Lake Bradford slow but big

[louielakebrad]

Started fishing today around 2. Cond:water tempt-55-58& and a slight breeze . Starterd by throwing a 12 inch worm with no luck. Then a 10" senko which i lost a big fish on that felt like a freight train when it wrapped me around a cypress stump. With no more luck on plastics i switched to a jig. I caught about 5 or 6 bass aroung docks with cypress trees around them. There were 3 between 1 and 2 pounds and a couple of dinks. The last fish i caught was at the end of a dock with a couple of boat slips. She bit after the second fall of the jig and once i hooked him he felt exactly like the fish i had lost earlier on the senko. She kept trying to go underneath the boat and almost wrapped me on the trolling motor but i was able to net her after she spun the boat around a few times. She weighed between 9 and 10 pounds and was 24" with a 19" girth. I never thought a bass could fight as hard as a grouper but after that fish i think im hooked on bass for life. Ill post some pics up soon. anyone else have some 10lb. stories?

[Chalk]

Sounds like a hoss bass

[What a mess]

Fished with a guy for six months and beat him like a dog. He won't help one day and I lose an eight pound bass minutes later he lands a six lb. bass, stupid asks "how long will it take to shake that whipping off mister?" Next day I take him to a pond south of town (wink smile) we are fishing and the skeeters are getting rough around dusk. He whines they are chewing on his prissy self I say you think this is bad wait till the skeeters come out. I get on the trolling motor and head for the truck I am slinging a Rapala in holes in the pads as we motor back. One of the biggest explosions I have ever seen on topwater happens right where I threw my plug. Water pads and mud are flying and I have a fairly small spinning rod with light braid and am waiting for the awe to bad you lost her to be heard. She bolts for open water and I just let her tow spin & drag us around for a few when it seems like there is some hope I ask him if he "feels lucky?" I explain failure to net correctly will result in being thrown into a gator filled pond and left for dead should he survive a ride 1/2 hour home is out of the question. He got it right the first time and about broke the handle trying to get her in. We are stunned moments of silence mixed with school girl giggles and "holy shit look at that thing." I get her wieghed and in the live well 12 1/2 ponds she looked like the stomach had been cut open and a football sewn in. I opened the live well after I could breath again looked at her and said wanna see somthing really cool?
He said sure I put her back. I had put one on the wall from that pond 11 the year before. This fish was so much bigger in the belly and a huge mouth but I just couldn't kill her I didn't have the heart, she was why that pond is great and had more value alive than dead. He asked why I did that and I tried to explain but he couldn't comprehend the release and it made him angry. Of course you know I had to ask how long will it take for you to shake that whipping off mister? We have fished together many more years and we have never caught a bass that large we both have saltwater boats now and he has moved away but we fish a couple time a year together and have caught many great fish just never one like that. He has caught His 1st Trout Red Flounder and Grouper as well as many others with me and his biggest bass to date, Now days he even gets to whip me once in a while but that bass will never be forgotten. Yes they can and do fight in an awesome way put em back to fight another day!

WAM OUT!

[chugbug]

I got one that was right at the 14 mark at lunch one time. I have a picture of it somewhere. If I find it. I'll post it.

[chugbug]

Heres the one I caught at lunch one time. Biggest so far.

[louielakebrad]

what a mess- nice story and i to released my 10 pounder back in water. My thinking is that my fish couldnt become a 12 pounder in the bottom of my cooler. and since bass are territorial and odds are she wont be far from where i hooked her the last time and someday ill have the oppertunity to catch her again
chugbug- what did you hook that nice one on and what time of year was it?

got out there around 5 today but only lost a few fish that spit my jig out

[louielakebrad]

can someone help me with posting pics i got the one of the ten pounder but no idea how to put it up

[chugbug]

Go to www.tinypic.com up load your photo and then copy and paste where it says "post to message board" Copy that link and paste it in your post.
I caught that on a Zoom Junebug curly tail worm. It was mid December but I remember that year the weather was pretty mild.

[arcadiainc]

Years ago I went to college in Tampa. Every free moment I was on the Hillsborough river big bass fishing with shiners. Caught a twelve pounder one day. I immediately took her back to the fish camp and put her in the camp's large live tank. Lou, the owner, asked me what I was going to do with her. "Don't know, guess I will take a few photos and let her go". Lou asks if he could "borrow" the fish for a few days. The Florida Game and Fish Commission was coming the next day and wanted some live action video of a large bass. "Sure, no problem". Lou tells me to come back in a few days the fish will be in the live tank. A few days later I went back to claim my fish. Lou says, "Uhhhh dont have your fish, thought you got her earlier this week". "No, this is the first time I have been back". Oh well, no big deal I was going to let her go anyway. As I was launching my boat one of Lou's employees says. "Hey mister, I know what happened to your fish". "Oh!". "Yeah, a rich yankee came along with a $100.00 bill". "your fish and bragging rights are on their way back to Michigan".

[louielakebrad]

here she is

[Terrier]

Nice fish!

Two Biggest from Lake Hall:

This was 27" by 18" - caught her in the summer on a senko when she was spawned out but probably was 10-12 lbs:


This was 25" by 18.5",also caught in the summer on a Yamamoto 10" grub. Weighed 8lb but I think (hope) my scale was off. This fish fought extremely hard - hardest fighting freshwater fish I ever caught:


I released both after taking pics.