Believe I saw a world record largemouth

Fryle · Post by **Fryle** » Fri May 29, 2020 2:16 pm

Hey fellow anglers just wanted to share a small story I experienced today and see what 2 cents y’all might have on it. I was fishing tulloch this morning and hooked a nice fish probably a little shy of 3 pounds. Anyways it dives for a few secs and as I start bringing it up, boat sitting in 25ft of water, I see a behemoth of a fish following the fish on my line. It got about 10ft under my boat and I was looking directly down on top of it. It did not look like a carp, I was pretty darn sure of that and come to think of it I haven’t seen many carp on tulloch. Not that I don’t think they are there but this fish seemed like it thought my 3 pounder was a meal and carp don’t normally act like that. Didn’t look much like a catfish either. Anyways I’m about 75% sure it was a bass cause there was a 7-8 pounder right behind it but the shear size of this bass, if that’s for certain what it was, was mind blowing. It had to be pushing 30” in length and for sure in the 20-25lb class range. I lost my focus on my 3 pounder and I just stared at this thing below my boat. Eventually I got my fish in and the lake tulloch Loch Ness slowly disappeared. It was so huge I’m having a hard time believing it was a bass but I’m pretty darn sure it looked like one. It looked old and haggard on top. Plus the way it was acting like it was interested in the fish thrashing my line I didn’t know of another giant predator fish that would lurk lake tulloch. Just seeing what 2 cents you guys may have on the subject. I’ve seen some massive fish in tulloch so I wouldn’t doubt there’s a 20 pounder in there lurking somewhere.

RMANZO · Post by **RMANZO** » Fri May 29, 2020 4:42 pm

I have seen monsters in there and have caught a few over 10 so ya I would say there is fore sure a 20 pounder in there. The past few years that small pond has been getting hammered compared to past years and now everyone and their brotha hits it hard during the spawn, so even though they are there, the big ones seem a little spookey and a little tuffer to catch. About the only other fish I could think of that you may have seen is a squaw. They are huge in that place. Summer time and a Rico used to be a lot of fun for 8-15 pounders

gixxer464 · Post by **gixxer464** » Fri May 29, 2020 4:57 pm

Your story is amazing and more than likely you saw a 20+ pound bass. I've had almost the exact same experience you had twice at the lagoon. It's so awe inspiring when you get to see a bass of that size with your own eyes. 3-8lb bass look like minnows in comparison. That's when you have that moment and realize "I've been fishing for the damm wrong fish" and tell yourself I am not throwing anything but giant swimbaits. That's how it started for me at least and have yet to catch anything close to that size. Hopefully one day.

Robb R · Post by **Robb R** » Fri May 29, 2020 6:59 pm

I had a something very similar happen at Lake Anderson ( Oct 2018) .Walking the bank , catching your average 14-15" bass on senkos . As I am reeling in a nice 14" chunk , out of nowhere , a giant bass , at least 30 + inches totally engulfs my bass , my rod doubles down , I pull up and she immediately spits out the bass , flex's her mouth , shakes her head a couple times and swims off . The water was at least 4-5' visibility and no wind --- so I had a really good look at her .
I would say 14-15lbs at least . My PB was 12.5 and 25.5" long . This bass was WAY bigger .
What really made me think was , how many times I had a " similar" feeling when bringing in your average bass , when all of a sudden something stops that bass --- and you end up eventually reeling it in and no idea what happened .
I would have never thought that my little 14" bass was totally engulfed by a giant bass unless I actually saw it .
I bet it happens more often than we think .

Richard - Sonora · Post by **Richard - Sonora** » Sat May 30, 2020 5:16 am

Tulloch, like Melones, Don Pedro and other bodies of water in our region contains squawfish. A non-game species native to riverine waters on the west side of the sierras. These fish can, and do exceed 15 pounds. I, personally, have had squawfish break new 20 pound mono ON THE STRIKE and at the boat. Scary. Just sayin'.
Richard - Sonora

Alex Shawn · Post by **Alex Shawn** » Sat May 30, 2020 8:48 am

Whoopbass · Post by **Whoopbass** » Sat May 30, 2020 9:59 am

Out of all the lakes in NorCal I think Tulloch has the greatest potential of growing a world record bass. Everything about that lake is right. With that said I doubt there is a record bass in any of these lakes or if there is one the window to catch them at that size is very short. There has only been three verified fish over 22 lbs ever caught. That tells me there just isn't many that exist in the entire world.
I would guess you saw a carp. I see huge carp every time I fish there. My buddy thought he had a big bass spot in the Green Springs arm of Tulloch. He would throw a big S Waver and these large fish would follow it half way back to the boat. Turned out those large fish were carp.

WRB · Post by **WRB** » Sat May 30, 2020 12:15 pm

The whale that surfaces gets harpooned.
Tom

stickbait · Post by **stickbait** » Sun May 31, 2020 8:19 pm

It is very possible you hooked a male on the bed and the female followed up...go back and fish the same area you might get lucky !

cl smoov · Post by **cl smoov** » Thu Jun 04, 2020 7:03 am

Loved this POST!

Brings memories back from my experiences.

Growing up fishing Castaic in the 80's and 90's the craze for WR bass was massive. The energy was felt at the ramps each morning for WR potential. As I aged I became a regular around 1992. I would frequent the upper lake & lower lake with my dad. Caught your average specimens but nothing over 3 pounds. Then in late spring/early summer1996 a buddy of mine I played FB against became a lifeguard at the lower lake. He knew I loved to fish for bass - and after he did some free diving for lifeguard practice and later participated in a scuba dive -- he called me with some news. He asked me to come to the lagoon and that it was important. That I need to know this. He walked me along the shore on the south side of the lake to the bouy line. He said he had scuba dived last week and saw 3-4 WR Class Bass schooled up. He told me with a flat face, no BS, no exaggeration. Like he discovered something he wasn't supposed to see. He pointed out the exact location around 40-60 meters off the shore. I asked how deep, and he said 15 maybe 20 feet down. He said they were MASSIVE and LONG. Their eyes were HUGE he says. He kept mentioning the eyes. He said when the fish evaded their approach as they swam toward them the fish swam away casually and with a moderate pace toward mid-lake -- giving them a helluva look at them. He said these fish reminded him of grouper. He said that the biggest one in the school was a WR fish. Well over 28 inches each time I asked to scale the length with his hands. And I believed him 100% til this day.

It took me until 2010 to catch my first DD from the lower lake and my pursuits were motivated by this story.

The one record class bass I would see but didn't catch came on Halloween 2011. Tossing an 8 Inch soft swimbait from the shore at the lagoon at dusk I ended up on my *** after a blow-up right at the shoreline! My first impressions-- as I watched this bass unleash on my lure as I lifted it out of the water at my feet-- made me think it was a croc. That's how loud the blowup was. It scared the shot outta me. I tried to run backward and failed. In those 2-3 seconds, I saw this fish. It was gigantic. Long. Big girth. 20#'s easy. Can I say it was a WR? Hell no. Close? Hell yes.

callwakeup · Post by **callwakeup** » Thu Jun 04, 2020 8:28 am

For those from SoCal.. back In the Mid ‘90’s at lake mission Viejo.. the family would go to Claim Jumper for dinner and I’d walk down the small grass hill to the lake shore— dang near positive I’d see wolf packs of 18lb + plus bass just cruising around.
One time while fishing the shore; there was one that was breathing, but on the surface on deaths door; I picked it up and weighed it— 19lbs!!!!!
That place used to be insane. Not sure if it’s still the same.

WRB · Post by **WRB** » Thu Jun 04, 2020 2:04 pm

Mission Viejo was whipped out by yellow algea, upper Castaic by stripers, Castiac lagoon and Casitas by stopping trout plants.
Having caught 2* FLMB that were 28" long doesn't mean it's a WR.
Tom
* 18.6 & 19.3 lb, the 19.3 was released in the lagoon in 1993 after weighing at the Mini Mart.

Jace D · Post by **Jace D** » Thu Jun 04, 2020 10:25 pm

Between my brother and me, we have caught some big ones out of that lake. We’ve also seen some really big ones. World records? Probably not. But I know there are some big ones. It is possible that the fish that followed you up was a large squawfish. They are in there and they get really big. They’re also aggressive predators so it wouldn’t be surprising to see one follow a bait in. But, its also very possible that it was a big bass. Once they get above 15 lbs or so I wouldn’t be able to tell, just by seeing them in the water, what the weight was. It’s just too hard to tell. I’ve seen two fish, ever, that I was about 90% certain were over 15 but neither was at Tulloch. How much over 15? I don’t know. But they were GIANT.

Fidlplr · Post by **Fidlplr** » Mon Jun 08, 2020 12:24 am

Two times at Tullock with a swimbait I’ve seen a HUGE largemouth follow my bait. Definitely not a carp or squaw fish, Definitely a largemouth. However my partner caught a squaw that weighed just over 10lbs on a drop shot one night. There’s big fish in that lake and there’s big fish in all of these lakes. I would be surprised if there wasn’t a WR bass in them. I’ve heard stories from guys that know how to catch trophy fish and that do catch trophy fish that have seen some incredible things at Melones and Pedro. Those lakes are too big and deep to not be a WR in them. Very hard to catch. That’s why they’re that big.

Fidlplr · Post by **Fidlplr** » Mon Jun 08, 2020 12:29 am

Fidlplr wrote:Two times at Tullock with a swimbait I’ve seen a HUGE largemouth follow my bait. Definitely not a carp or squaw fish, Definitely a largemouth. However my partner caught a squaw that weighed just over 10lbs on a drop shot one night. There’s big fish in that lake and there’s big fish in all of these lakes. I would be surprised if there wasn’t a WR bass in them. I’ve heard stories from guys that hunt trophy fish and that do catch trophy fish that have seen some incredible things at Melones and Pedro. Those lakes are too big and too deep to not have a WR in them. Very hard to catch. That’s why they’re that big.

Jboutfishn · Post by **Jboutfishn** » Mon Jun 08, 2020 7:02 am

Richard - Sonora wrote:Tulloch, like Melones, Don Pedro and other bodies of water in our region contains squawfish. A non-game species native to riverine waters on the west side of the sierras. These fish can, and do exceed 15 pounds. I, personally, have had squawfish break new 20 pound mono ON THE STRIKE and at the boat. Scary. Just sayin'.
Richard - Sonora

Took a 13.4lb Squawfish on Shasta a few years back. Have caught them in the upper Sac close to 5 lbs while fishing for trout. The river fish are a real fight, the one in the lake not so much.

george · Post by **george** » Tue Jun 09, 2020 10:02 pm

I know a guy who has as Tulloch 17# plus on his wall, When I saw it the first time I thought it had to be 20# but he said his scale said it was over seventeen.
It was caught in the late 90s and he said that there was another fish with it that he was sure was bigger.

Tulloch could very well produce a state and or world record as the lake has the same characteristics as many SoCal big bass lakes that have produced twenty plus pound fish!

George