5 hours earlier…5:30 am, I awoke to George’s dog breath and the sound of him panting in my ear (this has taken place since we got him, and trust me, you never get use to it). I got dressed, took him for a short walk, hopped in the truck and headed for Gator Lake for a day of pre-fishing. By 9:00 am I had caught 4 bass around 15” (three on a jerk bait and one on a worm) but the tournament was only 4 hrs long so I decided I would scratch the Gator Lake tournament and go pre-fish for another tournament on a lake called Huntly. I had never been to Huntly Lake, and I kind of got lost and couldn’t find the boat ramp. After an hour of searching for the ramp, I decided to scratch Huntly and drove to Lake June (a lake I had been wanting to fish since I arrived in Florida).
As I was launching my boat a bass fishermen was coming off the water. I asked him how his morning had been. His response was less than encouraging… He said fishing was slow and that he only caught 2 fish all morning. My immediate reaction was “Sh*t!!! I just wasted my whole day driving around to fish a lake that’s going to be a waste of my time.” But since my boat was already launched I decided to take a crack at June anyway. Just as I was heading out from the ramp Kari called me. She said “It’s 11:11 so make a wish!”
I drove a little less than a mile from the launch and stopped at the first sting of docks close to deep water. My third cast I caught 2lber. My sixth cast I hooked into a good fish, probably around 4lbs, but it came unbuttoned at the boat. I know that it is all a part of the game but I hate losing fish and I was immediately frustrated. I pushed on, trying to keep in mind that I had just hooked into two fish in three minutes. About 100yards down the stretch I caught another 2lber. Shortly after that I pulled up to a dock and underneath it was the biggest bass I had ever seen! It must have been around 8lbs. I grabbed my flipping stick and pitched a jig under the dock, the bass instantly spooked. Again my immediate reaction was frustration and I though “sh*t! I just saw the biggest bass of my life and I blew it”.
Once again, I did the only thing I could do… I pressed on, kept casting, and about a hundred yards down the line I made a perfect cast right in between two docks (happy because it was right where I was aiming)… and watched my line, as I worked my jerk bait out. I paused the bait… then went to rip it again and felt dead weight. I drew the rod back and set the hook. Seconds later its head came out of the water, and so did its’ shoulders. It was by far the biggest bass I had ever hooked into. When its head came out of the water I could see that the fish wasn’t hooked that well and I couldn’t help but think that this was another battle I was going to loose. I was using a lighter rod and lighter line so I loosened the drag so the line wouldn’t break. The bass ran for deeper water and the only thing I could do was hold on. We played a game of tug-of-war that felt like an eternity (probably 4-5 minutes). After two laps around my boat I was able to get my hand on her but she quickly shot away and headed out for deep water again. I finally got her up to the boat again scooped her into the boat (with no help from my landing net, which just so happens to be holding down the fort in Canada).
At that point I lost my mind. I screamed, yelled, and celebrated with something that resembled a poorly choreographed touchdown celebration combined with a touch of Mike Iaconelli. It took me 3 or 4 hours to fully compose myself. Since I was by myself, I measured it (28” long and 18.5” in girth) and put it in the livewell until I could get someone to take a few pictures. I spent the next two hours talking on the phone and trying to compose myself. I did end up catching a few more fish (one was a 4lber) but they were hard to appreciate. A few hours late I weighed it (12.3 lbs), snapped a few pics and released the monster.
When I got down here the biggest I had ever caught was 6.5lbs. My goal was for this winter was 7lbs, but I almost doubled that. It was a remarkable day, the best of fish of my career, and a day that will never forget for the rest of my life. I only hope that you all can share or have shared this feeling. I literally can’t stop looking at the pictures. It's funny how wrong turns can lead you to all the right places. With my biggest fish successfully logged into my record books, I decided to take a couple of days off the water... nah... I was out again this morning, but didn’t even come close!
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