An old Lady caught & released n the South East

People:Carpets, Pat & myself.

Duration:3 hours

Tide:rising

Weather:Moderate/strong Southerly

Bait:Lures

Rigs:20 inches 20lb Sakura Fluoro Carbon & JB Clip

Results:See Below.




Report: ( A bit late, fish was caught & released back in September)

That Session

A strong southerly was making fishing quite difficult for Barry Pat and myself as we battled the white foam and constant bow in the lines, keeping contact was difficult but achievable through adjustments to stance and retrieve. I had lost my balaclava some where in the trip to the Kingdom and I was to be exposed to the elements... wooo hooo a geart start !

Barry and Pat were fishing the top and I opted to fish subsurface as I had success at this mark on a similar tide previously using this method. The tide pushed in and Barry connected with the first fish away to my left, I moved down to grab a picture but the fish unhooked himself before I arrived..typical.

I looked a around for a bit and started flicking out a few fan casts around a rock that was starting to foam to my left, ..... a fish nails the Feed Shallow after around 10 minutes of me working the area, it took me by surprise as I was going through the usual early casts motions up to that point . Nice little fight plays out and I land a very chubby 5lb Bass. A couple of under water shots and the fish swam off at speed. I was back in the zone ....

Pat joins us and is soon into a fish off the surface down beside Barry, I was too far away to get a picture but Pat did look happy with his catch ! Barry bends in again to another fish hitting his lure as I watched from a distance contemplating whether to go up top!?? Nah, I stuck at it with the Feed Shallow.

Depth Charge

The water explodes to my left as my lure is up-ended as my quick pause and retrieve is interrupted with style. The rod lunges seaward and line begins to peel off the line, slowly at first and then quickly gathers pace as I applied some pressure. A few moment later and line was still going off the spool and at an even quicker rate as the fish headed for cover. Barry shouted something like 'Donkey/Or Pony' at me as he hear the drag under pressure with the rod bent double.

I tightened the drag a bit and began pumping the fish, it was getting too close to that cover for my liking, the fish finally turned away and headed for its plan B, out to sea at my 12 o clock. Getting the rod up high seemed to turn the fish again and it made another run straight at me before taking a sharp turn away to my right, Que me winding like the clappers to catch up and keep in contact.

This run wasn't as long as the fish tired against the drag as I knocked up it another notch and eased it towards me. The following couple of minutes felt like 10 as I realized the size of the fish, my legs went weak as it began a violent head shake, I was off balance and being knocked around by waves....no I cant lose her...

' This is a big fish' I shouted at the lads ( they thought it was 7/8lb and stayed where they were), I finally dropped the rod and lifted the fish out of the water . . 'Holy ****' was one of the phrases I heard as the lads seen the fish come out of the water. They scrambled over to me....

Big Billy.jpg

Priceless!

I was shaking, hands legs you name it, my heart was thumping out of my chest, Barry even said he was too when he seen the size of it. To be honest it was sheer disbelief holding the fish there in the water. A couple of quick pictures a quick weigh and she swam away with ease.

The fish pulled the scales over the 12lb mark. I didn't take a length measurement of the fish or scale sample. In hindsight maybe I should have but TBH we were that engrossed in the sheer size of the fish (Pictures don't do it justice to be fair, she looked pre-historic, with plenty of age/battle scars on her body) and getting her back into the water was the only concern.

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Going Back.

She swam off very well and we all took a few minutes to take in the moment, it all seemed surreal at the time. I didn't really appreciate until a few days later when I looked at the pictures/video!

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We fished on and I landed another fish in the 3-4lb bracket before we called it a day.

Conditions:
Wind: Southerly - Moderate
Tide: Rising

Tackle used:
Rod: Teklon Concept Spin 702L
Reel:3000 Twin Power SFC
Line: 20lb Power Shot / 20 inches of Sakura 20lb Fluoro
Lure: Feed Shallow # 12
Technique: retrieve and pause.



Your next one could be your best one !

Danny.

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That was a great catch but I think the fact you realesed it is even more impressive I seen a beautiful bass of the same size caught lately and wasnt realesed its such a shame as some people say think like a fish and if a fish could think like a human it would want to get out alive well done imagine the amount of eggs if she gets the chance of breeding again she will produce thousands and it looks like she comes from a good gene pool

Bravo

a beast of a fish well done

Very nice indeed

Superb, thats what its all about, well done on getting that quality picture, if that doesnt do it justice I dunno? It must have been huge. And best of all she's still alive and well.

I'm not usually one for "Bass on Lures" reports, due to where i'm from... But my God, what a fish... Well done that man.

well done Danny,a fish of a lifetime....and available for others too.

Inspiring fishing

wow...some have it some aint...

outstanding danny!!! simply outstanding mate
loving the underwater pic

only two bass in one session no wonder you left it so long to put up the report

she is giving you the evil eye in that last pic !

Great catch,love the underwater pic

Fair play man what a great fish to catch and not being c+r or c+k but on that front you did the correct thing hope you remember that fish for a long time to come... and if as you say the pics dont do it justice well it looks hugh in the pic and great photo underwater.....

Fair play Man... it there for someone else...

lovey fish well done for letting her go

Crackin stuff Danny M. What a fight, what a fish! what a great report..
that'll be one to remember, its goes without saying. fish of a lifetime indeed. well done

Superb fish,,,and well deserved praise for releasing her,,a testament to your passion for the sport,,,bualadh bos

a day to remember, well done

well done!

Your smile says it all Danny ,lifetime memory congrads

Fantastic fish and report ! Seems like we are right in the middle now of the "off" season for plugging and reading that you would miss it! Was this fish in the recent Sea Angler??????