8lb Bass Before Class

Hydrilla Gorilla · November 02, 2011, 01:39:33 PM

Decided to hit up Lake Jackson in Tallahassee, FL before class this morning and it was incredible. I just put together my first dedicated combo for punchin' and broke it in with an 8lb bass. I was at Jackson a couple days ago to attempt punchin' for the first time and I couldn't even manage a bite, but a ton of reading on the UB forum and Mike Cork's articles yesterday really paid off. In addition to the 8lb bass I had at least 6 missed fish which has me really pumped up to go back this weekend. Thanks everyone on the forum for indirectly helping me catch my first punchin' bass.

Matt

kidd · November 02, 2011, 02:13:47 PM

Nice man, what a beast!

novabass · November 02, 2011, 02:39:43 PM

Nice fish!!
Nice punch!

Hydrilla Gorilla · November 02, 2011, 04:19:44 PM

Thanks guys! I knew he was big but I couldn't tell how big because he was stuck in a huge ball of grass. When I stuck my hand in the water and found his mouth I started freaking out haha.

kidd · November 03, 2011, 01:37:38 PM

What was your presentation like? Just punching through and twitching on the bottom or???

Crankbait1007 · November 03, 2011, 04:32:07 PM

Way to go man!!.....By the way nice Snook!

Mike Cork · November 03, 2011, 05:42:44 PM

That is a beautiful health grass bass. Love the color!!!!

Congrats and go get some more

cd1 · November 03, 2011, 07:24:53 PM

Duuuuuuuuude! Sweet catch!

crankenstein · November 03, 2011, 08:57:17 PM

Awesome catch

Hydrilla Gorilla · November 03, 2011, 10:20:13 PM

Quote from: BUZZKIDD on November 03, 2011, 01:37:38 PM
What was your presentation like? Just punching through and twitching on the bottom or???

Thanks everyone, I can't wait to get back out there. The water levels are so low I can barely launch my plastic jon boat at the ramp, so the only other boat I have seen in two days is an airboat. I feel like I can catch a decent amount of fish with no pressure from anyone else. I was using a 1oz Tungsten weight, a rubber stopper, and a Berkley Chigger Craw in green pumpkin. The setup was a 7'6 flippin stick by Falcon with a 200e7 Curado spooled with 50lb spiderwire. After I punched through the grass I had almost all reaction strikes, but I did have one or two when raising the bait to the top of the mat and shaking it. The real kicker was having a solid and fast entry through the mat when I punched. Everytime it got hung up I don't think I got a bite. I was using a 4/0 ewg hook and i really think thats why I missed so many fish. Before I go out I am going to pick up and snell some straight shank hooks, and probably some scent to help the bait slide through the mat. This was the first time I used tungsten and the sensitivity was unreal I am definitly going to buy some lighter ones.

marriemb · November 03, 2011, 11:04:30 PM

WOW!!!! Nice catch

Go get some more..

saint romain · November 04, 2011, 02:43:36 PM

Man that's got to be the best looking bass I've EVER seen! Bye bye paycheck, I need to start punching!

FlatsNBay · November 06, 2011, 06:09:08 PM

That reminds me of my FSU days! I used to fish Jackson, Talquin and Bradford a lot after class. Three totally different type of lakes that gave me quite an education. Those mats on Lake Jackson can be awesome with a frog! I can't imagine what punching would do to them. Congrats on a nice fish!

Diggy_ · November 06, 2011, 06:16:40 PM

Looks like a grouper, nice job

Using Tapatalk

Hydrilla Gorilla · November 07, 2011, 08:41:45 PM

Quote from: FlatsNBay on November 06, 2011, 06:09:08 PM
That reminds me of my FSU days! I used to fish Jackson, Talquin and Bradford a lot after class. Three totally different type of lakes that gave me quite an education. Those mats on Lake Jackson can be awesome with a frog! I can't imagine what punching would do to them. Congrats on a nice fish!

Ya I fish mostly Talquin and Jackson but I have caught some bass at Bradford too. Have you ever tried fishing Iamonia? Go Noles!

FlatsNBay · November 08, 2011, 03:50:30 PM

I never did fish Iamona. The lake was almost dry when I was there. Some of my best days were on Jackson. I loved it when they were schooling! Non stop action. Go Noles!

Hydrilla Gorilla · November 09, 2011, 07:35:03 PM

I don't know if I should keep this post going, but I finally got back out on Jackson after class today and did pretty well. I ended up landing a 2 lb and almost 6 lb bass. I didn't feel the bite on the 6 lber but my bait kept falling so I knew something was on the other end so I just cranked the reel over and whacked him. In the beginning I tried using a straight shank hook and a snell knot for the first time, but I lost everything on a decent bite. I guess I didn't tie it right even though I checked and pulled on the knot about 10x before I got on the water. Also, since I had the hardest time rigging my bait on a straight shank I switched back over to an ewg. I couldn't get my bait to line up with my hook, it would hang at about a 45 deg angle, is that right? I also hate not texposing the hook, do you just bury the point into the bait?

8lb Bass Before Class

Crankbait1007