Hagg Lake 7/15 BIG LMB!

So.....I'm chatting with a buddy (John) at work this past week about the differences between my Ocean Kayak and my Hobie Kayak..... 

He's been a longtime bank fisherman and occasional boat passenger.  Each time kayak fishing comes up in our conversations, I see him perk up and listen.  Well we planned to meet out at Hagg this morning for him to test out both my T-13 and the H-Revo.  He doesn't take long at all to get comfortable in the T-13 and it's primary stability, and takes a few minutes to learn the basics of paddling, turning, stopping, etc.  Half hour or so in that one, he hops in the H-Revo (now with Turbo fins installed BTW). 

He's in love, and takes off leaving me to try and keep up in my T-13.  HOLY CRAP those turbo fins make that Revo get up and go! 

We head back to the parking lot and get our fishing gear, and head back out to fish.  As the day progresses, we cover much of the lake on either side of Ramp A, and down to the dam. 

I'm drifting about 50 yards west of John, as he is roughly 20 yard from the north end of the dam. He's casting a Texas rigged Gulp Alive 6" nightcrawler with a small bullet weight in front of the hook, letting it sink and doing the slow retrieve, twitch, retrieve, twitch thing. I just get my offering down 80 something feet (just trying something with no success), and I hear him scream....

CRAIG!!!!!! 

GET OVER HERE!!!!

I see he is no danger, so I process to slowly retrieve my lure from the depths.

He again screams.....

HELP!!!!! 

CRAIG!!!!! 

GET OVER HERE QUICK!!!!
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HOLY S&!T!!!!!!!!

THIS THING IS HUGE!!!!!!!!

So, now I'm reeling in fast, and peel over there to assist knowing is is running ultralight gear and may be onto a big'un. 

Not exactly sure, how or why but when I got over to him, he was kinda standing/squatting in the seat, and not sitting.  He had his rod bent over like a tight U, and a freakish look on his face.  Priceless!! 

I see what is dangling on his line, and I'm quick to dig out my lip grippers and hand them over to him.  Secured and ready for pictures, John is so dang excited that he immediately blurts out....

Now I'm definetely getting a Kayak.  This rocks! 





He wanted this one for dinner, so we bled it and put it on a stringer to die off. 
We later stopped at the lake store for a glory shot, and a weight. 

20" @ 5.5lbs.

His personal best, and his first day ever in a kayak.

He's already eyeballing a 2010 Hobie Outback, and will most likely be getting one as early as next week (ECBP payout time  ). 

That's a sweet fish!!! 

Sounds like he's hooked.   

What a nice HAWG! And a pretty sweet first-kayak-fishing experience to go along with it! 

Poor John never had a chance.
He's gut hooked.




NICE Fishy!

That is awesome.  First time out and a bass like that.. No doubt he is hooked! 

Super fish, and what a nice intro to the cure11  That bass is exactly the same size as my best in Michigan, back in about 1978 or so, hooked while my buddy rowed us back because of a lost prop----but that's another fun story!!