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Fly rod personal best

Went to fly casting class at Lake Murray (San Diego), than had a hankering to really fish for a bit. My first cast of the day, fishing a copperjohn tipped with a mealworm under an indicator, yielded this LMB. 2.25 pounds, 16.75 inches. Must have been hunting the bluegill I was hunting :)

I was wading and the bass was close enough that I could see it, and my indicator was making a beeline for the tules. Fortunately, I could keep it out of the tules and there were no stickups too near. A few minutes later, I lipped it, lifted it from the water, got it on my stringer and tied the stringer off on a D-ring, all without dropping it (but I was nervous, lol).

Also took 8 BG from the same spot, and saw one bass larger than this one, but lightning didn't strike twice. Good thing I had my 5-weight instead of my 2-weight :-)

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Albums: Lake Murray, San Diego

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Comment by Greg McWilliams on April 22, 2013 at 4:57am: CONGRATS on the FLY ROD CATCH!!!!!

Comment by JBplusThuy on April 21, 2013 at 8:23pm: From the water to the stomach in a matter of hours :-)

My wife has a great recipe she copied from one of our favorite restaurants in Saigon (too bad it isn't there anymore; sky high rents in the greater downtown area of Saigon have driven out a lot of restaurants) in which a whole fish is steamed with ginger, onions, and mushrooms. Today, the bass served as the centerpiece of that recipe. Delish!

The bluegill are in the freezer to fry another day :-)

Comment by JBplusThuy on April 21, 2013 at 8:10pm: Thanks, Dick. The rod is a 5-weight (TFO Lefty Kreh Professional series 1), Rio Gold WF5F line and a leader of indeterminate length and tippet. It began life as a 9-foot 5x but has been trimmed a bit :) Fly was probably a size 12 copper john.

Thanks for the stringer tip, Allen. The swimbait that guy was using probably was about 12", it was crazy :)

Comment by dick tabbert on April 21, 2013 at 5:51pm: Nice bass JB I know that was fun on the fly rod. What weight is the fly rod.

Comment by carl hendrix on April 21, 2013 at 5:43pm: way to go jb

Comment by Allen Morgan on April 21, 2013 at 4:48pm: Almost forgot! Nice fish!!!!

Comment by Allen Morgan on April 21, 2013 at 4:48pm: Big Baits = Big Fish. I've read about people chasing those world record-size LMB's out in Cali with 12" long swimbaits. Never seen it, though.

JB, tip about the stringer and a D-ring:

Get a small carabiner (available in camping sections of stores). Clip the carabiner to the D-ring. On your stringer, where the sharp metal end is, double the line, forming a tag about 3" long. Tie and overhand knot and cinch it down tight. Next time you catch fish, push the stringer through the lower jaw. The knot should go right through. Slide the fish down and pass the line through the metal ring like normal. Just pass the loop of the knot through the carabiner and get back to fishing.

I can easily unhook and string a fish while still wading, with a pole tucked under my arm.

Comment by JBplusThuy on April 21, 2013 at 4:11pm: Thanks, Jeff. The surreal moment of the day was when a guy in a bass boat was working the opposite side of the cove, chucking a swim bait that was bigger than most of the fish I catch. It looked like a life-size rainbow trout imitator (a major bass forage fish in San Diego lakes); the first time he cast it, I thought somebody had thrown a big rock in the water. It was loud even 50 yards away LOL.