does the way point to where you caught this fish on your boat if someone buys it. LOL HA LOL

Congrats on a fish of a life time for most

Congrats Alex!

Love it! Congrats on a beautiful fish!!!

Alex, how long was it ??? She's a fattie.

25 3/4" long officially. I didnt have a board that I could measure her on! Pro-Rule only goes out to 24 and she was off the board.

Congrats on a lifetime fish Alex!!

Great looking fish! Keep up the good work!!!!

Wow what a blessing!!!!

Awesome fish and on a Super WINDY day! Congrats!

Hmmm...interesting comment, Mark

Awesome bass, Alex.....and awesome bladed jigs that you make as well...

Of course she was feisty! You put her in the washing mashing on high while running across that chop.

Congrats, brother!

Here's THE story for you guys that have been patiently waiting to hear it. I'm long winded and I apologize for that. You can jump to the Cliff Notes version if you are curious about what I was using and what type of area I was fishing. I know there is a big tournament this weekend, and I'm planning to fish it with you guys. I'm not going to hold back on the details, because there is only ONE story of what happened and I'm the only person that knows it and I really don't want misinformation to take away from a truly magical experience. I fished by myself and there wasn't another boat within my sight. I saw two boats on the water all day long, and that includes the man loading his boat up at the ramp.

I have fished a whopping four days this year. On Sunday morning (yesterday), March 11th, the weather was nasty. I woke up and went back to sleep. Finally rolled out of bed around 830 and decided I'd go restock Tony at the Minnow Bucket. The Thumpers have been selling really well at Lake Fork this year. While I was at the Minnow Bucket, we went outside for a moment and saw massive swells coming down the lake and a steady rain. I told Tony that this was one of those days when it might be best to just go home. He commented that it was, and that people can get hurt in conditions like that. I ended up deciding that I would rather go get my lures tied or retied from the previous day so they would be ready for Mega Bass. While I was sitting in my shed, the wind seemed to calm down for a few minutes, I saw a glimpse of the sun and the rain stopped. I ended up thinking that I might as well go out, since I was already at the lake, my Phoenix has carried me every where I've wanted to go, including across Sabine Lake (which can get up pretty good with the slightest wind), and I figured there are always places to launch and get out of the wind to fish. I also found it favorable that there was hardly anyone at the ramps, which is unheard of in the Spring on Lake Fork.

With Mega Bass coming up this weekend, I opted to go look at another area of the lake than what I've fished primarily the last two times I've been out. So I drove to a protected ramp and headed out around 10 am. While I was running down the lake, I saw an area and told myself that it looks good and I should make time to hit it at some point during the day. Instead of pulling a Randy Howell, Guntersville Classic move, I kept rolling on to where I planned to fish. I got there and I was plain miserable. The water color was undesirable, I was taking the full blunt of the wind and the area just plain looked terrible to me. I stuck around for a little while and decided that it wasn't for me. So I headed back up the lake.

I thought about going to a bunch of places, which is the downfall of fishing a lake as much as I've fished Fork, but decided to rely on my gut and go back to that place that felt right. I started there with the Thumper and thought a fish plowed it, but I missed it. Not totally sure at this point if that was a bite or not, but it got me prepared for the bite I was about to get. Around noon, the Sharelunker bit. When I set the hook, I felt like I had hooked a good fish, but wasn't sure about the size of the fish. She headed straight out towards open water, and fortunately that put me in a pretty good position to battle her. When she made the first jump, I realized that it indeed was a really good fish, but still didn't know how big. My first instinct was to wear her down and then try to get the net out, since I was fishing solo. She made at least two more jumps, including one in my face beside the boat right before she made a big dive. At that point, I realized she was bigger than the 9 I'd caught the week before and thought there was a chance I might lose her during the dive. But I kept pressure on her and got her back out to the side of the boat. Mind you, the wind is rolling down Lake Fork on this Sunday. That made it a little tougher on me. I decided to go for the net once I got her back out from under the boat but felt upward pressure while I was trying to grab the net and knew another jump was coming. So I decided at that point that the net was not happening. This battle was going to be won in true Man vs. Nature style. I finally wore her down after a few more jumps and got her to keep her head out of the water without jumping. That is when I made my move to grab her. When I secured the Sharelunker, I had to put the rod down to grab her under the belly and get her in the boat.

My first impression was that this fish was simply a different class of bass than the 9.36 I'd weighed the weekend before in BassCashBash. I reached to grab my scale and weighed her. It said 12.89. Being a hand scale, I decided that I'd rather get a second weight. The second weight said 13.00. At that point, I figured I'd accomplished my goal of retaking the BassCashBash lead, but wasn't convinced this was a Sharelunker. I called Tony at the Minnow Bucket and told him that I had a big one and a possible Sharelunker. I really didn't want to ride across the lake any more than I already had, so I put it back on the trailer and drove by land to the Minnow Bucket. The rest is history.

Thanks again for all of the kind words and support. I appreciate all that has been said (especially Bruce's, who, by the way, was spot on about the lure!). I appreciate all of the friends who have personally called or messaged me or came to support me in my nervous wreck moment while waiting for Kyle at TPWD to come pick the fish up. I am grateful for all of the customers, old and new, who have given my lures a chance and shared their experiences with me. This was a bucket list item for me, as I'm sure it is for many of you. I am finally at peace and fully satisfied with the things I've been able to accomplish as an angler. Most people that know me know that I have an extreme drive and passion for catching bass. I love to build lures and have been having a blast creating new designs that will help you enjoy your time on the water more. I mean we are going way out of the box on some of these things that are coming. I've learned a ton from Finch Nasty customers, from guides like Lance Vick, Richie White, and Lee Livesay, from more experienced fishermen around the lake and friends, like Tom Cornelius, Kevin Bryant, Dr JL and Jason Burton. I am not going to plug this post, but Monte Reagan and his crew and Tanner Worley, thank you. You guys have been generous with information and teaching and this bass would've never been in my hands yesterday without your kindness.

And finally, I'd just like to share some info about the Sharelunker program and my decision to loan this fish to the program. It was a difficult decision for me. I've been around the lake long enough to see many fish expire (I'm really not informed enough and have no desire to place blame on anyone for that), hear revelations about private purpose use, and all of the other things that have been said. At the end of the day, I think this fish and her fry have a much higher chance of survival in the Sharelunker Program. It would have been much harder on her to go back into my livewell and take a ride down the road and back across the lake as rough as the water was. That Phoenix aeration system is great by the way; she nearly fit all the way in there without curling and was in great condition when I arrived at the Minnow Bucket. I watched her respond to captivity very well. She sat on the oxygen at the Minnow Bucket for 10 minutes or so and then began resting where she was not visible in the tank until TPWD arrived. She responded to the transport tank very well. We did not handle her more than necessary to get the weight and transfer her to the Sharelunker truck. She was not dropped, and her weight was supported at all times possible. I wrote a provision into my contract with TPWD that no fingerlings or offspring from this bass can be used for private activity, even though they have changed their rules to not allow for private purpose use and wouldn't have done so anyways. I opted to return this bass to Lake Fork after spawning. I'm planning to request, and it's TPWD's call, to be allowed to release a bag or two of the fingerlings at a place of my choosing (similar to what was done at Toledo Bend by BASS) on Lake Fork.

Cliff notes version of the catch
Depth: 5'
Water Color: Murky
Description of the area: Main Lake Flat with deeper water nearby
Lure: 3/8 oz. Finch Nasty Thumper (Gizzard Shad pattern) with a 4" boot-tail style trailer
Line: 17 lb Seaguar Invizx
Rod: Shimano Expride 7'3 MH Glass
Reel: Shimano Curado K, 6.2:1 speed
Boat: Phoenix 920 ProXP
Shirt: Regular old Finch Nasty green shirt that was a little too small and is now retired with her smell on it.

Awesome story. Congrats and thanks for sharing.

Nice story!
Glad your lures don't break on small 9 lbers.