I went to lake Amador on Sat. ready to catch on of the big girls, and hopefully join the 10lber club. I got to the lake around 7:30 and inflated my kick boat and got my rods riged up. One rod was rigged with a 8' Castaic Swimbait, one with a jig, and one with a carolina rig. Before I got into the water I wanted to make sure that I could I would be able to throw the big swim bait with out any problums, since I have never used it before. The first cast went nowhere,but after a reajustment on my reel the second cast went flying down the bank with no problum. On my retrieve of that cast WHAM, I get nailed. The fish imeditly serfaces and I am thinking "hello ten pouder club". After a short but exciteing fight (I had to jump down a steep bank to get into the water to land the big girl)I finally lip her. A boat that was trolling for trout saw the fight and I asked them if they had a scale (The first item I am buying on my next trip to fishermans whearhouse)The fish went 10lbs on the spring scale that they had in there boat.

Now comes the sad part of the story. The big girl COMPLEATLY swallowed the swmbait and the Gammie that I put on as a trailer was stuck in her gills. I tried to remove the hooks but they were not coming out and I knew that there was no way that I would be able to release her alive. I have not killed a bass in almost ten years and it made me sick not to relese her. After getting back up to my car I drove the fish over to the marina to put it on the scale they have there and get my picture taken.

On the certified scale she went 9.76lbs. and that was with the swimbait still in her, so I guess I will have to wait to join the 10 club. I want to thank all the guys who post here on this site for giving me the confidance to throw the big baits. The information that I have got off this site has been invaulable and I know that I wont be long befor I catch my ten pounder. I will post a picture as soon as I get acsess to a scanner.

Thanks,
John

Lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what have-yous

Great job John and dont worry about losing that fish. It may actually help to take out a few big fish.
Good luck on the ten +

wes

Fish Killer!!!! ahh just joking dont sweat it. we have more fish in this world then ever before thanks to catch and release. believe me its not a problem there are plenty more. taking fish actually helps some lakes weed out the smaller gene carriers. dont be afraid to take fish out if they are not going to make it and if you do...make sure you fry it for a great shore lunch. other then for the fish's sake catch and release. good job on the fish its most likely to big to eat so get it stuffed.

I agree with the other guys, no big deal. This is the way I view the big fish situation. The more big fish you have the fewer small fish you will have grow up to maturity, that are then dependant on trout plants for food, Big fish are great , but I need small stupid fish to. You almost did it, congratulations. My big fish so far is 7.5# but had 2 fish bigger get off 2 weeks ago. What a lucky cast, why am I not that lucky. The last time I went to Casitas I had a few bass in the 5-6# range follow the bait a little and had one that was about 7# follow fast right on it , I thought she was going to hit. So close to 10#.