11/25/2010, cloudy, 50+ F air temperature, slight wind

7'3" M/XF Powell Max rod, 6.3:1 (32 IPT) Shimano Sonora spinning reel, 6/30 lb Daiwa Samurai mainline with 6 lb Stren Fluorocast 100% FC leader, 4/0 Gamakatsu wide gap worm hook, 5" Gary Yamamoto Senko (watermelon with red flakes)

Went fishing for about an hour today to my local lake (Ragged Mountain Reservoir, Charlottesville). I caught just one fish, but at 25 inches long, it was a good one, and my personal best. The free fish weight calculator says it's a 8 pounder. I didn't believe that there could be a fish that big in my local lake!

Caught her near a laydown in a cove, in about 10-12 ft of water. When I set the hook, and started reeling her in, I swore I snagged a turtle. She didn't pull any drag; and I had 6 lb line; and didn't jump; only a lot of head-shaking. The fight, if I could call it that, lasted maybe 30 seconds. In fact, it felt like the bass was sort of rotating when I was reeling her in. If I may say so, I was fighting her weight, rather than her strength.

After I landed her, I found out why. I never seen a bass like this. It had a weird sort of shoulder, almost like a distinct hump. When I released at a shallow point, and she swam away slowly, her shoulder blades bulged 2 to 3 inches out of the water for a long time. She also had the bugged out eyes that the old fish have. Although the left eye was certainly more bugged out than the right. That's strange.

Well, my car, and the fish scale in it was more than a mile away. When I first saw her, I thought I landed a 10 pounder. I have caught a few 5's and one 6. But I never even saw one this big. I could put both my hands in her mouth at the same time, I do have small hands though. Then I measured her, and knew it would fall short of a DD. So I spared her, and myself, all the trouble.

Happy thanksgiving everyone.

P.S. I never carry a camera while fishing. I have been thoroughly skunked everytime I had a camera with me, and I tried dozens of time. Call me superstitious if you want to; but I do believe in this one.

Congrats. on a nice fish !!!!!!!!!

congrats on the fish.

Excellent report and Congratulations on your new PB.

Big O

www.ragetail.com

congratulations on the new PB!

New PB's are always special. WTG.

A Thanksgiving to remember.  Good job!

Very good info,and it sounds like a great fish.Thanks for sharing.

Thanks guys.

This fish has effectively cured my habit of using a 6 lb FC leader. I'm going up to 10 lb whenever I have the money to buy a spool. When I landed her, about 3 feet of the leader was all frayed and tattered. I don't know how she did that. The water was pretty much obstacle-free, and she didn't snag me anywhere after the hookset. If she fought a bit harder, say it was spring or summer, there's no way I would have landed her.

Also, there's one pretty interesting thing I noted. All but one of the big fish I caught this year (and this is my first year of bass fishing), hit the lure, whether topwater or a soft plastic, when it lay absolutely still for a few seconds.