Bass Fishing Forum - Westernbass.com

Congrats to MARK KEYES & JONATHAN ASHCRAFT on their big win today at the ACWRL, They sealed the deal with Mark's 15.77lb toad. Not to mention a real nice check to go along with a great sack of fish.

I knew Ash didn't catch it. Congrats.

Way to go guys!! We need pic's of that TOAD an a 21.60 lbs. bag to boot

WOW!! Congrats to Mark and Jonathan!! Dreams do come true for the working man! Glad your passion for bass fishing finally rewarded you with a fish of a lifetime!
oh...and yes...I'm happy to pass the torch of netboy to Jonathan
Let's see pics of that girl!!

John

Sweet!!! Congrats on the win and the biggun!

I was lucky nough to see thisfish in person. What an awesome fish. He said he caught it on a frog as well. Cant imagine what that was like.

I would gess one of two ways the big one some times just suck it down but most of the time it looks like a BOMB went off

yup it was me, man what a fish , big cudos to my partner Jonathan for all his hard work these past few months, caught her on a frog, she exploded on it, sounded like a king kong sized toilet flushing, i set the hook and she broke water we both said
oh sh$t , i got her headed toward the boat, we netted about 40lbs of weeds along with the fish( i now need a new net) we started peeling away the weeds and kept saying holy sh%t she was BEAUTIFUL we ended up weighing 4 fish for the tourney win, thanks to Jon, im very proud of our win today, and my new personal best. alot of people took pics , im looking forward to seeing them. thx to all . mark

That is awesome! Congrats!

Years ago I took some "official" photos of a 15.38 caught during a Clear Lake tourney - in the good 'ol days of that lake. One is very fortunate to SEE one of those toads in a lifetime - much less be able to CATCH one! Wow! Congrats!! WARNING!!! The next bass you catch may appear to be smaller than normal!!!!

Awesome fish!!!! way to go....

Congratulations on the fish, and the win!

Sweet fish and a great time to catch her....
Congratulations.....

Kap

Congrats guys on a big win and a donkey to boot.

WOW, and on a frog no less...

Pic's?

Congrats

OH MY GOSH.. Congrats. I bet that is a world record for the frog. I've got to post it on my 'how to fish the frog' page when it gets published. Man that's just too cool, makes it twice as exciting if you ask me taking it on top. Congrats again.

I'm curious...does anybody know how much the largest black bass of any Delta tournament weighed?

Congratulations to Mark, that fish was just awesome and he did everything right from the hook set, to getting her into the boat.

Mark was throwing a Snag Proof frog on 30lb Power Pro braid with a Lamiglass rod and a quantum reel. She fell for the Snag Proof Frog shown here http://www.basstackledepot.com/snagproo ... tfrog.aspx

I just heard a BIG KABLOOOSH and turned around to see the head shake, right away I knew it was a DD fish, but it was buried in the Salad. Mark kept that road bent and was grinding it in, I get the TM on high and go to her scoop the salad, as now we dont see the fish at all, go to lift into the boat and the neck of the net just bends down, so I quickly lean over and grab both sides of the hoop as Mark grabs me by my pants to keep me from going over. Lift her up and start the unvieling process, layers upon layers of salad to reveal this Beauty of a fish. We were shaking, high fives and hugs go around the boat. Now for the part of putting her in the livewell, we had to press her gills in to get her head to fit into the livewell

Throughout the day we noticed that she was on her side, still moving her gills but obviously stressed. We started to roll up to tournament boats asking for Catch and Release after our third stop a Dobyns Rod sponsored boat first name Daryl or Derrick in a yellow and white Triton boat gave us a sample bottle of catch and release. If you guys know who this is, please put me in touch with him as we REALLY appreciated his sportsmanship and kindness to take 5 minutes out of his day to talk to us and help us out on the water. Thank you.

Big thanks to Randy Pringle and ACWRL staff and sponsors for putting on an event for us amateurs we do appreciate it.

Big thanks to Tunaman for the Birthday trip and his kindness, couldnt have done it without you my friend.

Again well done to my friend Mark, I am honored to have been there, netted that fish and be apart of that moment of a lifetime for both of us. Thank you my brother.

Ash

AWESOME!!!!

Congrats to both of you - fish of a lifetime and in a tournament too! Can't wait to hear about it from you both!!!

Rob

Congrats! That's one hell of a fish.

Great fish, i know the feeling I got a 15-3 at Pedro and when I got it in the boat all I could say was Holy Sh&t. I had the same problem getting her in the live well also. Awesome job and you guys will never forget the rush.

Wow! Great fish and a Great bite. Too cool. Congrats

Here are two Pictures of Mark's Fish.



Mark Keyes 15.77 ACWRL June 27th 2010 Big Fish

Wow! Look at the head on that thing. Congrats.

gofish42189 wrote:Wow! Look at the head on that thing. Congrats.

x2 almost looks like a peacock head lol - man a DD like that on a frog is my dream. congrats!

That's a f'ing TANK...it does look like a peacock bass. Wow...I mean WOW

Sacto John wrote:That's a f'ing TANK...it does look like a peacock bass. Wow...I mean WOW

Beautiful fish!!!!!! And on a frog!!!!!!! Just awesome!!! Congrats!

Sacto John wrote:That's a f'ing TANK...it does look like a peacock bass. Wow...I mean WOW

That's the first thing I thought when I saw that bump on her head.
Wow!!!!!!

That bass looks like a giant northern LMB to me, did anyone count the lateral line pore scales? A 15.8 summer bass on top water frog is outstanding and caught during a tournament is very special. Congratulations.
Livewell stress is a big problem for giant bass, they use up DO fast and the warm water doesn't help matters. 1/2 cup of 3% hydrogen peroxide and some ice in the livewell helps to reduce the stress fast.
Great story, thank you for sharing it.
Tom

Nice fish and GREAT WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DAM that's a nice fish

I would have wet myself too if I caught that fish.

NICE JOB!!

Holy F ing smokes!!! I wet myself looking at the pic! That's like a pitbull bass on steroids. That's an awesome catch dude way to go. Get a mount made.
With that dot on the side its the new Dotty!!!

Way to go guys!

And on my water too !!!!

Awesome fish and great story of teamwork that lead to a successful win in the end.

Wow, congrats, and on a frog unreal! That fish is a TANK!!

Nice fish guys, Congrats on both ends for the victory too!

So uh, one might think this is one of Dottie's distant cousin's, that or she has been reincarnated and is growing oh so friggen fast here! HAR!

thanks to everyone for there kind words. Cooch, she swam away back into the weeds, so she is out there waitin for you!!


mark

Great fish Mark. You got me beat and I've got the Power Bait!

Couldn't think of a better guy to get a fish like that. Congrats.

Sick! What a pig.....seeing that giant head roll up on a frog musta been awesome!

That is one freaking ugly fish!! The things looks like it's been to hell and back, definitely looks very old. That's not to say it isn't a great catch, it certainly is and this is no beauty contest.

Ash, I know a very nice gentleman named Derek Rowan w/ a yellow Triton and he came to mind with that report/question. And he fishes Dobyn's rods cause I fell in love with them borrowing them on his boat last fall (in fact I got a niner on a Punker on one) he let me backseat for two days there as my motor had just been stolen.

Here is a shot of him with the niner (yeah, he got one also) with me on day two.


Is that him?

Otay Michael wrote:Ash, I know a very nice gentleman named Derek Rowan w/ a yellow Triton and he came to mind with that report/question. And he fishes Dobyn's rods cause I fell in love with them borrowing them on his boat last fall (in fact I got a niner on a Punker on one) he let me backseat for two days there as my motor had just been stolen.

Here is a shot of him with the niner (yeah, he got one also) with me on day two.


Is that him?

Otay Michael, that is the gentleman who assisted us out on the water. Derek Rowan, thank very much for taking a moment out of your fishing day and being a part of that fishes successful live release. We really appreciate you and your sportsmanship. Dobyns Rods should be proud to have an angler like you representing them.

Thank you!

Glad to help fellow anglers in need and keep a monter bass in good health! Mighty impressive for you guys - you were thinking 14lbs and they usually shrink when they get to the scale.

FYI - more like I sponsor Dobyn's! Love the rods but I buy 'em retail & glad to do it.

See y'all at the frog tournament. I'll be the drunk (one of many) at the Rusty Porthole the Friday night before the tournament.

Thank you Derek Rowan my fish made it to the scales and was released healthy and happy because of your help and kindness on the river last sun. thx Mark Keyes

D-Man wrote:Glad to help fellow anglers in need and keep a monter bass in good health! Mighty impressive for you guys - you were thinking 14lbs and they usually shrink when they get to the scale.

FYI - more like I sponsor Dobyn's! Love the rods but I buy 'em retail & glad to do it.

See y'all at the frog tournament. I'll be the drunk (one of many) at the Rusty Porthole the Friday night before the tournament.

If we make it up there I will buy you a drink, hell I figure if I can get enough of the pros drunk we may have a fighting chance

Thanks

That is a great catch. Right on guys. I was standing just out of view when those pictures where taken and I can surely say that those pictures of that fish don't do it justice. That fish was a monster bass! It looked a hell of a lot bigger in person.

Good Fishin

That is a Nice Fish... Did I read that right? 30lb test braid on a frog rod? SO is 65lb test braid not necessary...

Good Job on the fish!!

Steven