The fish that seriously kick started my fishing addiction...

My wife was going through some old pictures last week that belonged to my Mother N Law. Low and behold there it was, the first Florida transplant that started the hunt for monster bass in Texas.

At the time my generation had never seen a bass like this, except in Florida, and Georgia.. I remember I was at work when the word hit the street, everyone who was any kind of bass fisherman was all over Monti..
We lived on Lake Winnsboro, so it was a short trip to the Tri-Lakes area.. Man, Jimmy's fish got everyone all excited, and we still are to this day...

He was my wifes uncle, mothers-brother, I had the pleasure of meeting him and getting to know him as a family member, what a super guy he was too..
I hope you enjoy seeing a bit history in this old newspaper clipping, they had no idea what was about to happen..

Jimmy passed away a few yrs back, he is missed.
To backup his catch, he also had a couple of 12's, I got to hold all the mounts.
Sure wish I had them for my collection..

That's a great story, thanks for sharing!

Thanks for sharing, Billy. Still the lake record, I believe. What was the name of the guide out there that caught a couple giants on crankbaits back in the day? I'm getting old and his name escapes me. UPDATE. I just remembered his name, Tommy Milam.

Another guy I remember well from the mid 80's was Max Roach. He caught some giants at Pinkston. He was an old hippy that fished out of a floating lawn chair. I think I saw him at Monti, too. But I saw him at Pinkston all the time.

Your not thinking of the guy on Welsh are ya, Bob Smith knows him very well if he's the guy.. I can't remember, it'll come to me.
You know someone on here will recall who it was.. I wonder how many people remember when it went down with Jimmy's fish.. I was 21 at the time, and a absolute fishing NUT.... It's caused 2-divorce's, for real...

I remember Jimmy's fish well, Billy. Us big bass freaks may be getting older and memories harder to come by, but Jimmy's fish is etched in my memory. And you're right, Tommy Milam guided on Welsh, too.

You're not talking about Bob Smith from The Tackle Shop (Barlow's) are you?

The Moderator Bob..

Good story. Thank you

Billy - There were so many great fishing memories from back in those days about the time Fork was first filling up. The stories of Monticello fishing, the Murvaul Monsters etc and the one thing that really got me going was the guy ( I think his name was Mr. Alexander) caught those two huge fish on Lake Echo. There was also the greatness of so many new lakes that came about during those years.

Wonderful memories made right there. Thanks for sharing.

Murvaul is responsiable for all those fish, whoever made that decision to use a Murvaul fish and a Florida was genius..
There is an unknown hero in that deal ???

Kimbell's fish is what brought me to Texas, straight out of high school. Monti is still my favorite lake. For a while, getting on that water was all I cared about. I caught my first DD back in Smith, fishing out of a Buster Boat.
Max Roach caught the only other 14 lber that was officially weighed in at Kountry Korner.
Tommy Milam was probably the most prolific guide out there for years and boated many DD's. A Rebel Maxi-R crankbait accounted for a good number of them. Bob Garcia was another Monti regular that stayed on big fish. The old 11" Mister Twister worm was his weapon of choice. Bill Ocker was the Welsh guide who caught the lake record 15 lber out there. Man, how time flies.

Bill Ocker, that was the guy I was thinking about.. He still fishes Welsh all the time.. 15 lber, geez I'd love that. My best is only a mear 12 + compared to the monsters of the day, small fry.

Thanks for the old story Billy..

Billy,

I probably told you this but Jimmy and I have sat across the pipeline from each other on Monticello many times throwing a deep diving crankbait. I never caught anything near his 14 pounder in my days out there but I enjoyed fishing next to him and getting the chance to talk with him. He was a great guy.

He was Ken, no doubt.. I'm calling Mickey his wife tomorrow, maybe I can get all his mounts and have them restored if need be. His wife is a class act, Mickey is a hoot... I just love her...

Good memories there, I started fishing Monticello in 1977, first time in a tube, in the summer, man you talk about hot.
First fish I caught was a 6 pounder in that tube. Was glad to move up to a boat the next year.
Before Kimball's catch the first big Monticello news story was a 10lb bass caught by Star-Telegram writer Bob Hood.
I wish I had copies of Bob's fishing reports, he was really good at telling a story about a hunting or fishing trip.
Fished many winter days and nights in the 80's and 90's at Monticello with others already mentioned and Jerry Dean.
Thanks for sharing.

Love it

Thank you, Jimmy was a special man. I just want him to get his due....

Hope you're feeling well Billy.....I remember those days..... [censored] we are old!!

We ought to share a boat soon....MJ

how about Bob Moore? He guided down there for years stayed on Cypress

Wow! very nice read. Thanks for sharing, Billy.....

Thanks for sharing, great read !

God Bless

Monticello was a lot of fun in the early 80's. I remember fishing with Gerald Roebuck and Bill Ocker back in the day. Gerald helped my uncle and I out when our battery was dead, Bill Ocker pulled us off a stump up behind the rail road bridge before we sunk our old 1973 Skeeter Baron.

I wonder where all those giant bass went from that era?

I remember launching one foggy night in the winter. Jerry Dean and another guy were launching right beside us. We weren't comfortable running in the fog and Jerry said "just follow us". We tried, but he was out of sight in a flash so we shut down and idled all the way back to Smith. I wonder if you were the guy with Jerry?

Awesome Post! Thanks for sharing.

+1

That is awesome. I love old pictures and stories like that

It might have been us, Jerry seemed to be there every time we went. I swear I went at night so many times I felt I could run from boat ramp to highway bridge by feel, then shoot for the power lines by the railroad bridge. Those were some long chilly nights but always paid off with big fish if you got there.

On the wall

Time does fly Vince.

Do you guys remember Jerome Matuse from Welsh?

Didn't Jerome pass away years ago? He ran the store or something didn't he?