dad are heading there then.

I caught my PB in the first bass tournament I ever fished.It was a BFL,I was a co-angler and it was awesome!I drew up with a guy from outta town,had a speech impetament,and was drunk at the pre-tournament meeting.I couldn't understand him well when he ask,"you know where any fish are"?When I finally figured out what he was saying,I said,"No,not really but I gotta hunch about a spot or two".Well we headed out after I got over the "awe" of the takeoff.The day started out slow but once the sun got up on a cool March morning,I felt like I hung my crankbait until the snag gave me a good tug.I thought it was a drum until my line started elevating toward the surface and I got a glimps of her lateral markings!My hungover boater jabbed her a couple times with the net before I finally calmed him down and pulled the fish into the net.She weighed 7 lb. even.I have caught one other fish that would probally top her but the battery in my scales needed changed,so I got no proof.I caught her on a Shad Rap #7 in crawdad off of a chunk rock bank that was close to the main river channel.

[T-rig]

Alpster, that's a nice fish but the colors look like a smallie. I know it's a largemouth but the taxidermist

coloured it like a smallie.

[Catt]

February 3rd 2007 was a nasty cold morning with Northwest winds at 15-20 mph, a slight misty rain falling, and temperatures in the middle 30's. After having launched out of Jack's 944 Marina I made the short (2 minutes) run to the mouth of Bull creek trying to stay out of the wind and some what warm. Having rounded the corner I dropped the trolling motor, picked up my Rat-L-Trap rod again with the thought in mind of keeping moving and staying warm. My third cast was into the mouth a cut leading to a boat shed which I knew had stumps on the west side, after turning the handle 4 or 5 time my trap stopped solid, I tell Pat d**n to close to the stumps so I push the trolling motor handle towards the mouth of the cut while stepping on the switch. At the exact same instance my line starts zinging towards deeper water rod all bowed up & drag slipping; I immediately scream at Pat get the net. By now the boat is moving off to my left the bass is moving off to my right and I'm nearly on my knees in front of the console with the upper third of the rod in the water. Pat net in hand is now on the front deck killed the trolling motor and with a swift motion netted the hawg; which ends up weighing in at 12 pounds 8 ounces.

Needless to say I was rather warm for the rest of the day; pictures around here some where

[Guest avid]

So there I was,

Peconic River Long Island, NY June 21, 1980.

The Longest day of the year.

It was hot, the sun was shining brightly.

I was casting a white quarter ounce single colorado blade of hammered nickel to the shoreline.

I was doing ok.

My 17 lb thrust Minn Kota was moving my 14' Sears jonboat at a perfectly leisurely pace.

I approached "big fish cove"  and as always the knowledge that I was approaching the best spot on this section of the river caused my muscles to tense up a little.

There is a big overhanging tree at the back of this small cove.  Getting a bait under the overhangs to within inches of the shoreline is the key to successfully drawing a strike.  It's a natural for "skipping" a worm.  Indeed it was because of this very tree that I honed my skills in low trajectory casting.

The limbs are formidable obstacles.  A number of them bend in a graceful arc down to the water line.  So the best presentation requires casting through the holes in the limbs, as well as low and close to the water line.

Today my first cast was perfect.

The bush hog spinnerbait landed less than a foot from the bank.

I started the retrieve immediately.  The bait travelled another foot or so, just to where the bank drops off into one of the few holes in this part of the river.

I saw the swirl.

I felt the lure grow heavy.

I set the hook.

Game on.

It took me an honest 3- 4 minutes to land the biggest bass I had ever seen.

7lbs. 8oz's - Laughable by California or Florida standards, but for Long Island, this was a beast.

Catch and release was new to the awareness of most Long Islanders, including me.  My trophy was skin mounted and now sits in the artroom at Wm Paca middle school in Shriley NY.

It was weighed on the deli scale at Fishermans Deli - This scale is certified by the county for accuracy.

It was the most exciting moment in my many years of bass fishing.

[.dsaavedra.]

april 27, 2007:

i was at a new lake. never been there. i went there cuz ive seen pics of big fish pulled from there. my dad didnt want to take me cuz it was a little far away, he said i wasnt gonna get a big one anyway. well i got there and started thrown a really shallow crank of some very shallow beds. i think they were bluegill beds. anyway, i caught a tiny bass that way. then we went across the lake. i could see lots of turbulence in one shallow spot. it wasnt like multiple fish chasing, it was just one huge swirl. it happened about every minute or so. so i knew there was something big there. i casted my original floating rapala over that same spot for about 5min straight. then i gave up. i told my dad who was fishing a powerworm at the time to fish that spot (thinking that if it wouldnt take my fast lure, maybe it would take his.) he only tried a few casts. i went back there to give it another shot. a few casts later i hooked up with a major hawg!!! that fish just kinda rolled around on the bed for a bit, then came cruising in towards me (scared me big time) then made a big ole u turn straight out to them middle of the lake. it was a tough battle. finally it got wore out and reluctlantly came towards me. i reached down and hauled up this monster. after a few quick measurements and snapshots, i released this 7lb beauty

[fourbizz]

Matt and I embarked on another of our marathon journeys last week. We ended up at our new lake at about 3 p.m. Our plan was to fish all night until the morning bite was over, then head home. After a few minutes of going over the game plan, and rigging up, we got on the water. We were going to fish our lightweight gear until it got dark, then pull out the trophy hunting stuff. We had just settled in for a long trip, and were talking about the nights strategy, when on my first cast, my light spinning rod, gets drilled! I set the hook and the fight is on, Matt scoops up my nice 6lb14oz fish and the trip is officially off to a good start. Little did we know that other than a few dinks we would go fishless for about 4 hours. We got to what we thought would be a good spot just after dark. We broke out the heavy duty equipment and went to work. On only my third or fourth cast, my baits get slammed! I immediately set on her, and again the fight was on. I clicked on my headlamp and called for the net. Matt was immediately at my side. As soon as our lights find where my line enters the water, she breaks surface! I wasn't ready for it because I thought that she was still pretty deep. She gave me a monster headshake and my bait came free of her face. [Mad] I thought that the was about five pounds but the real trophy hunter told me that she would probably gone 8! That would have been my PB! I was kind of bummed. I set down and rigged back up because she had tore up my line on the rocks. After I got back to fishing I got bit again within about 45 minutes! I set and knew that it was a good fish as soon as my rod loaded up. I called "GOOD FISH" and my net man was again at my side. After a fairly short fight my new PB of 8lbs2ozs was in the net! After a quick weighing and photoshoot she was back in the water.

We were having a pretty good night already, but Matt was getting itchy for his turn! I set down and had a Coke while Matt went back to fishing. I eventually got up and joined him. In the middle of my first cast, he called "FISH!!!GOOD FISH!!!" He was in total control and after a few monstrous jumps, his grossly fat 11 lb 8 oz beauty was in his hands! This was officially the largest bass I had ever seen in the flesh. After some photos, she was back home.

We again sat down and took in the amazing night we were havin. We had a celebratory Redbull and rigged back up. Honestly, I was a little bummed that I had just set my new PB and then matt catches a fish that beats it by 2 and a half pounds! I was the first to be ready so I jokingly said to Matt, " I'm gonna go stick my new PB right there". Not a minute later, I feel a sharp thump, and reel down looking for weight, nothing. As I tell matt that I had just got bit, I started to burn my bait back, I got about 5 turns in and my rod loads up, then thumps! She had been swimming straight towards me the whole time! I drilled her as hard as I could. There was no doubt in my mind that she was big. Matt had the net at my side again when she came up to jump. After my painful lesson earlier, I didn't give her a chance to shake my hook, I reeled fast and swung my rod, she never shook her head as I flew her into the net. I dropped my rod as Matt lipped her with both hands. He started to lift her out of the net and said "Bro she's a GIANT!" As my headlamp hit her, I lost my mind, she was huge! We scaled her out at 13lbs1oz

We went biteless for a few hours and got some sleep. We woke up to a cold morning, and broke out our lightweight rods looking for a fifth quality fish to round out the 5 fish sack. After about thirty minutes, Matt hooks up and lands a gorgeous 8lb1.5oz fish!

Crunch the numbers: that made for a 47LB 10.5 OZ FIVE FISH SACK!!!!!!!!

What a night!