“Bass Thumb” 07-15-10 Report
Posted 07-16-2010 at 12:09 AM by SMBHooker
I had two large Smallmouth fight me to my legs earlier only to watch them rebound back into the river without landing them. The water clarity was clear enough today that I could see the hefty Smallies perfectly as they broke free of my crankbait. Disappointment is to light a word for how I felt after losing both fish within minutes of each other. Although it was hot out my thirst was not for water. It was for not losing another fish to the river again.
I had moved down river now in hopes of hauling in one worth remembering. The heat of the day had peaked at 90 something degrees making wading into the river a no brainer. The water was tea stained in color and was eddying at my feet. I tactfully laid a 4” Yum Dinger alongside some structure that was forming a retaining wall in the river. Here the water was shallow, running only inches to a foot or so in depth. By this time the sun was conceding to the coming dusk and shadows dominated the surface of the water.
I could no longer see my line and was now only operating by my sense of touch. My lure was Tex-posed weightless and although I could not see its exact location when it hit I knew it was slowly sinking through the shallow water. Shortly after this I felt contact. I’m sure if I could see my line it would have been tugging tight as I felt a fish hauling of with my lure.
I was not expecting much resistance but, I held firm to my rod anyway and it paid off in a big way. I had quickly gathered what slack there was and heaved my rod into a curving arc. The load that I had hooked into did not move, it simply went heavy with weight. Once both the fish knew it was not dinner he had just swallowed and I knew I was not hung up on the bottom the battle began. The bass was not far from me and he knew it too. Once he saw me, he turned for the middle of the waterway and pulled out a short burst of drag. I managed to turn his head up and guided him with difficulty through some growth that was pushing through the surface of the water.
There was enough ambient light left to see a faint flash through the growing vegetation. It was faint but sizable. I was renewed with even more excitement when I pulled a beautifully heavy Largemouth onto the soggy bank. Because of the heat the river had quickly receded back from brief storms that popped up earlier in the week, leaving areas of the shore moist in patches of thick malleable sludge. As I stepped back I sank an inch into the mud. The Bass had been pulled from the water without an intense fight and had plenty of energy left. Before I could lip’em, he proceeded to flop about violently, showering me with dots of mud as we both quickly were peppered in particles of wet dirt.
I acted quickly cutting my line so I could gain some control of the bouncing beast. After I popped the hook out from the roof of his mouth I decided to lip him for a photo opp. I knew he was big but, I was still surprise at the amount of force he generated when his jaw pulled tight on my thumb. I had not felt the pressure like that from a bass before in my life. What usually happens from a full day’s work of bass catching was done in one catch and release of this Largemouth. I headed for home smiling at my hand as I gawked at what every fisherman loves to see at the end of good fishing day. I had caught a full-sized river monster and I had “bass thumb” to prove it.
Fishing Log:1 Smallmouth
1 heavy Largemouth
I had moved down river now in hopes of hauling in one worth remembering. The heat of the day had peaked at 90 something degrees making wading into the river a no brainer. The water was tea stained in color and was eddying at my feet. I tactfully laid a 4” Yum Dinger alongside some structure that was forming a retaining wall in the river. Here the water was shallow, running only inches to a foot or so in depth. By this time the sun was conceding to the coming dusk and shadows dominated the surface of the water.
I could no longer see my line and was now only operating by my sense of touch. My lure was Tex-posed weightless and although I could not see its exact location when it hit I knew it was slowly sinking through the shallow water. Shortly after this I felt contact. I’m sure if I could see my line it would have been tugging tight as I felt a fish hauling of with my lure.
I was not expecting much resistance but, I held firm to my rod anyway and it paid off in a big way. I had quickly gathered what slack there was and heaved my rod into a curving arc. The load that I had hooked into did not move, it simply went heavy with weight. Once both the fish knew it was not dinner he had just swallowed and I knew I was not hung up on the bottom the battle began. The bass was not far from me and he knew it too. Once he saw me, he turned for the middle of the waterway and pulled out a short burst of drag. I managed to turn his head up and guided him with difficulty through some growth that was pushing through the surface of the water.
There was enough ambient light left to see a faint flash through the growing vegetation. It was faint but sizable. I was renewed with even more excitement when I pulled a beautifully heavy Largemouth onto the soggy bank. Because of the heat the river had quickly receded back from brief storms that popped up earlier in the week, leaving areas of the shore moist in patches of thick malleable sludge. As I stepped back I sank an inch into the mud. The Bass had been pulled from the water without an intense fight and had plenty of energy left. Before I could lip’em, he proceeded to flop about violently, showering me with dots of mud as we both quickly were peppered in particles of wet dirt.
I acted quickly cutting my line so I could gain some control of the bouncing beast. After I popped the hook out from the roof of his mouth I decided to lip him for a photo opp. I knew he was big but, I was still surprise at the amount of force he generated when his jaw pulled tight on my thumb. I had not felt the pressure like that from a bass before in my life. What usually happens from a full day’s work of bass catching was done in one catch and release of this Largemouth. I headed for home smiling at my hand as I gawked at what every fisherman loves to see at the end of good fishing day. I had caught a full-sized river monster and I had “bass thumb” to prove it.
Fishing Log:1 Smallmouth
1 heavy Largemouth
Total Comments 0
