FISHING
COLUMN
BIG
BASS
QUEST
porter hall, bIG-bass junkIe
b
A TROPHY BASS HUNTER REVEALS A STRATEGY THAT WORKS
joe baloG
Joe balog is an accomplished
tournament fisherman from
the upper Midwest who relo-
cated to Florida to scratch his
lifelong itch to chase trophy
largemouths.
photo by JoE bALoG
36
ehind the headlines, there’s a quiet
subculture among big-bass anglers.
Far removed from social media
shares and braggin’ boards, there’s a dedi-
cated group of lunker hunters who pursue
the biggest bass in the world as a person-
al quest; one that may be impossible to
fulfill, as a bigger score is always around
the corner.
If these men ever formed an empire,
porter hall would be their king.
A self-admitted big-bass junkie, hall
has chased trophy largemouths all across
the country and into Cuba, dating back to
1967, when he caught his first 10-pound
fish on a massive homemade Jitterbug in
the darkness of night.
since that time, hall’s meticulous
records document 610 double-digit bass
that have passed over his gunwales, with
40 eclipsing the 13-pound mark. his
biggest to date is an 18.35-pound mon-
ster caught in Lake Casitas.
hall’s life story is one of giant bass
addiction. As a young man, he lived in a
tent in the ocala National Forest – the
site of Florida’s big-bass dominance in the
1970s – and later found himself in
California during the world-record craze
of the 1990s, where catching a 15-
pounder “sealed the deal to renew the
lease” on a rental property that led to a
seven-year stay.
In the early part of this century, hall
migrated to Mississippi, site of many
newly built or restored bodies of water
with aggressive Florida-strain stockings.
there, he and a few select friends racked
up incredible big-bass totals, including
once landing 40 double-digit bass in 19
days.
“I know it sounds crazy,” hall says, “but
10- and 11-pounders were no big thing.”
Now that he’s back in Florida where it
all began, hall continues to explore new
territories and utilize off-the-wall tech-
niques for catching the biggest bass in
any given lake. As both a fan and a friend
of hall, I’ve been fortunate to spend a
considerable amount of time with him
during his pursuit, and I find myself learn-
ing from each outing.
Finding big-bass potential
the first important aspect of hall’s fish-
ing is his method for selecting a body of
water with big-bass potential. previously
proven lakes get a lot of his attention, and
he’s tracked the most productive fisheries
through more than 40 years of meticulous
recordkeeping.
Whether it’s because of gene pool, geo-
graphic location or a mix of unknown fac-
tors, hall believes certain bodies of water
simply have what it takes to produce huge
bass. big-bass fans can immediately name
several – stick Marsh, Castaic, Fork – but
hall pays more attention to discreet,
smaller waters. there, away from endless
dock talk and throngs of tourist anglers,
hall has a better shot at an unsuspecting
monster.
FlWFIshInG.com I summer 2019