I haven't done much tournament fishing this year and the few I did I stunk up the joint. But I have thought about fishing the GA Bass Nation Kayak Series event at Eufala next weekend. One problem - I've never fished there before. With that, I thought it best to drive out there today and check out the lake and get some practice. Just in case a competitor is lurking on here, I'm not divulging baits or locations.

I did my usual "I've never been to this lake before" research include reviewing maps, the Deep Dive app, and checking with various AI models. At the lake, there was a lot of boat traffic as I set off for my first waypoint, a little over a mile away. But, as always, I decided to take some casts at some "fishy" looking spots along the way. I noticed a lot of boats heading in the opposite direction.

Anyway, I moved into a bigger pocket and worked my way down the grass line. Missed one on a short strike. As I made my way towards the back a 6 foot gator came out of the weeds, But instead of moving into the water, stopping, and staking out its territory the gator made a beeline for my kayak. I quickly turned my kayak around and got out of there. Granted, the gator can move faster than my kayak, but it just chased me off and turned around.

With that, I decided to change direction and head towards where all those boats were going. I didn't get bit for two hours. Then I gut a little bump-bump on a moving bait and figured it was a small fish. But it was about a 4-5 pounder that followed the bait all the way to the kayak and turned off. I quickly flipped my bait back out there and this time it grabbed the trailer and ran with it, but it didn't bite the hook and it was gone.

I kept moving, and that's when the big girl hit. I knew almost immediately it was a big one, and confirmed it as it got close to my kayak.

This is where it gets tricky in a kayak. I've got the fish on the right, and my net is behind me on the left in one of the built in rod holders. I always worry about losing a fish going one handed on the rod while grabbing the net and scooping up the fish. Luckily, she was buttoned up pretty good. But just one problem - she barely fit in the net. That was a good problem to have.

I got out the scale and my Ketch board - 8.5 pounds and a tick under 23 inches - 22.75 in the photo but I forgot to straighten the tail. Big, big belly hanging over the Ketch board. One thing that bugs me is I forgot to bring my GoPro this trip. Normally it's in my rod box, but I left it in the house the other day. Ugh.

Oddly enough, this wasn't the hardest hit of the day. Later on, a 4lb blue catfish absolutely crushed a spinner bait. So much so that it nearly ripped the rod out of my hand.

On the day I ended up with 5 for 20 pounds. Hopefully the waypoints I found are still in play next week. But knowing my luck, the big girls in that area will have spawned out. We'll see.

Oh - one more oddity. While driving out there and using Apple maps, at 6:30 am, Apple maps said my ETA was 6:00 am. It took me a quick second to remember that I was crossing over to the Central Time Zone in Alabama.

Nice work Koz! That’s a tank! Congrats on the new PB and thanks for sharing the story - I hope you do well in your tournament!

Nicely Done ~ That's a Great Bass !

Congrats on the New Personal Best

And if you weren't already, welcome to the 8 lb club.

A-Jay

Congrats on that beautiful bass and new PB! And holy bleep about that gator!!

Great stuff right there! Not sure it would've happened if you'd remembered the GoPro. Makes the pic even more special. Congrats.

27 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Nicely Done ~ That's a Great Bass !

Congrats on the New Personal Best

And if you weren't already, welcome to the 8 lb club.

A-Jay

Nope. I've had a few in the 7's.

8 minutes ago, Kayak Koz said:

Nope. I've had a few in the 7's.

Awesome ~

So there ya go.

🏆 THE 8 LB CLUB 🏆

A-Jay

Great fish, and well told story. Congrats on the new PB, Koz!

Yee-haw, Koz!

Very nice!

Congrats on the new PB. I’ll second the welcome to the 8lb club. It’s a stepping stone to the 9lb club & the magic DD.

9 hours ago, NorcalBassin said:

Congrats on that beautiful bass and new PB! And holy bleep about that gator!!

There were a lot of gators out there. Aggressive ones are rare. It’s the little juveniles that are a pain because they chase baits. I had to abandon half a dozen areas because they kept chasing my bait.

Congrats koz, you’ve earned a big bite!!!

Great PB Koz! That there is one "ROTUND" fish - sounds like the foundation for another Suno Song!

Outstanding! That is a spectacular bass! You earned this because of your zero 'give up' policy. Nice work.

That bass is a beast! Good job!

Congrats on the hawg , great write up as well enjoyed the read!

Wow! Awesome!!! That is a monster. Man, you work hard and it paid off. Way to make it happen.

Hope you do good in the tournament, great fish. I had t hit a gator in the snout with my paddle in FL a few years ago.

Nice pig! Way to go man.

An 8 lb. bass! And an 8 lb. 💩 after being chased by a gator in a yak! 🤣

Nicely done, you just never know when that big girl will show up! Congrats!!!!!!!

Nice fish. I'm glad you got her in the yak. Gratz