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BASS KID BAGS DOUBLE-DIGIT BARRETT LARGEMOUTH
Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2024 8:48 am
by Str8t Slabaronies
BY MIKE STEVENS
SAN DIEGO— It’s no secret that bass fishing at Barrett Lake tends to rate at various levels of “epic” for most of the season, and because of that, it takes a significant occurrence earn a headline. A double-digit largemouth historically does the trick, even more so when one is bagged by an 8-year-old.
After some relatively slow fishing by Barrett standards, Shawn Santos and his son, Theo, decided to fish around the docks when the magic happened.
“Theo picked up this fish, which I estimate was at least 25 inches, on a Wacky-rigged Senko,” said Shawn Santos. “I fit my entire hand in the fish’s mouth to grab the hook, and my hands didn’t touch the sides. 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.”
The big largemouth tipped the scale at 11.96 pounds, a fish of a lifetime with decades of fishing to go for that young angler.
“Theo routinely catches 10 to 20 fish per outing, but never anything close to this size. He absolutely loves fishing, and his passion pays off with big results!”
As for the rest of the day, the elder Santos said they started in the Pine Arm and saw a lot of boils early, but there were only a few small biters. Then they started to move around a bit to track down cooperative bass.
“We went over to Becky’s Cove where we caught a couple standard-sized fish deep by tree that sits in the middle, then we picked up a buddy at the dock and motored to Hauser,” said Shawn Santos. “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 fish on a Roboworm. We Fished Pigs and the cove between Pigs and the dock and picked up some feisty baby bass and big bluegill. Everything seemed to be hanging out in deeper water. 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.”
Re: BASS KID BAGS DOUBLE-DIGIT BARRETT LARGEMOUTH
Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2024 12:00 pm
by meisner
Sooooooo coooool my man. I have been bringing my sons here for 15 years. Such a special moment
Re: BASS KID BAGS DOUBLE-DIGIT BARRETT LARGEMOUTH
Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2024 12:10 pm
by JWall
Young Theo is a legend in the making. A sponge for knowledge, executing at an adult level, and he wants to catch more than you. He’s fun to watch!!
Re: BASS KID BAGS DOUBLE-DIGIT BARRETT LARGEMOUTH
Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2024 12:36 pm
by SLURP
Super big Barrett bass for sure.
Original report the fish was neither measured nor weighed so not sure where the "tipped the scale at 11.96lbs" came from.
Not trying to take away the large and beautiful catch but.......a double digit bass from Barrett is super rare and - I would put this fish somewhere between 8 and 9.9 lbs personally.
Nice catch kid!
Re: BASS KID BAGS DOUBLE-DIGIT BARRETT LARGEMOUTH
Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2024 2:29 pm
by VinnyBass
Str8t Slabaronies wrote: Wed Aug 07, 2024 8:48 am
BIG-BARRETT-BASS-scaled.jpg
BY MIKE STEVENS
SAN DIEGO— It’s no secret that bass fishing at Barrett Lake tends to rate at various levels of “epic” for most of the season, and because of that, it takes a significant occurrence earn a headline. A double-digit largemouth historically does the trick, even more so when one is bagged by an 8-year-old.
After some relatively slow fishing by Barrett standards, Shawn Santos and his son, Theo, decided to fish around the docks when the magic happened.
“Theo picked up this fish, which I estimate was at least 25 inches, on a Wacky-rigged Senko,” said Shawn Santos. “I fit my entire hand in the fish’s mouth to grab the hook, and my hands didn’t touch the sides. 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.”
The big largemouth tipped the scale at 11.96 pounds, a fish of a lifetime with decades of fishing to go for that young angler.
“Theo routinely catches 10 to 20 fish per outing, but never anything close to this size. He absolutely loves fishing, and his passion pays off with big results!”
As for the rest of the day, the elder Santos said they started in the Pine Arm and saw a lot of boils early, but there were only a few small biters. Then they started to move around a bit to track down cooperative bass.
“We went over to Becky’s Cove where we caught a couple standard-sized fish deep by tree that sits in the middle, then we picked up a buddy at the dock and motored to Hauser,” said Shawn Santos. “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 fish on a Roboworm. We Fished Pigs and the cove between Pigs and the dock and picked up some feisty baby bass and big bluegill. Everything seemed to be hanging out in deeper water. 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.”
Where was that story posted?
Re: BASS KID BAGS DOUBLE-DIGIT BARRETT LARGEMOUTH
Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2024 4:48 pm
by Ol Dirty Basser
VinnyBass wrote: Wed Aug 07, 2024 2:29 pm
Where was that story posted?
Mike Stevens writes for Western Outdoor News.
Re: BASS KID BAGS DOUBLE-DIGIT BARRETT LARGEMOUTH
Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2024 4:59 pm
by VinnyBass
Ol Dirty Basser wrote: Wed Aug 07, 2024 4:48 pm
VinnyBass wrote: Wed Aug 07, 2024 2:29 pm
Where was that story posted?
Mike Stevens writes for Western Outdoor News.
I really never really look at WON anymore, but I kinda was guessing it might be from there. There was a few things in the past that were published in there when they rely on people to send reports in trusting that they’re telling the truth. Well, you know fishermen..ha ha ha …anyway, thanks for the answer. Tight lines
Re: BASS KID BAGS DOUBLE-DIGIT BARRETT LARGEMOUTH
Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2024 7:17 am
by TommyP
WON......."The Green Liar"......as it is sometimes referred too.
Re: BASS KID BAGS DOUBLE-DIGIT BARRETT LARGEMOUTH
Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2024 8:06 am
by SjW
The original story can be for under Barrett fishing report. Title "reaper boy strikes again". It's true the original story said they took no measurements, but I'm here to say that fish was over 10lb.
Re: BASS KID BAGS DOUBLE-DIGIT BARRETT LARGEMOUTH
Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2024 10:59 am
by Mcfish
Is Barrett still Northern bass only? 12lbs is really large for those! The body shape seems more like an 8 or maybe 9. They sometimes seem to grow once out of the water...
Re: BASS KID BAGS DOUBLE-DIGIT BARRETT LARGEMOUTH
Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2024 1:55 pm
by KillinTime
Mcfish wrote: Thu Aug 08, 2024 10:59 am
Is Barrett still Northern bass only? 12lbs is really large for those! The body shape seems more like an 8 or maybe 9. They sometimes seem to grow once out of the water...
It is said that when Morena has spilled in the past (long ago past now), that fish, (including stocked trout) went over the spill way and down stream into Barrett. I don't think Morena has spilled since 1997ish, so any of those bass would be dead by now. Perhaps their genepool lives on in some of the crossbred bass?
Nice fish anyway! Not a bugeyed freak by no means. Great photo, and to be so young to get such a good one. I have not caught a LMB that big in sometime now. I think it would help if I went fishing more
Re: BASS KID BAGS DOUBLE-DIGIT BARRETT LARGEMOUTH
Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2024 4:45 pm
by JWall
Here to say the fish was neither weighed nor measured at the time of the catch. How the weight estimate came about was the photo of Theo holding the fish compared to his torso, roughly his shoulders to his knees, which his dad measured at 27”. At least one Northern chart out there says 11.95lbs, hence the weight published. Official? No. I don’t think anyone ever claimed that. It looks 10+ to me. By the way the 9lb Barrett Northern in my avatar measured 25” because my cheesy scale bottomed out at 8lb. There are double digits in Barrett and Theo’s hawg sure looks bigger than mine did!
Re: BASS KID BAGS DOUBLE-DIGIT BARRETT LARGEMOUTH
Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2024 6:31 pm
by camobass
Just hard to tell with distance away from the body and angle of pic, those two factors alone can make a small fish look big and a big fish look giant. If you notice, a lot of bill Murphy’s and other’s giants were photographed from ground or low level looking up. Gives a huge perspective of a fish.
Regardless, it’s a nice fish. Thick. I’d say 7-maybe 9 which is still a very respectable, nice fish-especially Barrett. I know the story saying “my whole fist fit in its mouth”. I have giant hands and have done that on 7lb fish.
Again, still an epic fish and story.
Re: BASS KID BAGS DOUBLE-DIGIT BARRETT LARGEMOUTH
Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2024 8:04 pm
by VinnyBass
First of all...Great catch Theo!
I agree with @camobass about how a camera plays a big role on making a small fish look big and a big fish look huge. The angles and distance away from the body a fish is and closer the camera is makes a lot of fish look a lot bigger than they are. Not trying to take away the thrill of Theo's catch, as it still is a very nice fish....but that last pic camera shot looks like the bass is almost bigger than him.......anyway just guessing from looking at the original pic first post....maybe 8lbs or 9lbs which is still a heck of a nice bass.
Re: BASS KID BAGS DOUBLE-DIGIT BARRETT LARGEMOUTH
Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2024 6:44 am
by Surferjohn
You know how to make a bass bigger? You lose it. Adds weight instantly!
Re: BASS KID BAGS DOUBLE-DIGIT BARRETT LARGEMOUTH
Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2024 7:23 am
by JWall
Surferjohn wrote: Fri Aug 09, 2024 6:44 am
You know how to make a bass bigger? You lose it. Adds weight instantly!
Every bass I lose weighs at least 5lbs
Re: BASS KID BAGS DOUBLE-DIGIT BARRETT LARGEMOUTH
Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2024 7:42 am
by VinnyBass
JWall wrote: Fri Aug 09, 2024 7:23 am
Surferjohn wrote: Fri Aug 09, 2024 6:44 am
You know how to make a bass bigger? You lose it. Adds weight instantly!
Every bass I lose weighs at least 5lbs
You are sure doing better than I am this year...ha ha. Very nice!
The pic of the 4.75lb bass I caught at Miramar recently looks much bigger than the 2lb'ers
but it still weighed 4.75lbs., not 5lb, not 5 1/2lbs, or 6lbs. I guess I just like to be honest.
Heck, the 9 1/2 lb bass I caught at Sutherland a few years ago looked bigger in the pic
and even though I wanted it to be a 10lb bass and could have lied....I still posted it
what it actually weighed which was 9 1/2 lbs.
I wonder if being honest will get me into fishing heaven......ha ha.
Re: BASS KID BAGS DOUBLE-DIGIT BARRETT LARGEMOUTH
Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2024 7:56 am
by JWall
VinnyBass wrote: Fri Aug 09, 2024 7:42 am
JWall wrote: Fri Aug 09, 2024 7:23 am
Surferjohn wrote: Fri Aug 09, 2024 6:44 am
You know how to make a bass bigger? You lose it. Adds weight instantly!
Every bass I lose weighs at least 5lbs
You are sure doing better than I am this year...ha ha. Very nice!
The pic of the 4.75lb bass I caught at Miramar recently looks much bigger than the 2lb'ers
but it still weighed 4.75lbs., not 5lb, not 5 1/2lbs, or 6lbs. I guess I just like to be honest.
Heck, the 9 1/2 lb bass I caught at Sutherland a few years ago looked bigger in the pic
and even though I wanted it to be a 10lb bass and could have lied....I still posted it
what it actually weighed which was 9 1/2 lbs.
I wonder if being honest will get me into fishing heaven......ha ha.
It was a joke VB
Re: BASS KID BAGS DOUBLE-DIGIT BARRETT LARGEMOUTH
Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2024 8:49 am
by VinnyBass
JWall wrote: Fri Aug 09, 2024 7:56 am
VinnyBass wrote: Fri Aug 09, 2024 7:42 am
JWall wrote: Fri Aug 09, 2024 7:23 am
Surferjohn wrote: Fri Aug 09, 2024 6:44 am
You know how to make a bass bigger? You lose it. Adds weight instantly!
Every bass I lose weighs at least 5lbs
You are sure doing better than I am this year...ha ha. Very nice!
The pic of the 4.75lb bass I caught at Miramar recently looks much bigger than the 2lb'ers
but it still weighed 4.75lbs., not 5lb, not 5 1/2lbs, or 6lbs. I guess I just like to be honest.
Heck, the 9 1/2 lb bass I caught at Sutherland a few years ago looked bigger in the pic
and even though I wanted it to be a 10lb bass and could have lied....I still posted it
what it actually weighed which was 9 1/2 lbs.
I wonder if being honest will get me into fishing heaven......ha ha.
It was a joke VB
I know that… I just didn’t fall off the turnip truck… ha ha I just used your comment to help inspire me to add My comment. All good… tight lines buddy
Re: BASS KID BAGS DOUBLE-DIGIT BARRETT LARGEMOUTH
Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2024 9:59 am
by Dfishin
My biggest at Barrett 8 3/4 was 25".
