Weird day & a trophy bass (report for 7/7)

[Shawnster]

Hey Barrett crew,

Me and my sons (8 & 10) were on the water by about 5:30am Wednesday and fished until 7pm. Long, hot day with a big surprise waiting for us at the dock. We were lucky enough to meet up with @JWall and his lovely wife Cynthia in the middle of the Pine arm, and while we did see plenty of boils early, the few fish we caught were on the small side.

The lake is visibly lower after being drawn down, and what seemed like an algae bloom had a significant impact on clarity -- the water was a light neon green color. Theo (my youngest and increasingly the best fisherman among us) got a few on reapers and small swimbaits. We went over to Becky's cove -- no luck (except we ran into @Pourboy which was cool -- super nice guy and offered us some great advice, plus he's like a celebrity for my boys so they were a bit awe-struck). We caught a couple standard sized fish deep by tree that sits in the middle of the lake by Beckys, then picked up a buddy at the dock and motored to Hauser. We only saw one boat down there the entire time. The water was completely still -- zero activity, sun beating down -- and we only picked up one decent sized fish on a roboworm. Fished Pigs and the cove between Pigs and the dock and picked up some fiesty baby bass and big blue gill. Everything seemed to be hanging out in deeper water.

Then came the dock fishing. Theo picked up this fish, which I estimate was at least 25 inches, on a Wacky rigged Senko. I fit my entire hand in the fishes mouth to grab the hook and my hands didn't touch the sides (and no, I don't have tiny hands haha). It was the biggest bass I've ever seen, and Theo caught it soup to nuts with the only help from me getting it out of the water. Sorry for the bad photos -- Theo could barely hold the thing up and we wanted to get it back in the water right away to be caught another day.

Met some great folks on the dock as usual -- thanks to the other dad who brought a cooler of friggin ice cream on dry ice for the kids! And the other dad/son combo fishing the dock and boat right off the dock -- you guys were killing it!

Totals for the day: Dad/Shawn (6), Theo (15), Julian (3), Pat (2). We will be there again Sunday afternoon 7/14 tubing it!

[Shawnster]

Also, I wanted to share this cool little rod holder I made for super cheap. I was sick of rods lying all over the boat so put this together in 20 minutes for $20 at Home Depot... worked great!

My buddy @mrpatrick will be bummed I didn't post his fish, so here's a pic of that whopper (and the neon green water).

And the Barrett sunset never gets old...

[camobass]

Nice fish! Congrats

[Gotfish?]

You need to get a digital scale so we get to know how much the next beast weighs.

[EL_prowler_619]

Those are some tanks right there ... nice work
Also super cool idea on the fishing rod holder

[MistrRocko]

No way, I didn't realize you were float tube guy and father of Reaper Boy lol. I'm at Barrett quite a bit but never post reports, I'll introduce myself next time I see you. Your younger son is a crazy good fisherman, cool to see he caught a monster! Your lady saved one of my setups that blew into the water a month or so back too, so thankful! I never would have noticed.

[JWall]

Just gonna say I think that biggun is north of 25”. Based on the vertical pic, try measuring Theo from his shoulders to his knees and see what that is. And yes, young Mr. Reaper is rapidly becoming a star fisherman!

PS I like your rod holder. Smart!

[SjW]

Beautiful fish! Your boy at 10 has done what most fishermen wait a lifetime to do. Hope he doesn't have to wait that long to land another giant. Just guessing but I put it high 10's low 11 lb.

[Shawnster]

You need to get a digital scale so we get to know how much the next beast weighs.

We had one last season but I returned it after a day because it seemed harsh on the fish (whoops, sorry Amazon -- I don't even think I washed it before sending it back). I may need to find something else if Theo keeps up these antics.

[Shawnster]

No way, I didn't realize you were float tube guy and father of Reaper Boy lol. I'm at Barrett quite a bit but never post reports, I'll introduce myself next time I see you. Your younger son is a crazy good fisherman, cool to see he caught a monster! Your lady saved one of my setups that blew into the water a month or so back too, so thankful! I never would have noticed.

Reaper Boy! Love it. And yes -- my girl Annie told me she saved somebody's setup which I was thrilled to hear. Sucks to lose stuff. My boy snapped my Phenix BFS rod on Sunday (on a Blue Gill of all things) and I was devastated.

[Shawnster]

Just gonna say I think that biggun is north of 25”. Based on the vertical pic, try measuring Theo from his shoulders to his knees and see what that is. And yes, young Mr. Reaper is rapidly becoming a star fisherman!

PS I like your rod holder. Smart!

Hey John, I just measured him from the bottom of his shoulder to the top of his knee cap -- 27 inches. Could that really mean it was close to 12 pounds? I *really* regret not calming down, taking more time to check out the fish and snapping more photos. Theo could barely hold it up and I didn't want it dropped. I love knowing that beasts like that are lurking out there. Does Barrett have a proven record fish?

[Neuroshima]

Weren't you venting a month ago that you weren't having much luck at Barrett?

[Shawnster]

Beautiful fish! Your boy at 10 has done what most fishermen wait a lifetime to do. Hope he doesn't have to wait that long to land another giant. Just guessing but I put it high 10's low 11 lb.

It was actually the 8 year old (Theo) who caught it! I've never caught a fish that big of any species... but I've still got some years left on me. It could very well be 10 or 11lbs. Here are a couple more pics. I really wish I tried to measure the darn thing.

[JWall]

Just gonna say I think that biggun is north of 25”. Based on the vertical pic, try measuring Theo from his shoulders to his knees and see what that is. And yes, young Mr. Reaper is rapidly becoming a star fisherman!

PS I like your rod holder. Smart!

Hey John, I just measured him from the bottom of his shoulder to the top of his knee cap -- 27 inches. Could that really mean it was close to 12 pounds? I *really* regret not calming down, taking more time to check out the fish and snapping more photos. Theo could barely hold it up and I didn't want it dropped. I love knowing that beasts like that are lurking out there. Does Barrett have a proven record fish?

Ive held and photographed a 25” bass out there and I think Theo’s bass being 27” and thus 12-ish lbs is definitely possible. And its girthy. At the very least I agree with SJW’s call of 10 or 11lbs. There’s been some back n forth on the lake record here recently. I believe a staffer told me it’s 14 but I could be wrong. The legend of Theo continues to grow!!

[Early release]

What a wonderful memory for you and your family. Congratulations on an amazing catch and amazing day with your kids.

[Shawnster]

Weren't you venting a month ago that you weren't having much luck at Barrett?

The great advice is paying off!

[Gotfish?]

You need to get a digital scale so we get to know how much the next beast weighs.

We had one last season but I returned it after a day because it seemed harsh on the fish (whoops, sorry Amazon -- I don't even think I washed it before sending it back). I may need to find something else if Theo keeps up these antics.

Put one of these on the hook on the scale, it doesn't damage the fish at all: https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Accu_Cu ... CUMIN.html

A zip tie on the scale hook is enough the keep the clip from coming off.

I had a Rapala scale for years but it started reading way off recently. So I got this, so far, so good: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B093X ... UTF8&psc=1

They are both small and lightweight enough for the float tube.

[MistrRocko]

I just use a super cheap made in China scale (search eBay for fishing scale and sort by price, it's 5.99). Mine worked fine for 8ish years before giving me my first definitely wrong reading recently so I just bought another. Get a gripper to attach to the scale like @Gotfish? suggested. You can get one on eBay for 8ish bucks. When handling a large bass keep in mind that their jaws are susceptible to breaking when held vertically so do your best to weigh it quickly and not let it shake while vertical. Never hurts to have a small tape measure on hand for a quick length/girth measurement either. Length's a way easier to brag about your stud crappie/bluegill catches too

[SjW]

as " the legend of Theo" grows so does my opinion of that fish, it's girth is tremendous. At least get a retractable cloth measuring tape(sewing) and measure length and girth. It could be 12lb

[Neuroshima]

Even better, carry a rubber net, weigh the fish in the net and subtract the net's weight.