Ya know, I have often wondered what the feeling would be like to catch a state record fish. Would it be fulfilling in that it would bring a mild amount of celebrity in the local fishing community. More so, what if it happened during a tournament? Well after Saturday I still have no idea what it feels like to be the current placeholder of a record or to have caught one in a tournament... or at least weigh one in at a tournament.
I will say this; I had one in my hand, only one millisecond from pulling it in the boat. The current Delaware state record largemouth stands at 10 pounds 5 ounces. It was caught in Andrews Lake, about 2 miles from my home by Tony Kaczmarczyk in 1980. That's 29 years of quality fisheries management in this state and few fish have come close to that record. That is until this past Sunday.
I was fishing in our last club tournament of the season at Lums pond near Delaware City. It is the states largest public freshwater pond at almost 200 acres. Right now is where I tell you that I had no co-angler meaning no one else on my boat but me. As I set out in search for the 5 biggest bass I could find, the morning started out slow. Everything was slow in fact, everything but the wind that is. I hit some stump fields on the south end of the lake in a north wind, which means, that shore line was getting blasted in a gusty Delaware wind. I was getting pushed into stumps and I could not stay a safe distance from shore for longer than 3 seconds before I would have to readjust my position. After getting my jig snagged up in some one's old ball of fishing line in some submerged wood, I decided to go catch fish elsewhere, less the frigg'n wind. (If you hadn't noticed, I hate wind).
I moved directly across the lake to the north shore. The tall trees here blocked out the wind so I was able to make my presentations in total relaxation. The water being as high as it was, I knew the fish would be tucked as far back in that crap as they could get. I switched to a 1/2 ounce Explosive tackle jig in B&B and trailed it with just a generic black jig trailer. I hooked up on my 3rd flip, but short. That told me all I needed to know.
After making a few more carefully aimed flips into the [crap] I moved up into one of the main arms of the lake and fished all the north sides of all the coves in the arm. I boated my first keeper (about a pound) at around 10:00am. I decided there was a lot of good offshore stuff I was missing, so I tied on a Bomber Model A and commenced to crank'n. White perch with crank bait and trebles plastered to his face is all I came up with.
By now, I only have about 2.5 hours to boat 4 more keepers to even have a chance to take this thing. These guys I fish with, if you saw the weight they bring in, you would know what I'm talking about. At this stage in the game, I need to find an area where there are likely to be a bunch of fish holding in a short distance. So I decide to try one of the feeder creeks out of the wind. Again getting my jig as far back in the under brush as I can, I rear back on a 3 pound fish. Nice! Thinking to myself "If I get just 2 more of those, I may have a chance. I'm on the right track". As I approach the end of the creek I notice one of my fellow club members fishing the main lake arm about 150 yards ahead of me. I'm pulling up in front of a low, overhanging bush with a small opening in the front and I had the perfect angle on it to sling it home. I hopped the jig once and my G Loomis Mossyback doubled over under the load of a monster fish. After the initial surge of raw power from this fish, it let me pull it right out of the bush. I reeled it to the boat and lipped it instantly and as soon as I lifted the weight off the line and it went slack, the hook fell out with ease. Now, I know the reputation anglers have in telling their stories and people shake their heads in disbelief all the time. But as I held this fish and looked at it face to face I am telling you THIS FISH WAS BIGGER THAN 10-5! I have no doubt about that. Furthermore, if I in fact am over exaggerating by mistaking an eye weight (which i am NOT) it was at least 9-8.
So I've got this fish in my hand, right in my face. The hook just fell out half a second ago. With one flail of it's fat yet powerful body, it busted my grip and went home packing. I sat there hunched over the side of my boat; staring into the water in complete disbelief in what had just transpired. My body reclined back on my ass an with my head between my knees I began to weep. Remembering I am in a tournament at the moment I had to force myself back on my feet to utilize the remaining 30 minutes to try and boat another keeper. Try as I did it was to no avail as I weighed in my 2 fish at 4.34, taking 2nd place. Hey, I still look on the bright side. I qualified to fish the state championship. Boo hoo hoo.
