Chris Mahoney was having a slow morning on Jan. 27 ice fishing a small lake in Lake County, until, well, here's his Fish of the Week tale.
``All of a sudden, while watching the screen [of the Aqua-Vu], all the bluegill scatter and on the bottom left edge, I see just the bottom lip of something BIG!'' the Mundelein man e-mailed. ``I start twitching my chartreuse jig with a wax worm and nothing happens. I then bumped the jig on the bottom, kicking up some mud and he slammed it.
``I saw that it was a bass when he took it, but with those [Aqua-Vu's], you can't always tell how big of a fish you're dealing with. My reel started screaming, and I tightened my drag a tiny bit, but the problem was that I only had 2-pound-test line. After tangling in the camera cord and luckily untangling itself, and almost getting spooled three times, I was lucky enough to land the monster after close to a five minute battle.''
At 7 pounds, 8 ounces on a certified scale, it was one of the best largemouth taken during ice fishing this winter.
``A largemouth [bass] of a lifetime as far as I'm concerned,'' he e-mailed. ``I'm still trying to catch my breath.''
Forget FOTW, try Fish of a Lifetime.
If you have one of those, e-mail nominations to straycasts@sbcglobal.net.
A chartreuse jig and wax worm in Jan only shows what a lucky amateur this out of shape wannabe this guy truly is!!!
John that's an ignorant remark that adds nothing to fishing or the outdoors.
after re-reading my post it shows that i surely need a proofreader. FYI...Chris is a brother of a freind of mine who is more out of shape and a worse fisherman.
This is a great fish, and it's nice to see an HONEST weight on a big largemouth for a change. So many bass seem to be exaggerated here when the weight/length is merely guessed before release.
On one hand, it would have been nice to have seen this bass released alive, but it was probably a very old fish. I think it's better to have it kept and appreciated for what it was, than to have it die, undiscovered, of old age, only to nourish the crayfish.
John, after rereading, I see you were having fun. My apologies. I thought it was somebody just taking a posshot at Chris, who justly celebrated a good fish. And I have zero desire for Stray Casts to turn into one of those places where potshots become the rule.
Hey guys we are fishermen not prize fighters .