Awesome bass caught at Berryessa today...
Awesome bass caught at Berryessa today...
and I was there to witness it.
The Sacramento Bass Wranglers had their season opener today at Lake Berryessa. I had drawn a new member, Curtis Sanchez, as my boater. He would also be my partner for the day as this was a team tournament.
Weather Reports called for rain for most of the day with wind gusts up to 25 mph. When we blasted off, it was only overcast, but it was obvious a nice size rain storm was headed our way. We started out on a bank not far from Markleys. It had mud banks and lots of fallen trees. The first 1/2 hour was uneventful with just a couple of small taps and no hook-ups. But boy did things change in a hurry...
My partner, Curtis, flipped a jig into a brush pile and set on a nice fish. As I jumped down to get the net, the fish began to pull line from the spool. I kneeled down with net halfway in the water hoping that this nice fish was a bass and NOT a catfish or a carp.
After pulling line from the spool twice, the fish surfaced...it was THE largest bass I had ever seen in person! It was HUGE.
Curtis said "oh my god" and fought the fish expertly. He was patient (a lot more patient than I probably could have been). As the fish got to the boat, it sort of just floated on one side and I thought it was tired, so I scooped the net under it...but it swam away again. after another 30 second, another try. This time I got the net underneath it, but it was TOO BIG for the net! It hung over both sides. It was at this moment, the horrible thought that I could knock the jig from his mouth entered my mind. I did my best to block this thought and re-focus on doing what I had to do to help land this hawg. The third time was the charm. He pulled the fish over, I put the net underneath it and lifted. The fish double up and fell into the net. When it was on the floor of the Ranger, we high-fived, high-ten, and then...yes, we even hugged. Then Curtis looked down and lifted the jig from it's mouth....it was BARELY hooked and came loose with no problem.
We then took out his unofficial hand held scale and took the reading....
15.9 lbs.
This was a magnificent fish. Curtis's personal best to date was 8.20 lbs. He nearly doubled it today.
The next hour was VERY difficult to keep fishing. We still had EIGHT hours left in the tournament. We put the fish in the livewell and it took up ALL the space. Usually good for a whole limit of fish, this livewell only had room for one fish today. We laughed basically all day. The stress of competing in a tournament really was gone. We had our weight and it came first thing in the morning.
We were able to catch a lot of small clone keepers the rest of the day for a 20.68 lb limit! Second place was approx 12.5 lbs. I just want to again say CONGRATS to my buddy Curtis.
Oh and by the way, the official weight of the fish was 15.82 lbs and I should have photos up on WesternBass.com and on the Sacramento Bass Wranglers website in the next couple of days.
what a day!
The Sacramento Bass Wranglers had their season opener today at Lake Berryessa. I had drawn a new member, Curtis Sanchez, as my boater. He would also be my partner for the day as this was a team tournament.
Weather Reports called for rain for most of the day with wind gusts up to 25 mph. When we blasted off, it was only overcast, but it was obvious a nice size rain storm was headed our way. We started out on a bank not far from Markleys. It had mud banks and lots of fallen trees. The first 1/2 hour was uneventful with just a couple of small taps and no hook-ups. But boy did things change in a hurry...
My partner, Curtis, flipped a jig into a brush pile and set on a nice fish. As I jumped down to get the net, the fish began to pull line from the spool. I kneeled down with net halfway in the water hoping that this nice fish was a bass and NOT a catfish or a carp.
After pulling line from the spool twice, the fish surfaced...it was THE largest bass I had ever seen in person! It was HUGE.
Curtis said "oh my god" and fought the fish expertly. He was patient (a lot more patient than I probably could have been). As the fish got to the boat, it sort of just floated on one side and I thought it was tired, so I scooped the net under it...but it swam away again. after another 30 second, another try. This time I got the net underneath it, but it was TOO BIG for the net! It hung over both sides. It was at this moment, the horrible thought that I could knock the jig from his mouth entered my mind. I did my best to block this thought and re-focus on doing what I had to do to help land this hawg. The third time was the charm. He pulled the fish over, I put the net underneath it and lifted. The fish double up and fell into the net. When it was on the floor of the Ranger, we high-fived, high-ten, and then...yes, we even hugged. Then Curtis looked down and lifted the jig from it's mouth....it was BARELY hooked and came loose with no problem.
We then took out his unofficial hand held scale and took the reading....
15.9 lbs.
This was a magnificent fish. Curtis's personal best to date was 8.20 lbs. He nearly doubled it today.
The next hour was VERY difficult to keep fishing. We still had EIGHT hours left in the tournament. We put the fish in the livewell and it took up ALL the space. Usually good for a whole limit of fish, this livewell only had room for one fish today. We laughed basically all day. The stress of competing in a tournament really was gone. We had our weight and it came first thing in the morning.
We were able to catch a lot of small clone keepers the rest of the day for a 20.68 lb limit! Second place was approx 12.5 lbs. I just want to again say CONGRATS to my buddy Curtis.
Oh and by the way, the official weight of the fish was 15.82 lbs and I should have photos up on WesternBass.com and on the Sacramento Bass Wranglers website in the next couple of days.
what a day!
Re: Awesome bass caught at Berryessa today...
WoW! Thats a toad! Good job.
Re: Awesome bass caught at Berryessa today...
Greg - Give Curtis and yourself a high five from me!! That is awesome!!
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Whooo Hoooo !
That's a sho' nuf' toad from anywhere, but an especially cool catch (to me anyway
coming from my home lake Berry !
Huge congrats to Curt on that one !
Can't wait for my Berry monster
Peace,
Fish

Huge congrats to Curt on that one !
Can't wait for my Berry monster

Peace,
Fish
Re: Awesome bass caught at Berryessa today...
That's an awesome fish, and on a jig too (none of this swimbait nonsense
)!

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Way Cool... and i thought i had a great day!
Congrats to Curtis. That is an awesome fish. Can't wait to see the picks of that monster!!
And i thought i had a great day with a personal Delta best -an 8.5 lber. But yours is way more awesome!
I thought i caught the state record (Har Har!) until i weighed it. I cant imagine how you guys were when your 15lber came up.
As always, i didnt have anyone fishing with me, or my camera. bummed!
Good Job!
Kopper_Bass
And i thought i had a great day with a personal Delta best -an 8.5 lber. But yours is way more awesome!
I thought i caught the state record (Har Har!) until i weighed it. I cant imagine how you guys were when your 15lber came up.
As always, i didnt have anyone fishing with me, or my camera. bummed!
Good Job!
Kopper_Bass
Re: Awesome bass caught at Berryessa today...
Man,Berryessa has been kickin out some BIG fish lately, interesting. Congratulations on the catch of a life time!
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Re: Awesome bass caught at Berryessa today...
Thanks everyone....I'll make sure Curtis sees all the congrats.
Its now been over 24hrs and I still can't believe what happened yesterday. That fish was so big, it didn't even seem real.
oh, and by the way before I forget to mention....Curtis released her intact, back into the lake. It took a few seconds for her to realize she was free again and then slowly swam away. Hopefully she will go on to be the lake record and maybe....just maybe...
Its now been over 24hrs and I still can't believe what happened yesterday. That fish was so big, it didn't even seem real.
oh, and by the way before I forget to mention....Curtis released her intact, back into the lake. It took a few seconds for her to realize she was free again and then slowly swam away. Hopefully she will go on to be the lake record and maybe....just maybe...

Re: Awesome bass caught at Berryessa today...
Wow. I gotta see this fish. When the pics goin up? Wish i could see the looks on everyones face when he pulled out that Hog. Congrats.
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Re: Awesome bass caught at Berryessa today...
Awesome story, and an awesome catch..
mac
mac
Take a kid fishing, and don't forget about us older kids either..
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Re: Awesome bass caught at Berryessa today...
Wow!!! I see my surgeon on Wed and may be cleared to go fishing again after my very successful hip replacement! I wonder how convincing I can be to him as to how good I feel! Congrats on a fish of a lifetime!
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Re: Awesome bass caught at Berryessa today...
High 5 Curt thats a great catch of a lifetime.. let alone a tournament catch... lol... Congrats!
Don Jr.
Re: Awesome bass caught at Berryessa today...
LIKE MY FISHING GAME ON DVD SAYS " WHOAH THATS A BIG ONE GREAT CATCH" !
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