Hit the local lake on Sunday evening with not much hope. As I got to the pier/dock I could see shad activity and assumed that crappie were after them. Cast after cast on Trout Magnet did not yield any crappie. So I ended up putting a shad fryz and got a hit on the third or fourth cast. The drag peeled and I figured this was no crappie. As I brought the fish closer it jumped and spat out the hook. At least I caught a glimpse of the bass!

The shad fryz did not yield any more bites and I decided to cast Trout Magnet to a spot I know holds some bluegill and small shell cracker. After a few casts I caught a tiny fella.

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Chucking that I had avoided a skunk I let it go. One look at the watch made me realize it was time to head home. But how can any angler do that before the “couple of last casts!” After a couple I felt a thump and reeled quickly to set the hook. Continuous peeling drag meant this was no bluegill, or crappie. I hoped it was not a catfish and was relieved to feel head shakes. The next challenge was how to land the fish. Since I wasn’t expecting much, I had not brought the landing net. So I took the only available option and proceeded to walk the fish over to the dock/pier entrance. The fish cooperated and surfaced approximated 10 - 15 feet away from me. But then it proceeded to run under the floating dock. Luckily the line didn’t rub against it and after some more drag peeling and continuous winding the fish gave up and glided toward my hand waiting to lip it.

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This is the biggest bass I’ve caught on SUL. And, I’m extremely happy that I was able to land it.

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No hog trough or weighing scale. Still need to use the pictures as a reference to measure the approximate length.

Rod: Majorcraft Finetail 6’3” SUL Area Stage
Reel: Abu Garcia MGX Theta 1000s
Line: Varivas ES2 Lemoni Ester 2.3 lbs with 2 lbs (I have learned from crappie.com that
it’s actually more than 2 lbs) SOS line as leader
Lure: Sowbug Trout Magnet
Jig head: JH-89

Lesson learnt: Carry the net, hug trough, and weighing scales on all trips… or be context with approximations.



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