We sat down with pro anglers from every level of Major League Fishing to discuss the biggest bass they ’ ve ever caught
There ’ s something about the big ones . The bite . The fight . The location . The cast . For most anglers , landing a personal-best bass comes with an indelible memory of the exact moment the catch took place . The photos of those fish are ones we cherish forever . Heck , even in the age before cell phones , those special catches seemed seared into our memories , to the point where many anglers can still locate the exact stump , log or bush their personal best came off of years after the event took place .
Whether your personal best is a 4-pounder or a 14-pounder , it ’ s likely etched in your brain for life . That was the case for these Major League Fishing pros , who sat down to tell us the tale of their most memorable big bass catch .
PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER SHANGLE
JIMMY WASHAM TACKLE WAREHOUSE PRO CIRCUIT Personal Best : 10 pounds , 7 ounces Location : Gibson County Lake , TN
IT WAS AUGUST OF 2016 and it was literally 100 degrees outside . It was one of those hot , miserable days in the Mid-South , and I went to a TWRA lake called Gibson County Lake . I remember getting to the ramp at 2 o ’ clock in the afternoon and my truck saying it was 100 on the dashboard .
I put my boat in and headed across to a little stretch where I had caught some fish before . About 100 yards ahead , I saw an isolated stump and a fish blowing up beside it . So , I fished my way up to it and Power-Poled down .
I threw in a 12-inch worm that landed next to the stump . When the bait hit the bottom , it kept moving . That was the telltale sign .
I never felt the fish bite . She was just easing off with it . The first thing she did when I set the hook was try to jump , but she was too big to jump . That ’ s when the panic set in . I didn ’ t have a net . I fought that fish around to the back of the boat , got her in the back corner and as I put my hand in her mouth , the hook fell out . I mean it was simultaneous .
Of course , I was beside myself . I look around and there ’ s an older gentleman crappie fishing several hundred yards away . He was like 85 . God bless him for being out there fishing in that heat .
I told him I had just caught the biggest bass I had ever caught in my life and asked if he could take a picture . He said he didn ’ t know how to use a phone , so I gave him a quick tutorial and after about five minutes of him taking pictures of my feet , the sky and the trolling motor he finally got a decent shot . It ’ s halfway blurry because it was so hot that there was fog on the lens . Right after that , I put the fish back .
I went on to catch a few more big ones that day , but a 7-pounder is pretty disappointing after you catch a 10 .
46 MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM | APRIL-MAY 2022