So I woke up just after 7am on Friday morning, my first vacation day of the year. Im a bit foggy but I had already gotten my rods tied up and I was ready to go. I drank some gatorade and grabbed some water and headed for the lake.
I started throwing a topwater as soon as I reached the water's edge, but no hits. There were some sunnies swimming around. I kept moving about halfway around the lake, and put some things down. I setup a cat rod trying for one of the big channel cats in there.. Then I kept walking and cast into the far corner with my skitterpop. After a pause, I started doing a pretty steady splashy and poppy retrieve. Then I saw the huge commotion/swirl, and realized a big fish just missed my lure. I popped it again, and again, wham!!! I set the hook, and the beast was on.
I had 6 lb test on a lite action rod. I did not want to have too much pressure on the fish and a big flop or run could snap the line. After him swimming back and forth a bit, I knew I was going to have to get into the lake to land him, as there was some algae slime on the surface in front of me, and I couldnt afford that extra weight on my line. I put my right foot down, and felt the cool water seep to my toes. I reached down and lipped him, and at that moment, the line snapped! But I had a good grip, and I pulled him out, and I had my new PB. 4.34 LMB, over 20 inches long, caught on a brown frog colored Rapala Skitterpop. You can barely see the lure in the first pic, as it was almost completely taken in by the fish.
I did not catch any more big bass, and only 1 more dink bass, and some nice sunnies. But the one fish was all I needed. I never did make it to the Susquehanna though. Maybe next time.
Hopefully, in a year, this fish will be 5 lbs
a glorious morning for sure
another view of the beast
obligatory barely executed self-shot
side view
poorly executed ruler shot
barely executed scale shot
a pic of the lake
