I was fishing Mascoutah reservoir this morning for a few pan fish. I was using a little black rooster tail and had smacked a couple of decent filleting sized crappie but nothing much else. I was casting parallel to the bank about 5 feet off the shore when all at once I got a serious strike!

The bail on my spinning rig is set so that it doesn't really play out any line when I hook a 15 inch bass but it started playing out line like I'd hooked a shark...or a nice catfish. I was betting cat.

I played this fish for about 3 minutes when it got tired of the fight and launched itself out of the water about 10 feet from the bank. It was huge! I've caught 5 pound bass and this was the biggest and fattest bass I've ever seen in person short of a Cabelas Aquarium!

He shook himself like a wet dog and out came the rooster tail and he was gone!!! I was heartbroken. When I looked at the bait, two of the three hooks were bent to 90 degrees!

Sometimes, they surprise you!


Dan

the big one that got away, hummm :D

the big one that got away, hummm :D

If I'd have thought there was a bass like that in this little piece of water...I'd have brought a bait with a real set of hooks.

Dan

I was fishing a small pond and landed the biggest crappie that I ever saw.

I lost a Bass that would have went over ten pounds much the same way when I was a teenager. It was not a good feeling to say the least. :)

If I'd have thought there was a bass like that in this little piece of water...I'd have brought a bait with a real set of hooks.

Dan

Now you know there is at least one there so go fool him again with a stouter bait. :) My wife hooked a big bass in a small pond that took the hooks out of a jitterbug one night just at dark, she was NOT happy. :D

You never forget the ones that don't make it to hand....

I've heard of some good sized bass being caught there. All we caught were little crappies, but they were probably what the big bass were feeding on.

I've noticed that the people always catch the 3 or 4 pounder but the 7+ always gets off. Isn't that a shame.

I've noticed that the people always catch the 3 or 4 pounder but the 7+ always gets off. Isn't that a shame.

Don't know about "always" getting off, but I landed a three pounder today. Are you joking, or simply inferring that I'm lying?

You'll note, I use my real name when I post and don't peek from behind a screen name. I have no reason to lie.

The point of the post was to mention I was fishing for pan fish with a little rooster tail and a huge bass took it. Nothing else.

Dan

I don't think he was doing either, then again maybe joking.

Yeah, it is always the big ones that throw a hook. Of course I've had a few small ones do the same, but it's the big ones you remember.

I'm not talking about you.... I'm talking about everyone and maybe even more so in Scotland. I'm in the sports shop almost everyday and I just love hearing people come in and say. I caught a couple of 2 pounders today and had one that came up out of the water that had to be at least 5lbs and I missed it. It just makes me laugh thats all... I'm not calling anyone a liar.

I'm not talking about you.... I'm talking about everyone and maybe even more so in Scotland. I'm in the sports shop almost everyday and I just love hearing people come in and say. I caught a couple of 2 pounders today and had one that came up out of the water that had to be at least 5lbs and I missed it. It just makes me laugh thats all... I'm not calling anyone a liar.


There has been some research done on heavily fished waters, that indicates few bass get to be big bass that haven't been previously hooked. At the same time, it's interesting the number of bass that come up and shake, even the smaller ones. I've had one other huge lunker shake a jitterbug one night on a lake called Bone Lake, in north central Wisconsin. My cousin - who was a tournament fishermen at the time, estimated its weight would have been 8+ if it had been boated. He saw it and was more disappointed than I because I had no frame of reference at the time and didn't truly appreciate the animal that had just gotten away.

The point of this post was to illustrate that huge bass lurk in waters one might normally pass over for bass fishing. I was not bass fishing and was unprepared for this encounter. Yesterday, I was using the same pole and bail setting and caught a 16 incher that didn't take out any line despite a great fight. The bass "that got away" pulled line out of my reel like a shark on a lark. I showed some fellow fishermen (who had heard me swear) the hooks a moment later. Too, yesterday my fishing companion had a 14 incher (estimated) shake the hook as he was being lifted to the boat.

Perhaps, some of the stories you have heard, are actually true? Have you never lost a truly large fish?

Dan

Have you never lost a truly large fish?

Dan


fought a muskie for one and a half hours on ultralight gear and 4 lb test using a red and white 1/4 oz roostertail in the Conodoguinet Creek in PA. When the line finally broke I was mad and tired....:cool:

and then there was Walter.... as Bob and I have affectionately named the big guy that hit my little blue gill worm, flew up and out of the water flashed me, snapped my line and was gone... in a teensy little blue gill pond - NOT what I expected...

Sure!!! Sure!!! haha im jk.. I'm just being stupid now.....