Mike and I watched a GIANT fish chase something around in a circle one morning. I actually thought the huge wake and swirls were a grass carp, at first. Until we saw a big bluegill come flying out of the water with a largemouth on its tail. We clearly saw the entire bass less than 20 feet from the boat. She was larger than any bass I've ever seen in person, which was a 15.75 I lipped for Mike one morning. I think the fish was probably 18+ lbs, but we all know how that goes.

Seeing that he is putting trout in for the winter to supplement between the tilapia die off and the spring perch spawn. I got to thinking about something and wonder if it would be worth doing. Trout are out of our budget but we have several true cattle tanks(potholes) full of mudcats. I know bass love them and they usually don't exist in bodies of water with bass present. Seems like a good source of calories for the winter. We leave them in those holes to cast net for trotlining for yellowcats(yes we are true rednecks,lol). Easy to get and come in all sizes. The only negative I can see on this is getting them sometimes stuck in their throats, but of course we could snip spines. I wouldn't expect them to be able to live very long in our main lake. Any feedback on this would be appreciated. pros or cons. Thanks

There are ABSOLUTELY 18+ pound fish in Camelot Bell. I have personally seen 4 fish on that lake that I have gotten very good looks at. They are in another league than the 15 1/2 I caught there. They are old and wise though. I either see them in the reeds and they spook before I can get a bait in front of them, or come off the bank and go cruising by the boat. I have gotten very good lucks at 4 fish that dwarf mine. I do not know if anyone will ever trick them into biting a bait. I hope so! I want to see one of them caught.

I also have set the hook into 2 fish in particular that were like setting the hook into a stump. They literally shook their heads while peeling drag and then just came unglued. I know how my big fish pulled. These fish were much stronger.

On my way home this past weekend I noticed a for sale sign next to the La Perla Ranch sign, but couldn't tell if it was for La Perla or the ranch next door. I'd be surprprised if it was La Perla because I'm sure the gentleman that owns it could generate more revenue from fishing if he tried. I'll take a closer look this weekend when I pass by.

Wouldn't mud cats share the forage base with your bass? Ten pounds of forage could be going toward one pound of mud cat instead of bass which would be counterproductive.

Also, lakes with too many mud cats have quite a bit of turbidity so then you have to wonder about sunlight penetration and nutrient load during periods of phytoplankton bloom.

Get on Pond Boss sometime and do a search and I bet you'll run into someone who's tried it or at least thought it through.

Way to think outside the box.

I wasn't sure if this was the proper place to post it but yes, I also saw the sign. We were down that way last week and there is definitely a "Ranches For Sale" type sign on the La Perla entry way.

I am TRYING to get HER in the boat, believe me.
I have a. 15.5, 15.25, 14.25, 14,14,14, and 7 between 13-13.75.
I have lost 3 really big ones, including the only one I actually saw on a bed.
I had caught the male(7-8lb) that morning and had seen her tail- too murky to see much else. I threw in there about ten times with my dinger and she bit- set the hook into a wall - she moved liked a torpedo and pulled me down to my knees banging the rod against the motor, my 25 lb line snapped very loudly before I could get my thumb on the release. She then jumped completely out of the water with my bait in her mouth- 14-16 I would guess-I pretty much went 50-65lb braid after that.
The biggest one I had on I never saw but battled her out of a deep wood pile and I have never felt something so heavy on my line- she pulled off right at the surface and I was shaking for thirty minutes- never shake after losing them except that one.

Do I know how big of a bass in in there?/ no but the 15.5 I caught 2014 was largely spawned out. That fish had a huge head and was very long- probably weighed 17 plus at some point in its life.
Right now with the trout additions, prawns, higher fertile water who knows? I have not visually seen the super giants like Justin and Chris but I feel there are some in there. Very seldom does the same fish get caught twice, that's another interesting thing. It's not a sight fishing lake or I might have just let Frazier adopt me or something. I love sight fishing for big ones but water is just not clear enough-but I suppose that is better for growing trophies anyway.

Doc brought to light a very interesting and accurate point. I have NEVER caught a fish on Camelot Bell with a hookmark in its mouth. Not a one. The day I had the 59 lb sack, I caught 56 fish. The trip back in February where I had a 13 and 11, I caught 61 fish. Not one of those 120 fish had a hookmark in their mouth. I think it is proof as to how smart they are. I just do not believe many, if any of those fish bite more than once. I think it likely there is a State record in that lake. Will she ever bite an artificial bait? Time will only tell.

I thought the same thing and then I thought if I were trying to sell a place I wouldn't mind if someone was letting people know it was available. I'll check it out this weekend.

Man you guys are killing me lol. Someone mentioned 7-8 lb males. Those are big females up where I live. The thing about bringing a partner to CB they might catch a 15 instead of you

I've never caught a fish over 9 and honestly, I wouldn't care. I just want to be in the boat when one that size is caught.

I had the good fortune to go to CB. A few observations. One it is non-descript looking from the road. It does have good fences around it. When I was a kid we would try to think how we could get into private land to fish ponds. I don't believe this is a risk for the owner of CB as the lake is by his house and he has staff besides himself. One post referred to 250 fish stocked at 5 fish per acre so that is telling me it is 50 acres. I really don't know but it is pretty good sized. What is cool is every "area" of the lake has fishable features (creeks, old flooded pond, points and a good sized dam. A lot of fishable water. My day wouldn't rival the ones above in terms of numbers and "teen" fish. Although we did catch two DD fish along with one that was 7 1/2 lbs. It was a rush just knowing what is in the lake.

Justin, my congratulations to you for finally boating that 'big girl' you've been fishing for your entire life. You got her, and you got her fair and square. I envy you. You have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of and everything to be proud of...and I enjoyed your tale immensely.

The 14.4 was caught in February and we caught her on the same bed the next year with a live bluegill, she would not hit any artificial put in front of her for days(never saw her during the rest of the year on a 12 acre tank). We caught her and she was down to 12.2 all spawned out and she was to our best thought 9-10 years old from the original stocking and not looking good. Same markings, and we clipped her tail with a whole puncher when she was 14,(hole puncher is what we did in the 90's, when we put her back why we didn't have tags who knows, I will never know, dumb rednecks I guess, lol) . It was the same fish. That is one example to how difficult it is to catch a so called penned in bass. If you want to shoot a 200 class whitetail, I can take you out and if you are not done by 5 0'clock then something is wrong. Sorry but that is the way it is. All on our place, but it pays the bills. Deer are easy but fish are fish, and I don't sell fish, I sell deer. Deer are easy, and yes our deer are penned in and very patternable(corn, yum at 4 ,lol). Not my cup of tea but it is what it is. Miss those big bass. I use to shake looking at them. Deer make me grin$ unfortunately nowadays.