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| Introduction | The Big One | Photos | Epilogue |


Finally, I worked back around to where I caught the 4 pounder. It's still very nice out and I actually was wearing just my dry jacket while I let my t-shirt and hat dry in the sun. Then I look and see a nice fish up in the shallows. I'm thinking maybe 8 or 10lbs. I make a few casts towards it with a 5" Big Hammer swimbait and it doesn't move. The beautiful thing was that even though the water was very murky, I could see this fish in the sun from about 100 feet away. Despite the earlier rain, the sun was almost directly overhead and with no boat wakes and no wind, it was truly plate glass conditions. The fish simply never knew I was there.

I made a few more casts, maybe 4 or 5 casts and the fish was staying there, but not looking too interested in my bait just yet. Based on the way the fish was acting, I knew I could catch it if I was patient though. Then, as I'm watching the first fish, I see another fish move up from deeper water. This fish definitely looked bigger than the first fish, but was very hard to see. The first bass was a dusky grey color on the back, but this second bass was more of a green shade, and all you could see was its back hovering in the short grass. I kind of realized at this moment that the first fish was a double digit, and the second fish probably in the teens. All of these things flash in your mind but I was so focused on keeping my eyes on the fish that I didn't give it too much thought.  When you're fishing solo and no one is nearby, you can get locked into a zone where everything is tuned out except the fish.  I was feeling that big time.

I lined up a cast on the second fish and it didn't move as the bait brushed past it. That was a good sign. The next cast I swam my swimbait in from about 10 feet past the fish and let it flutter right in the face of the fish. I felt a thump thump in my rod and it surprised me. I have had some big bed fish hit me right away in the past, but this caught me off guard! The bait and the head of the fish were in the right place, but it was down in the grass and I couldn't see exactly what happened from so far off. After just a split second of hesitation, I felt that slightest bit of weight on the rod, and the instinct part of my brain took over. I swung and the fish was on!

Like big fish usually do, she ran out towards deeper water immediately. She didn't come up until she was about 30 feet from the boat and when she rolled I started getting excited because it was definitely a TOAD. I had just caught a 14-6 and 12-8 a few weeks ago, so I wasn't feeling really freaked out, but I was tense for sure. I ran back to the back of the boat and coaxed her back out to the side. Grabbed the net and held it between my legs and I led her towards it. She came up really docile by the side and I slid her in, then I dumped the rod, grabbed the net with both hands and lifted her in. It was all over in about 30 seconds.

Priority number one was getting the fish in the cooler. I had about 2" of standing water on my deck, so I just laid her there for a minute (in the deep end of course) while I filled the cooler. Then I laid her in the cooler and sprinkled a little 'Please Release Me' formula on her.

I took a minute to try to calm down because I knew she was big. I was thinking now that she was probably 14 to 15lbs. I got the scale and lifted her up. The scale flashed and settled on 17lbs 14oz. My mind kind of went numb.  I just stared at it for like 5 seconds waiting for it to go down, but it didn't. I put her back, held down the power button and zeroed the scale again. I put her back on it one more time and it hung right to 17lbs 14oz again!!! I could NOT believe the fish was that heavy. At this point I was starting to lose my mind.

I was very close to the ramp and I kind of debated doing the self taken pics and releasing her or taking her in for an official weight. I called Brian and John and idled closer to the ramp. Then I said, to hell with it, I have a 152 quart cooler, I'm taking her in. A part of my brain was still in disbelief that the fish weighed that much, and I wanted to get it double checked.  I got to the dock, jumped out and ran up and got the truck because there was no way in hell I could carry that cooler full of water up to the marina shop. I pulled out and parked right at the back door. The guy was working by himself and there was literally no one for 100 yards. We drained off enough water to get the cooler over the gunnel and carried it about 50 feet up to the scale. He got the scale ready and I lifted her out and put her on the scale. The scale flashed for a split second and then just pegged at 18.0lbs! The fish never moved an inch, she just laid there and we stared at the scale. The guy at the shop was pretty excited and I was just about to pass out. What a fish! She was not super long, but she had this gut on her that was unlike any fish I have ever seen in person.

We carried her back to the boat and he helped me get the cooler back in the boat, then I drove down by myself to the ramp. I could have launched and taken her back to her spot, but I didn't feel like that was in the best interest of the fish. She was doing great and I wanted to keep it that way. I dumped most of the water so I could get the cooler out of the boat, just about killing myself in the process. Then I snapped one pic in the cooler, took her out and released her. She was awesome; she just pointed out and swam off steady and strong. I snapped two quick pics as she headed back out into the muddy water. It was a great moment on an unlikely day in the rain, and I'll never forget it.

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