WOW!!! my day just got 11 lbs. and 10 oz. better! 2024

paul. reply :

after the nice fish earlier, i didn't think today could get much better. but boy did it ever!!!! unfortunately, i'm kinda pressed for time right now, so here's a sneak peek. story to follow later tonight hopefully. i am SO stoked right now! enjoy the eye candy.

bmadd reply :

You weren't kidding! Nice fish man

Dan: reply :

i hate you.

Big-O reply :

That's what I'm talkin about right there.....WTG Paul, looks like your year is starting off with a bang and a Big O congratulations to you.

Big O

www.ragetail.com

Castamasta reply :

DDDDDAAAANNNNNGGGG! nice fish paul. need to get me one of those .

beautiful fish!

Bassboy15 reply :

Geeeeeez!

Under the Radar reply :

Congrats Paul,

I'd be so stoked I probably wouldn't sleep for a week.

fishfordollars reply :

Paul, you forgot to give out the directions to the lake.

Nice fish!

MONSTERhudd reply :

Are you sure you don't just catch a hog, then take a bunch of pictures of it with you in different clothes haha. You catch some hogs man! AND the best part is, your not in Cali! Dang man, good stuff.

Paul Roberts reply :

That would be the state record where I live. Don't expect to see such a beast. I can't quite imagine a head that big. Your fish have some length too. Our (CO) state record at 11-something was only 22inches long! Just a gorgeous bass you have there.

Paul, what do you make of the coloration on these fish (last two you've posted)?

Big Tom reply :

Wow, man.

I will never understand how you do it.

You are just a state under me and we don't have them here like that.

Amazing.

GLADES reply :

That is a beauty.

Can wait to hear the details

skillet reply :

You are amazing, my friend ...

skillet

Daniel My Brother reply :

You're a baaaaad man!

Jimzee reply :

I don't even know what to say man...Congratulations?

Stay tuned folks, it always gets better from here. A real beauty Paul!! I would have perma-grin if I ever catch one like that.

fivesixone reply :

Holy ! That thing's huge! Can't wait for the story!

Rand reply :

YOU ARE A HAWG KILLA. The water you fish must be lights out. Not to mention you are obviously a stellar angler.

IdahoLunkerHunter reply :

It takes three letters... WOW. A big congratz!

paul. reply :

thanks so much guys. y'all are always so cool. here's the story. i have always been a firm believer in the "windows" concept when it comes to catching big fish. it's no secret that jay, matt, and randall are 3 of the best big bass sticks on here. i remember clearly a post from jay where he said, "when they're on, they're on." matt is also constantly reminding us how often the best time to catch a big fish is right after you've just caught one. randall says the same type of thing too. these guys are firm believers that you don't just leave the lake happy after catching a big fish. if anything, you redouble your efforts and fish harder, hoping for another. i respect these guys so much. what can i say? i've been taking notes. ;D problem was, after i caught the 8-5 earlier, i had to leave because i had some stuff to do. it seemed the fish had pretty much turned off after that anyway. but i left with definite plans to return this afternoon.

right after picking my oldest daughter up from school. i loaded up the gear and went back out. i decided to concentrate my efforts on the spot where i caught the 8-5 earlier. it's the edge of a grassbed, and a known big fish hangout, or at least it's known to me. well, i fished my little gill for quite a while without so much as a sniff. maybe i should have left well enough alone i thought. :-/ my poor little gill had been out there so long, he had just about given up and he was barely kickin' at all. no way he was gonna make it, i thought. so i reeled him in, took him off the hook and gave the little fella a mighty heave as far as i could chunk him out into the lake. "turtle food", thought in disgust.

well, i thought i might as well stay and try to salvage something since i had taken the trouble to come back out. i baited up again and and spent another another fruitless half hour. i thought i was gonna come back and at least catch a few fish, but nothing was happening at all. i started reeling in, debating whether to call it a day, and i spied something floating on top of the water drifting towards me in the gentle breeze. it was the gill i had tossed out a while back. i stared at the little fella as he finned around on top in dazed circles, wondering how much longer he had before he gave up the ghost. and it was this seemingly insignificant gaze that changed the course of the entire fishing trip. underneath the hapless floating gill, i noticed a massive, ominous form. motionless, so as to avoid spooking her if she was what i hoped she was, i strained as hard as i could through the costas. in the fading light i was able to make out the form of a bass, a really BIG bass. after a few seconds, she lazily finned off. i was glad i hadn't spooked her, but honestly i wondered if it made a difference. if she wanted to eat, she woulda eaten the floater, right? :-/

well, i was at least gonna give her a shot. i baited up the biggest gill i had, about 5 inches, and cast it where i had last seen her. well the gill just went nuts, darting this way and that like it was on crank or something. any second now, i thought with an evil grin on my face. so i waited, and waited, and waited. nothing! what was wrong? the gill's actions told me without a doubt that she was down there, probably following the poor gill around like she was on a leash, but she just wouldn't commit. the gill stayed out there for what seemed like an eternity and finally just exhausted himself. well, that'll do it i thought, just sure that she'd lazily suck in the gill now that it had finally given up. again, nothingness ensued for what seemed like an eternity. frustration was building. >

i had one more trick up my sleeve. i reeled in and replaced the gill i had on with the smallest one in my bucket, probably no more than half the size of the one i'd just had on. chunked it out there, and within a few seconds, bluegill junior did the trick. the line started moving off slowly. i just held on to the rod as if it was in a holder and waited on the tiny circle hook to "catch".

she didn't seem like much at first, even on the spinning rod. in fact, i wondered if i'd just hooked a small bass that had sneaked in and stolen the bait from my trophy. but experience has taught me that first impressions can sometimes be very misleading with a big girl on the line. so, maintaining pressure on the fish, i loosened the drag a half turn and put a little heat on my victim to see just what i had. i felt a massive head shake. this was obviously her way of saying "NO!" and she took off like a shot, and the line just seemed to evaporate off my little reel as she burned drag, testing my equipment and nerves at the same time. i got two BIG powerhouse runs out of her, and plenty of other moves too. she tried every trick in the book to end her marriage to my shimano in an ugly divorce. when i finally saw her come up and give that big cold water slow motion head shake, only one word came to mind. and in my excitement, i think i even said it out loud - DOUBLE!!! she was long and clearly obese beyond the magical 10 lb. mark. all i had to do was close the deal. the combination of patience and february water temps finally did her in. my first double of '09. and believe me, i was tickled to death to meet her. she was weighed and photoed with the utmost care, and released to pass on her superior genetics in a few weeks. what a rush!

to those of y'all that are still reading, thank you for your patience. ;D i'll pass on a couple of lessons that were reinforced to me today for whatever it's worth.

1. pay attention to everything. even things that seem insignificant can result in huge dividends.

2. big baits do not always produce big fish. in this case, it took just the opposite.

3. sometimes you just cannot beat the real thing when it comes to tempting mrs. big and tipping the scales (literally) in your favor.

4. treat every fish you have on your line as if it's THE fish until you absolutely know otherwise. it just might be.

5. there are without a doubt "big fish days" and "big fish windows". make every effort to capitalize on these and you just might break the bank.

6. circle hooks are better for the fish and the fisherman. with the tiny bait this fish bit, gut hooking would have been a definite possibility with a regular hook.

7. sizing hooks correctly is of the utmost importance. any bigger or smaller and i might have been telling a story about the one that got away.

8. never give up.

thanks again for the kind words, and thanks again to all who have patiently educated me on circle hooks. your advice paid off big time today. as a parting shot, here's a tiny circle hook lodged in a big mouth. hope y'all are catchin' some too.

fourbizz reply :

You're an animal Paul. I dont know a f'en thing compared to you and Matt.

What I meant by that line you quoted of mine was "When they are wide freaking open and chewin just about anything, thats when I get on em" ;D

I might just have to go to the delta and fish a live gill this year. I dont even like the delta, but thats the only place I can legally fish a gill, so maybe I will ;D

Great fish.

paul. reply :

Quote
Paul, what do you make of the coloration on these fish (last two you've posted)?

i think it's at least partly due to cold, fairly clear, shallow water. i just love it when their colors "pop" like that. makes for some really pretty pictures.

Mattlures reply :

Congrats Paul great way to start the year. You are very observant and you know how to use what you see to your advantage. A lot of people dont realy understand what they are seeing when they see it. You get it. Thats why you stick big fish.

Jay you are probably better then I am. I am only good at a few techniques. I am extremly NOT well rounded.

Tomorrow will be my first trip in 09 for bass. I can only hope to get one like Paul's.

Awsome fish!

MichiganFisherman reply :

Wow, what a HAWG! Beautiful colors too! Good job, Paul and thanks for sharing. That would be a state record where I'm from.

roadwarrior reply :

Fish, story, pics...You got it going!

IDbasser reply :

That was awesome!! Nice fish, and nice story!!

-HAWK- reply :

Beautiful fish Paul, Congrats. You Realize these lakes you have access to are a BASS fishermans Heaven.

SoFl-native reply :

Quote
after the nice fish earlier, i didn't think today could get much better. but boy did it ever!!!! unfortunately, i'm kinda pressed for time right now, so here's a sneak peek. story to follow later tonight hopefully. i am SO stoked right now! enjoy the eye candy.

Peeee... Eye... Geeeee...... Pig!

Nice.

Bass Tracker reply :

Great Fish, Story, And Pics! I always enjoy your post.

Big-O reply :

Heck....felt like I was there with ya Paul, and you think we don't like to hear the details...great story and comments and when it's on, IT'S ON MAN. Sure makes me wanna drop everything and go fishin'...

Gonna be a fine year, Huh..

Big O

www.ragetail.com

senile1 reply :

Come on, Paul! Every story you tell ends the same. Don't you think we're getting tired of the big fish stories? Give us a break. Geez.

Seriously, Dude, you are killing 'em! I'm making plans to come for a visit. Do you remember the movie with Bill Murray, "What About Bob?" It's going to be the same. I'll be popping up everywhere.

fishinfiend reply :

2009 BR roadtrip to Kentucky Lake Paul's house ;D

Tokyo Tony reply :

Awesome fish and story Paul ;D

I'm starting to get in the mood to bass fish. Some of my ponds are starting to open up slightly.

kms399 reply :

wow i am ready to head out i just have to wait out the ice. they are still driving on it here and we are supposed to get 8 inches of snow today. but ill be ready. congrats on the fish.

32251 reply :

Bought some fish attractant from someone I read about here. He has on his site pics of some HUGE bass caught in Texas. Ties in with the gills' that Paul uses. The lady....yes lady that caught the big bass takes a bluegill about 5-6" long and then wipes all the natural fish slime off the gill and then coats the gill in fish attractant and fishes the edges of weekbeds.

tritz18 reply :

Amazing fish

thetr20one reply :

Nice fish Paul! I don't use live bait for bass but, if there were bass that size here and I caught em like that I would. Geez thats a nice one.

CJ reply :

Here we go! My mouth is watering bud!

That is a beauty!!! I know you are proud!

Way to go man!

South FLA reply :

Cool story, great fish!

Did you take any pics of the 8lb?

paul. reply :

thanks for the kind words everybody. it's always nice to get that first big one of the year caught. and it was not a moment too soon either. it snowed here last night. that'll set things back a little. but lunker time is coming very shortly here on bassresource. i'm looking forward to seeing all the springtime hawg pix and reading the cool stories our members will be posting soon here. if you're new to the site, get ready for a treat.

Quote
Cool story, great fish!
Did you take any pics of the 8lb?

south FLA, here is the a pic of the 8lber and my post.

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1235588409

best of luck to everyone this spring season. here's hoping everybody gets the one they're after.

PlasticsJunkie reply :

Holy crap that thing is huge! That's a pound bigger than our state record, I would crap myself if I ever pulled one like that in.

Fishing Doug reply :

Great fish and Great story, Paul!!!!! Keep it coming!

Bassaholic84 reply :

Great story and MAN what a GREAT fish

demonjd22 reply :

i just read this at 3 am in jersey where were getting dumped on by a blizzard... > There are very few things that i WOULDNT part with to catch ONE bass that SIZE in my life EVER.

I do believe congratulations are in order man. ;D

Hannons Hound reply :

Congrats on an absolute beauty! Thanks for sharing your story.

GonzoFishing reply :

Now thats a beast Way to go!

Randall reply :

Great fish Paul! Not just a great fish but I like the way you tell a story. Hope you get many more in '09.

osbornj2 reply :

Great beast, Paul! But, I am curious about one thing...how does your wife feel about your keeping those bass in her bathtub all winter, just so you can take them out and take new pics each year ?!? ;D

Tight Lines...

paul. reply :

she was fine with it until they started spawning in there. that's where she drew the line.

dmac14 reply :

Wow is pretty much all i can say. Dont have any of those up here in NY :-/. O well we have ice, and lots of it, frankly too much >.

Congrats tho!

-Dylan

hjerk24 reply :

How big is the pond or body of water you are fishing?

Just curious.

paul. reply :

i fish several different spots. all are small by most standards, anywhere from a couple of acres to 130+ acres. you could call the spot where i caught this one either a big pond or a small lake. it was only a few acres. i am a big fan of small waters.

Infidel. reply :

One hell of a fish!!! Congrats.

christopherjake reply :

Double WOW!!! NICE!!!!!!!!!!!

Mrs. Matstone reply :

Well that is another awesome fish Paul, Congrats to you! (I have a feeling I will be saying that to you alot this year. ) ;D

Aluma-Bass reply :

NICE!!!!

bigmountaineer reply :

Wow that fish is amazing. Congrats.

SkilletSizeBass. reply :

Great looking bass Paul, and a very good story to go with it.

ejtaylor822 reply :

Great story and GREAT fish. Thanks for taking the time to write that out in detail. Great read. Way to hang in there. I agree, got to take everything in and pay attention to what's going on in the water.

Eddie

NYfishwow reply :

Paul congrats!! thanks one great job out there man. great write up and excellent pics bro.

SkilletSizeBass. reply :

I had to sneak back for another peek at that huge bass !

1489

WOW!!! my day just got 11 lbs. and 10 oz. better! 2024

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