Loyal reader Kevin Harver sent me this great story (and pics) of a recent bass fishing trip, and I thought it was worth passing on. Look at the size of that beast!
I had just recently purchased my dream kayak and was looking for a great place to catch some fish. On Sunday, after church, I decided to take it
out on it’s maiden voyage to break it in and my wife tagged along to keep me company. We made plans to fish in a private pond in Hadensville
but couldn’t get in touch with our friends who lived there to get permission. At the last minute, we diverted and went to a family member’s pond in Amelia county. I have fished there only once before and caught some crappie. I had thought that it looked like a perfect place for some bass fishing.
Sunday was hot, in the nineties. We began fishing and I was working the silver-dollar lillypads around the edge. I had several hits and caught
six. My wife was bored and sitting in her kayak in the shaded area of the pond reading a book. Just as she decided she was tired of reading
(and concerned about a big spider she just saw crawling on her kayak) she paddled over to me. Right about this time, I got another hit on my
top-water bait. Nothing remarkable, I thought, just some fish hit it and took it under. I began reeling it in. After a few moments of reeling, it leaped out of the water. All I remember was a huge head and eyeball followed by a long green body. “Whoa! I think I got a big one!” I hollered to my wife. I thought for sure the line was going to break and this fish was going to get away. That’s what always seems to happen to big ones, right?! I loosened the drag so the line would give when the fish tried to turn and swim away. Around and around it went, wrapping the line first around a log in the water and then around a clump of lilly-pad roots. The wind was blowing steadily and hard - blowing my kayak and me away from the stuck fish. I had the paddle in one hand, the fishing pole in another, and I grabbed the net with…—oh, how I could have used another hand or two. My wife asked me if I wanted some help. Truthfully, I did need and want some help but I knew that if anything went wrong and this monster got away, I didn’t want to blame anyone but myself. Finally, after fighting my way close enough to the fish, I was able to net the fish and bring it on board. My wife says that I just sat there in a daze and said “what do I do now?” However, I don’t remember any of that. All that I remember was that I had this giant fish with a head and giant eyeballs looking at me while I had my leg holding it down to the floor of the kayak so it wouldn’t escape. I think this kayak just went up in price—it’s gonna cost me another $300.00 to mount this one on the wall! I quickly got the fish
up on shore. In fact I think I took it about 50 yards up on shore so it wouldn’t be able to flop its way back into the water. We hurriedly took some measurements and photos. This is where I did accept my wife’s help ‘cause I was shaking too much to hold the ruler and camera still. Taking my wife, Michele, with me today was one of my best decisions. She said all along “you’re not planning to mount a fish are you?!” Now, with her right there with me to see the catch and excitement, she was calling taxidermists for me. She’s my biggest fan and although this fish was the biggest I’ve caught so far, next to her, it was my second best catch.
Largemouth Bass
25 inches
7 lbs. 11 oz.
Private Pond
Amelia County
July 13, 2008
RSS 2.0
