Fish of a Lifetime!

From then on, my goal in life was to catch a 10-pound bass. I spent the next several years fishing in and around my hometown of Enterprise, Ala., catching quality fish , but I could never break the 5-pound mark.

Finally, in 1987, my wife and I moved to Tallahassee, Fla., and I started checking out the local fishing scene. I soon discovered that all of the big lakes, like Jackson, Talquin, etc., were being pounded by every fisherman in the city. That's when I began looking for ponds, pits and basically any place that might hold trophy bass.

After a lot of looking around, I found the perfect place. It was a large, clear pond with lilly pads lining the banks. The bottom consisted primarily of vegetation with patchy areas of sand. I began fishing the pond on a regular basis. First came a 6- pounder, then a 7 , and next I caught the first of several 10- pound plus bass.

Then came the fish of a lifetime.

It was a Friday night in early December, about 9p.m. I had completed a tiring day of work and then spent the evening shopping with my wife. The nights excellent fishing conditions made up for the grueling day.

It had been cool for a few days, but it had just started to warm up. The sky was overcast, and a front was moving in. Sleep would have been nice, but I worried that I might miss the chance at a big fish. My decision to keep at it was finally made when I looked at the calendar and realized it was a full moon. At 11p.m. I headed out to my favorite spot. Fishing from my 12-foot johnboat equipped with a Minn Kota trolling motor, I slowly started working one particular area. It was a sandy underwater point that extended out about 20 feet from the shoreline. It dropped off from about 5ft. to 10-12 ft. deep at the tip and on both sides.

I had devised my own fishing technique based upon years of experimentation and fishing tips I had learned from the pros. The most valuable tip I recalled came from Roland Martin, who said: "When your fishing pressured waters and not getting a lot of hits, try scaling down in line size. It makes all the difference in the world."

I had used this same tip to catch all of my other big bass. My equipment consisted of a medium Abu-Garcia spinning reel spooled with Shakespeare Omniflex 8- lb. Test on a 6- foot med. action Berkley rod. My Bait was a 7" black ribbon tail Berkley Power worm rigged with a 3/0 Gamakatsu hook and a 1/8 oz. rattling Thunder Bullet for my weight. I would fish this rig very slowly,basically casting the lure onto the sandy point, swimming the worm up and letting it flutter back down.

It had been a typical night. I had been fishing for three hours and had caught a couple of bass. One weighed about a pound, the other about 2. I released both. I had begun to get frustrated. I was tired and action was slow. I promised myself I'd go home after three more casts: One to the right, one to the middle, and one to the left.

After making my last cast, I started working the worm back over the drop, and BOOM! a fish hit and the fight was on! I knew it was a good bass, 10 pounds or better. I had my drag set so it could run when it wanted to, and when it wasn't running I was cranking. After about seven heart-pounding minutes, I landed the fish! I motored over to my truck on the shore, carefully holding the mammoth fish so it didn't flip out of the boat.

Graphics by A.V. Yacht Club