Big Bass Saturday

Saturday, March 24th started off with an early trip to Square Donuts on my way south to one of my favorite creeks that often is full of smallmouth, rock bass, etc…when I pulled up to park I looked down and the usually clear creek looked like a cup of coffee with a little bit of creamer in it; plan B would be a short drive through the country to a pond in Greene County that has been very good to me in the past. You might remember that last April 17th I caught a bass of over 23 inches that weighed in at a bit over 7 pounds…so as I pushed my float tube into the same pond I wondered to myself if my big fish could still be on the lurk? Less than an hour later, after a few smaller bass and some crappie my question was answered…there on the other end of my 3 weight fly rod was a giant bass; a few seconds later I was holding a fish that was over 7 pounds and more than 23 inches long and I could only assume that this was my ‘big fish’. If this isn’t a great case for catch and release…then there isn’t one. (Watch the video here)

Another hour would tick by and I would land a few more fish, one crappie that was over 13 inches along with some smaller bass and I knew that I was only a few miles as the crow flies to Hillenbrand FWA and so I loaded up my Suburban and less than an hour later I was kicking backwards down Shelter Lake in search of another big fish.

Shelter is one of my favorite lakes…small enough to comfortably move around in a float tube but big enough to provide lots of cover. This past winter I had caught several nice bass with the climax coming in January as I landed a 20 incher…I knew that our early spring had fish up and moving around and on the prowl so I was anticipating catching a nice bunch of fish. After I made it to the furthest end and switched over to the south side of the lake I had only caught a few small bass, certainly nothing to talk about…but I had already caught my big bass for the day…maybe not?

Shelter has an odd occurrence in a creek that flows into the lake on the north side and then flows out again on the south side. This flow creates a pool that basically sucks everything within a couple hundred yards into it and down into the creek below. As I neared this area I could see that there were some big fish moving and feeding in the shallows…I maneuvered my float tube in close enough to make a long cast into the pool and over the weeds that were already growing. The instant my fly hit the water I set the hook on a very big fish only to see it rip out of the pool at mach one and blow my fly right back at me. I slipped back away from area and tied on a shad colored fly and once again slipped back into range and made a cast that was about 10 feet farther than the first, a couple strips and I could see a wake, a large wake headed toward the fly. I felt the bang on the fly and set the hook as quickly as possible…the battle was on. I could see that this was a large bass and it was pulling with all its might to get back to the cover of the shore and the many places to break me off. I put my kick fins into high gear and pulled the fish back into the safety of deeper water where I eventually lipped what was a 22 1/2 inch bass that weighed in at a touch under 7 pounds. It was at this point that things got interesting…as I lipped the bass I could see that a snake’s head was sticking out of its gills. Sure enough as I looked down its gullet there was a water snake halfway in and halfway out of its throat…and still very much alive!

As luck would have it there was another fisherman just a hundred yards down the shore and I quickly kicked down and asked him if he would snap a few photos of me and the fish. He was impressed with the nice fish but even more impressed with the snake that was squirming out of its gills…he helped me out and snapped a few photos as well as a video of me releasing the fish. What a day I had had, two big fish, lots of incredible sights and once again a chance to Enjoy the Great Outdoors.