Fish of a Lifetime!

Hi everyone!

One of our DailyCrank readers, Dan Barker, sent us a great story about how he caught a 14 pounder on a Lucky Craft Pointer 100 a couple of years ago.

By Dan Barker

Spring was in the air on Folsom Lake, California – my home water at that time. I’m fishing with my friend Daren Pappas who in my opinion could have been a pro if it wasn’t for a really bad back. We have fished Folsom for many years and have done very well. We started out fishing an area known as the Rock Gardens.

I began with my favorite rip bait a Lucky Craft Pointer 100 Chartreuse Shad, Daren was working the deeper diving smaller Lucky Craft Pointer 78. I was using a Lamiglas spinning rod, shimano stradic 4000 with 14 lb Fireline. The fishing was slow but we knew they would bite after the sun got up a little.  After making what seemed like hundreds of casts with the Pointer, I was considering a bait change. You all know how tiring rippin can be, my wrist was screaming STOP but I had a feeling. Ok rip, rip, pause… BAM… first fish on the Pointer , a chunky 3 pounder. The fish were starting to move around.

We both proceeded to catch fish, not lights out, but steady. I made a long cast to a sandbar with huge rocks on both sides.  The water in Folsom at this time was very clear. I can see the Pointer from a mile away and two shadows appear behind it. I’m thinking cool I’ve got a couple of nice fish tracking, Daren stares over my way and said one looks like a 6 and the other an 8.

My adrenalin is starting to pump, will they commit? Looking through my sunglasses it was like watching a movie where you don’t know the ending. Then it happens, the smaller fish, wouldn’t you know, took a swipe and hooked up. She came unbuttoned instantly though. My first reaction was to get mad and stop working my bait. But I continued to rip it and the fish god’s rewarded me with an even bigger fish.

She was out in open water so it was just a matter of fighting her to the boat. I tell Daren who already has the net that I’m going to put some pressure on her and bring her up. After a couple of more deep runs I put the rod down in the water, pulled straight up and Daren nets her. Too our shock the fish was a massive double digit fish.  We were both stunned by the size of this fish and if you’ve ever seen a huge bass, they look like a different species.

My livewell is 30 inches long and when we put her in she consumed the entire tank. We both had digital scales, cameras and tape measures. The results were… she weighed in at 14.63 pounds which means the other fish following was around the same size as well.

My main concern was to get her back in the water after a few pictures and some great camera work by Daren, she was released. Every single detail of this day is etched in my mind; I can only hope to catch one that big again. Bass fishing is so weird you can catch one after another and when your day is done it’s almost as though you can’t remember what the feeling was like. So tomorrow I’m going back out to see if I can recapture that feeling. STAY ON EM, you never know if that next cast could be your fish of a lifetime!!

Dan’s fish was caught a couple of years ago and was certified by the State of California through the Trophy Bass Program and at the time it was in the top 5 biggest fish caught and released from Folsom. Thanks for sending your story Dan.