I found this fish yesterday afternoon while on a little cruise with Rachel. I worked on her for about 2 hours with no luck. She wasn't committed to the bed yesterday, but the male was tight to it. I couldn't stop thinking about her all night and this morning, so I went back this afternoon to see if she had moved up. I got out there and it was the exact same situation. The male was about 4lbs and still locked, and she was hanging out in about 6' near the bed, but not committed. I caught the male almost right away on a finesse jig. I put him in the livewell, but the female wouldn't move up. I left for about 45 minutes, and when I came back, she had moved onto the bed. She was still real skittish, and would swim off every time I casted to the bed. I worked he for about an hour with the finesse jig and a senko. From there, I switched to a white sweet beaver TX rigged. After spooking he off the bed, I made a cast about 10 feet beyond the bed, and waited for about 20 minutes for her to set back up and get comfortable. From there, I crawled it to where it was right under her nose. She nosed down on it, gills flared, and it was on... She went for deep water and got deep in the grass. I had her on 12lb big game, and was lucky to get her in... She was spilling eggs as I lipped her, so I kept her in the water and some guys in a wakeboard boat took these shots for me. She was about 27" and weighed 12.7 on my Berkley digital. We got these shots and she went right back in....
It was a weird feeling catching her after we stared at each other for so long... I felt like we had a bond by the end of it. Sharelunker (13+lbs) would have been awesome, but it felt good to let her swim...
Sorry about the lack of rod pics lately. I've had a few go out the door, but both of my cameras are down right now. I should have some new rods up soon!! Bass Champs LBJ this weekend, then FAN LBJ, then a week at Amistad for the BASS State Championship!! Hope my luck holds up!
