Hey Chris, Let me know where you guys decide stay?

Tommie

Do they have plug ins?

Not sure but they have rooms that u can back a boat up to

Missed having a lake record there this morning by a few ounces.
This was sent off to SAL land. Lol. Just kidding. I weighed it....15 even, and I thought no way. I flagged down another boater and they had an ice scale that said it was 12.9. I went to a marina and found a game warden. We weighed it and it was 13lbs, 2 oz. we talked about the SAL program.....and I went and turned it loose where I caught it.


WHAT A BEAST!!

Nice. Did not think there were any fish that big left in waco. Glad to know I was wrong. Congrats.

Any details on how you caught it lol

Wow...and Baylor won today...that is a nice fish - spent seven years in Waco between undergrad and law school and never caught anything like that at the lake - congrats!!

Good reports from all, see my nephew needs a lesson on TMI, especially if he plans on fishing weekly tournaments. Great catch Steez, don't think I could have turned that 1 back. Hopefully, I'll have to make that decision 1 day.

Wanna hear the story? It's actually amazing that I even hooked into it....much less landed it.

I'm interested

Always interested in a good tail, may learn something.

Well.....here goes.

I was prefishing for a tourney coming up and I was sharing water with guys from COE that were having a tourney. So, I was trying to fish some spots I liked and also not get in the way of the guys fishing for a sack. I went to the lake shore cove and started catching a lot of keepers...but they were average. So I changed techniques. And used other baits to see if I could get other fish on the graph to bite. They were dinks. Then I decided I was gonna go try this island I saw on the map. I new it was gonna be bad, because it is on the main lake and it was really windy and rough. But, I figured it might hold some fish and it also might not be rough in a few weeks during my tourney. So, I headed out.

When I saw the island, it had some nice lay downs and stumps around it....it also had three or four boats flipping the stumps. So I let up on the gas and decided to cast my Biffle bug to the Rocky wind blown side a few times to see if the other guys were moving off or hanging around. Second cast to the rocks and the line stayed limp. I wound on it....still limp. First thought was I must have cut the line on a rock. Then WHAM!!!! It wasn't limp any longer. It was going the other way....under the boat. I pulled hard to set the hook. And it wasn't there.....again....it turned back towards me again. So I reeled fast. And ziiiiipppppp......when the drag. I had it locked down. And this fish didn't care. I tried to unlock the drag......and bam. Huge back lash. Fish still on. And running back the other way. Lol. This fish is everywhere!! So....I'm getting flown all over the lake....trying to get a back lash free....with what I'm thinking is a giant or a catfish......cussing. Freaking out. Then I get the back lash out....and start to wonder how the fish got off.

Then I realize it isn't "off". It's wrapped around my trolling motor about 3 times. Over and under....I'm like [censored] ME!!!

What to do. So I release the spool on the reel and tie the rod and reel to my steering wheel. I try to pull us the trolling motor and it's to "iffy". The line is snagged in the bearings and zip ties holding the transducer cable to the shaft. I am wondering still...what kind of fish is this. Then I see it!!!! ohhhhhmyyyyyyyyyyyyyggggaaawwwdddd! I wander to get this fish in the boat. Fast. I figured it was a stupid wasted cast, in a spot that shouldn't have had a fish, using 12 pound line, with everything that could go wrong going wrong. So I laid flat on my stomach face down. Both arms over the bow. Hand reeling line to the trolling motor. The fish was tired by then and I grabbed her by the mouth and eased her onto the bow.

Then....next problem. She wouldn't fit my live well. She was 3 " longer than the previous lake record. She was estimated at 28 or 29" my check it stick was 24". This girl over hanging....I was freaking. It looked like it was gonna hurt her in my live well. She was bent in a "U" shape. So.....I grabbed a hammer and knocked out the divider. And she was happier.

I grabbed my rusty cheap scale. It said 15 once.....10 once......and 14 once.....so I took off looking for a marina. I found some dudes in a ranger that said the had a Rapala digital scale. One of them jumped aboard and said he'd weigh it. He saw the fish and started laughing. Said he had never, ever, seen a bass that big in Waco. Haha. I said me either, but this is my second time fishing it. So it looks like a good lake to me. Lol. He wanted pics so we took a few. Weighed it on his scale and it was just under 13. So....back in the live well. And off to look for a warden. The warden was checking on guys fishing next to a bridge when I found them. He weighed it and said it was a FREAK. So long it was likely a lake record in a month. <<<<<<for those that know, that is the second time I have been told that by a warden in the last month. Two different lakes!!!! So. After he gave me the run down on the SAL program and that this fish, due to length, was likely just a giant native bass, I decided to keep the gene pool in lake Waco. He said they would breed it and not restock the brood into lake Waco. So then and there, I decided to take it back to the island and thank the fish and let her go.


So I did.


Then noticed my trolling motor guts flew out of the head as I was running that rough lake.

Geeze. She was up shallow? Good fish man.

Then I decided to try and fish still....no trolling motor.

So I found a few more areas and threw out my rope anchor. And tried to line the boat up with an area I could fan cast. And caught a 8 or 9 pounder on a t rigged worm.