I went camping with the family a few weeks ago at a 1000-acre reservoir in California. I would fish from the bank a hour here and there occasionally. Caught a fair share of 1-2lb fish, until I got the big momma. Since I was just fishing from the bank and would ride my bike to the fishing spot, I didn’t have a scale, go figure… I can’t tell if this thing was 5lbs? 8lbs? 10lbs? I guess we will never know, but I would love to hear your guesses. Fish was caught on a Berkley Dredger 17.5 since I was fishing a deep point and the wind was blowing 20mph… There was a good bush line and I could feel the crank ticking the tops of the bushes and then hooked the fish. I forgot to add, I didn't have a net either... haha glad it was hooked good, sliding it up onto the bank, little sketchy on a fish that size with no net! With no net and no scale, that's probably the only reason I even got to catch this fish, murphys law! 

I don’t know the weight, but that is a very nice fish! It looks massive in the picture with the kids. Congrats on the catch!

It's deep and has a belly, but not that long, so I'm thinking seven to eight pounds. Length with big bass adds weight fast. Look at the chart below and you'll see that north of 20", every additional inch is about a pound:

 

https://tpwd.texas.gov/fishboat/fish/recreational/catchrelease/bass_length_weight.phtml

Agree 7 or 8 lb, but certainly a fantastic fish.

👏 

She’s getting ready to lay some eggs 🙂

 

Beautiful bass and wonderful memory with the family!  

Looks 8 to 9lb class to me. She's definitely over 8. Although the second pic with the boys makes it look double digit to me. 

7 minutes ago, Rockhopper said:

Looks 8 to 9lb class to me. She's definitely over 8. Although the second pic with the boys makes it look double digit to me. 

I know, the belly was bigggg and it’s just so hard to say!  Haha my previous pb was only 6 so I think this has it beat for sure , but let’s just say it wasn’t a DD cause that would kill me haha 

Great fish.

Looks like a 7lb class fish. Congrats on the new PB.

@Dwight Hottle has caught so many 7-8 lb. bass that I think you can safely change your PB to 7-8 lbs.

 

 

Wow! Those are some hogs!

My first thought was 7 lbs (or more).

 

But I've never had my hands on something that big so I wouldn't trust me.   

I’m guessing the upper end of 7 (7lb 12oz-ish) Good job regardless!!

Edited August 27, 2025Aug 27 by ElGuapo928
Can’t type straight

Thanks guys for all the affirmation. Definitely a fun fish, and yeah, gotta be in that 6-7-8 range. Thank you!