Canal Flatties

Canal Flatties

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Giant Virginia Bass

    Tuesday was a snow day for me, so I headed to the hot side of Lake Anna with my kayak as usual. Conditions were far from ideal but it had been below freezing for way too long and I needed to catch some fish! The hard southwest wind had about 90% of the lake in an unfishable state from a kayak, so I paddled for 2 hours until I finally found an area protected from the wind with a decent water temperature, 64 degrees.
    I was seeing lots of fish but they weren't very interested in eating. I caught 3 small ones on a swimbait, then changed to a shakeyhead to see if I could get some of the nicer fish I had seen, to eat. There was a really nice shady spot on the bank with a nice drop off covered in rocks, so I sent a cast to it. I let the bait sink to the bottom, and picked the slack up. I felt a fish swimming with the bait so I leaned back into what felt like something decent. The fish instantly headed to the surface, and when it tried to jump but COULDN'T, and I got my first look at it, I realized this was one of the biggest bass I had ever hooked. She quickly headed for deep water and a set of bridge pilings that I was right next to, and with only an 8lb leader there wasn't much I could do but try to turn the fish in the right direction and paddle for open water with my free hand.
     Thankfully I got the fish away from the bridge and after a few more runs I was able to bring the fish into the kayak with me. I had never seen a fish like this before, the sheer size of it was mind boggling. I put the fish on a tape, and she went 25" long, an inch bigger than my previous personal best. I didn't have a scale with me so I got a girth measurement (17", and for those wondering, a fish calculator puts the bass at 10.41lbs), snapped a couple photos, and sent the fish on her way. I'm not sure if I'll ever top that fish in Virginia waters, but I have definitely raised the bar!

That is a Nikko Worm 6" flat tail worm on a Strike King 1/8oz football head.


8 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a beast.

Anonymous said...

not a 10 that's under 9 pounds at best use a real scale next time

Anonymous said...

not a 10 that's under 9 pounds at best use a real scale next time

Unknown said...

Yeah it's a pretty small bass

Anonymous said...

Huge bass but no need to exaggerate to over 10 when under 9 congrads bro

Unknown said...

Yup, a dink

Unknown said...

Congrats man! Beautiful big female! She looks every bit of 10 lbs. I'm a tournament bass fisherman and can say those trophies don't come to often. It's like harvesting a 150" B&C 10 point trophy buck! Don't let the little jealous jackass degrade and down play your trophy! Also I applaud you on true conservation catch & release so that big female can spawn and pass her great genetics on for future generations! You can get a great replica mount that looks very real since you have exact measurements and good picture. U should get a good digital scale for future lol. That bass could have went over 10 lbs due to those calculations aren't 100% exact. I've done them before then put the bass on the scale and had 2 different weights. Again congrats!! God bless, be safe, love, respect, & cherish our great outdoors that we are so blessed to have!! Good luck

Anonymous said...

yup those above are right....
its a giant Virginia bass that's for sure but not a ten maybe pushing 9.
most tournament bass fishermen have never caught a 10 so don't know much how a real ten looks like....
get a real scale....that online calculator is a joke and everyone who catches real tens knows it