Hello,

 

No pics because the one I did take has the proportion so out of whack it makes the bass look 5" long.  It was more around 15" to 16".

 

I went to the 10 acre lake I've liked for the past few years.  Though I knew it would be extremely busy due to the holiday weekend, I needed to get out and go.

 

It was heavily pressured, so I moved from the area I had been fishing.  On my way to another spot, I tossed in real quick at the boat ramp.  This is likely the heaviest fished area of the lake, and I didn't expect much.  I did use my ultralight to fish a weightless whacky rig out of deference to the heavy pressure.

 

Well, boom!  Something hit that whacky rig and took off with it, pulling drag all the way.  I had 15lb braid with a 4lb leader, so I was fishing with a loose drag.

 

After a nice long-ish fight, I landed it.  I measured it quickly at 15 to 16 inches as there was a boat backing down the ramp.  I didn't have time to measure it, but it was most likely 2lbs or maybe a shade over.  My wife could have fit her fist into its mouth; I could not have.

 

Not a huge bass by most standards, it's large for Northern Indiana, a 10 acre lake, and was definitely the largest I've caught in Northern Indiana and on an ultralight.

 

I do not expect to beat my personal best up here, as it was set down south a ways, and Indiana is not known for its bass fisheries.

 

I felt really good about it and still do.  It proves a couple theories that I've had:  First, that there are actually larger bass in this small lake, and that presentation choice and type can overcome fishing pressure. 

 

The worm was a Yum Dinger on a golden Eagle Claw hook from Grandpa's friend's tackle box.  (Gill left the tackle box to Grandpa when he died, and Grandpa left the tackle box to me when Grandpa died.  It contains all the live bait hooks I'll ever need.)

 

All-in-all, a good day.

 

Josh

It's amazing how rewarding it is to catch fish on ultralight. Makes you wonder why you don't use it all the time. If you lose a few so what ? They're just fish and you were probably going to release it anyway. Good job and carry on !

Right on! Ultralight gear can be amazingly fun, and a 15-16 incher on a UL is a total blast. I remember back in late February/early March I was down at the local lake searching for my first bass of the season and had three 15 inchers slam a size 1 in-line spinner on a 5 foot Daiwa ultralight rod. They felt like monsters on that setup.

 

When fishing open water, I almost always try to use ultralight or light setups as especially around here the bass don't get all that big. It's only when the weeds start growing that I break out the heavy actions. 

Nice I love catching fish on light line, bowfin are pretty darn fun to catch on an ultra light too, all you need to catch them is some marabou jigs!