Did some pre fishing, or should I say pre looking for fish for tomorrows ABA tourney. A great day even though I told myself I wasn't going to stick any fish. That lasted about a few hours, then the rods had to come out. After I caught a 9 pounder bedded up, I was ready to go home happy...until 100 yards later I came up on a pig that wouldn't move. It was a coin toss to leave her or fish her. To hell with it I said, that could be my biggest bass. A few minutes later she hammered my tube and dragged me around for a few minutes till I boated her and weighed her. She ran my digital scale to 14.8 pounds, 2/10ths shy of 15 pounds! Damn what a great day.

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/918.jpg

good move, what a fish!! you never know, if you would have left her she might have been gone or on some kook's stringer tomorrow- fish of a lifetime for most of us-

I never met a true fisherman who could pass up a chance at battling a hawg like that. I will say that you showed good self control on holding off a few hours on fishing. I know I would have cracked and been fishing within the first 10 minutes. Nice fish and good going on the 9lber too. Were you able to return her to the nest after you put her on the scale and snapped some pictures. I'm willing to bet she's expecting lots of little ones in the near future. Good luck in that tournament. To bad you couldn't have found those two fish tomorrow. Who knows maybe they'll be right where you left them and ready to go round two.

JerryG

I don't know, from the looks of that guy i'm willing to bet he took her home and did her like a Turkey fry! w/some BBQ sauce for dippin' He looks like a good ol' boy to me! And on top of that, it doesn't look an ounce over 13...LOL, Man BMK where's the love for us Pacific's? I thought you'd be calling me for some sight fishing 101...Good luck tommorow @ Perris, hope you get em' (maybe not the 9 or the 14.8 lber) but a limit of rats won't be too bad...I'll be @ Casitas w/100 other boats on sat. & sun.

Good Job Dude!!!

That's a pig alright! Congratulations and thanks for sharing.

Nice hawg

First off, Jeff gimme a week and we'll burn some water. Both the nine and the big pig were released, as it always should be regardless of size. Neither they nor the three others big girls I spotted but left alone were there today. It has been my experience that most big females are locked up one day then gone the next. I couldn't find any big ones today, but did get a solid enough limit for second place overall. The fishing was tough, even for those like myself who only sight fished. I ran about three miles of bank just to get 16 pounds. One of those two I caught the day before could surely could have made a big difference, but given the chance to stick a big one like that again, I don't think I would pass it up. She was the Perris fish I have been looking for for eight years.

Incredible Catch! Congrats!

However, It does bring up a certain dilemma with regards to "Searching' as opposed to "Sticking". On one hand, you have the chance to boat a fish of a lifetime....AND YOU DID! Awesome job!
On the other hand, you would have to make a judgement call on leaving the big gal for the next day, or in your case, tournament day.

As a fellow club fisherman, if I were to reverse roles with you, I would have left her for gameday. I'M IN NO WAY BEING CRITICAL OF YOUR JUDGEMENT, I'm just telling you what I would have done.

It is my deepest hope that you find her again in the same exact position on tournament day, and you get the chance of giving her a little boatride to victory! (I hope you find the 9-lber too!)

Please accept this response in the context intended. We would not be having this conversation if you were Fun fishing, but since you brought up the aspect of your ABA tournament, it spawns (No Pun intended!) a different debate.

I wish you great luck and success in the Tournament, and please share your results with me (Us!) with a future post. If you win, I'd be glad to eat the first slice of humble pie, but if you inadvertently "Emptied your Gun", I guess you would have to spend some time wondering what might have been.

No matter what happens, NICE GET!

"ROD"

Rod, you must have missed my previous response to answer some of the questions for others. I didn't find her, nor any of the tens that were totally locked up and left alone for the next day. Thus affirming what experience has taught me that they are locked up one day and gone the next. Trust me, I thought hard about it and even called a big fish friend of mine just to one, bragg about what I had found and two, to get a second opinion. As I stated, she was a fish of a lifetime, one that will probably be my biggest for decades to come. In other words, had I left her, chances are she would have been not been there just like all the others I left alone, and would be kicking myself in the pants every sleepless night wishing I would have gone ahead and stuck her. Another thing to note was that upon first seeing her, I pitch up to see what she would do and she tried to smoke my bait. Upon seeing this with eyes as big as saucers I yanked the bait away from her since to think things over given the pre fishing situation. In other words I knew this was going to be as easy as they come, the type of big sight fish situation we all dream about, but if she was a stickler and ran around a lot, then I would have probably left her alone for the next day. I didn't win the tournament the next day....I got second place and you will not hear me complain one bit. Two awesome days in a row that will be hard for me to match ever again unless the planets align just right and i come up on an even bigger toad in pre-fish, which if it is bigger than her, I will most gladly stick if she is as willing as this one was. Tournaments come and go on a weekly basis. 15 pounders you have to chase away from your bait come along (for most of us) once in a life time.

Exceptionally well stated!

You are absolutely correct with regards to the Fish of a lifetime.
That is truly hard to pass up on, and I respect your decision to bring her aboard and CPR.

Please forgive me if I went into tournament "MODE" on you, it's a knee jerk reaction! Also, I hope I did not come off confrontational or judgemental in my post, I was just trying to encourage discussion from a different viewpoint.

You, my friend, have what we call "SCOREBOARD!"

Congrats again on a the "MOAB" MOTHER OF ALL BASS!

Good fishing,

"ROD"

You didn't come off confrontational. You know, we all, including myself find ourselves aways in tournament mode, even when fun fishing. I can't tell you how many times I had put myself in a pre fish scenario staring at a 15-plus and thought I had this wonderful game plan all figured. Then when it happened in reality, ambition spites any desire to think ahead. By the way, I heard a guy caught a fish on sunday at Perris that weighed exactly the same.

Okay, I'll be confrontational!!! BMC you know very well that if you were fishing that tournament with me, or any other partners, you'd never had stuck that pig during practice. If you had, I would have wrung your red-neck. BTW what's up with the Budweiser lid? Is that some sort of NASCAR badge of honor? LOL......

Good job bro, just jealous. I know you'll have more chances at that 15+ at LMV through the spring. And if anyone wants to know some of your sight-fishing secrets, they can just go to www.the-limit.com and read the Zone Fishing article by the man himself.

Dude, if you were my partner again I would still stick a 15+ in practice because one, it ain't gonna be there the next day and two, you better suddenly find a way to gain about 40 pounds if you think you are gonna start wringing necks, thus your disposition would have little effect on my decision making process. Besides, your chains rattle too loud these days for you to even partner up with anyone, let alone norco's finest. Let me know how tommorow goes at Casitas. Gotta take the old man and the kids out for some fish stickin. Late.