The one that didn’t get away: Bee’s fishing expert, battles a big bass
I caught the fishing bug by the time I was a young teenager, so it was always painful to find out that my father had decided to go fishing with one of his buddies during a school day.
On one of those days, Dad went to Pine Flat to go bass fishing with a neighbor. It was too much for me to take so I decided to head out to the nearby old Burrel slough, which was better than nothing.
Since Dad had taken most of our best tackle, I went out to our garage and found some old lures, an old 7 1 ⁄ 2-foot fiberglass rod and a Mitchell 300 reel covered with dust. I threw it all in the back of our old ranch Chevy pickup and told Mom I was going to the slough to fish. (As a farm kid I was driving in the area all the time.)
At the slough, I targeted a shallow offshoot canal about 80 feet across holding all kinds of spawning carp. It might also hold a bass. It was just a hunch; I had never bass fished the slough.
The water was dark and murky. I began twitching the lure on top just like we did at the lake. I twitched the plug again as a wake began slowly heading for my bait. I figured it had to be one of the many muskrats working the area.
The wake suddenly stopped short of my lure, so I twitched one more time. The lure slid under the water. That darn rodent had reached up and grabbed my lure. I felt a pull and instinctively set the hook. The next thing I saw was a very big and angry largemouth bass catapulting out of the water trying to throw the plug!
This was a big fish – but who would believe me if I lost it? I was frantically trying to get the crazy fish under control as it swam down the bank into weeds. I waded into the ominous-looking bushes to lip the tired fish but got a handful of stinging nettle for my efforts.
But the pain wasn’t nearly as bad as the feeling of victory I got when I pulled the 4½-pound bass out of the weeds. My dad and his fishing buddies wouldn’t dare leave me home again after they saw what I caught and how I had done it.
I was pretty proud as I threw the big pail of water holding my prize in the back of the truck. I won’t tell you how fast I drove heading home.
Dad got home late and they had only caught a few dinks. Acting innocently, I told him I caught a fish at the slough. Curious, he walked into the garage where I had a big basin of water holding the trophy. He couldn’t believe it. I scored a few points, I think.
We fished that slough the rest of the summer, but didn’t catch anything near the size of my prize.I had bragging rights and a story that spread throughout the area.
Never give up!
Roger George: rogergeorge8@protonmail.com, Rogergeorgeguideservice on Facebook and @StriperWars.
This story was originally published September 5, 2023 at 11:30 AM with the headline "The one that didn’t get away: Bee’s fishing expert, battles a big bass."