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6 lb 12 1/4 oz Hawg!

57K views 267 replies 19 participants last post by  truthdweller 
#1 · (Edited)
Absecon, NJ
March 19, 2017
Time: 18:15
Outside Temp: 50F
Water Depth: ~24" - 36"
8lb Fluorocarbon
68" Fiberglass spinning rod/reel




 
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#3 · (Edited)
CAUGHT AGAIN!

 
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#5 · (Edited)
Heck ya, lol! For now that is.

I was more curious to see if she would return to the same spot after letting her go about 10 feet to the left. So, yes, I'm back to see if I can catch her one more time for, as you can also appreciate, catching a fish, no matter which one it is, is what keeps us coming back.

As well, I want to see if there are any males hanging around the nest or if I'm going to catch her again. Like I said up thread, she is more than likely the same fish I caught two years ago...but it's been (2) years so, catching her a few more times is like playing catch up, hahaha! What I would really like to do is catch her when she's pregnant, like she was the first time I caught her, and see what she weighs in at! Yes, I realize I'd have to leave her alone in order for her to do that.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Same pond, different hole:

 
#9 · (Edited)
Swamped my right boot fishing this one out of the cover:

 
#11 ·
Can't wait till they get their spawning BELLIES!
 
#12 · (Edited)
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#13 · (Edited)
Heritage Pond, Absecon, NJ


 
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#14 · (Edited)
I get nervous getting hits in this cover for my percentage for extricating BASS isn't very good. This time though, I was able to guide this guy up and over, and around branches:

 
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#16 · (Edited)
Catfish like corn too:



BTW, I fixed the pole so that about 8" of the tip was sticking above a branch, thinking that if something BIG hit it hard, the lack of leverage would keep the pole in place. Well, I was wrong, lol! This four pound pack of muscle lifted my pole vertically like a rocket, and proceeded to pull it through the branches into the water!
I'll have to say though, this was the best fight ive ever had out of this pond, over ANY Bass I've landed, including the
6 lb 12 1/4 oz! Gaining ground on him, then him running against the drag a couple of times...just awesome!
 
#17 · (Edited)
One of the first five BASS I ever caught and exaggerated guesses on its weight! Although, it WAS a good size fish, it was more likely in the four to five pound range...I'm speaking to my brother in California in the video:

 
#18 ·
Looks to be on the upper end of 5, maybe 6. Pretty fat with eggs. Just release her carefully. Keep those genetics going.

Looks like all those big bass they restocked from the AC reservoir 20+ years ago are established well. These must be the descendants of those fish. I remember the originals, they were all huge (8+, and then some).
 
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#19 · (Edited)
First I heard of this, nice! Yes, she was released long ago. If you note, that video was back in December, 2014. Who knows, she may as well be the HAWG I caught that this thread is based on!

I'm a west coast transplant, San Diego, CA (don't ask, lol) and arrived in 2005 after being deployed to Iraq. I was involved in the rock climbing circles for 30+ years which came to an end for obvious reasons down here in Atlantic County. I tried selling SoCal to my wife from 2007 - 2011 but her family back here won over.

When I arrived back in Jersey, and having a midlife crisis at 50 and turbocharging my 2004 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart wagon, I needed something else to occupy my time. So, one day while overlooking Heritage Pond, I recalled my brother being a big bass fisherman back home so, I picked up the phone and gave him a shout. After being shown how to Texas rig a plastic worm, and catching my first bass, the rest is history...i was "hooked"!
 
#20 ·
Just picked up a small 5'4" Ugly Stick/Reel combo from Dicks last night. Decided on this over the 6' to navigate tighter quarters. Should be fun.
 
#21 ·
We don't have nearly the bass SoCal has, so this is not a "trophy" area for LMB. But it sounds like you're finding some nice ones for NJ, and not bad at all for never getting them before. Yes the stocking was not advertised, but those of us who lived and fished there back in the day knew about it. They had to lower the one reservoir around the corner for some reason and relocated some of the large spawners into that pond, and some other local spots. The reservoirs are closed to fishing unless you are in the ANG or work for FAA since it's on their land (at least it used to be back in the day). So the bass in those two reservoirs are massive and see relatively no pressure. At first I thought the secret stocking was a rumor until I physically saw the fish in Heritage. Again this was over 20 years ago so I don't think I'm spilling any secret beans here.
 
#22 ·
Man, so those BASS are just GROWING in that reservoir?! I've wandered behind the hotels on WHP with my little boy and found a section of fence that's been pushed down. I was tempted, but honesty and having my little one with me kept me back.
 
#23 · (Edited)
Slayin' 'em Today / Tonight! :

 
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#24 · (Edited)
Unbelievable!

The story on the near four pounder above is too good not to mention so, here it goes...

It was around 7:45 p.m. at sundown yesterday when I saw, what looked like, a good place for a Bass to bed down. I had my two poles with me, my 5 foot 8 inch fiberglass K-Mart special, and my 5 foot 4 inch Ugly Stick, both with 6-pound fluorocarbon. Btw, I have yet to replace my Petzl headlamp so I'm down to using a mini HD flashlight and holding it in my mouth. It makes me drool a lot, but it works none the less...:thumbsup:. Anyhow, the one pole was rigged with a Senko worm, and the Ugly Stick was rigged with a trout Rapala (this information will come into play a little bit later).

Round #1:
So I could get a better angle, I stealthily wade into the 18" of water about 7 yards away and begin trying to hit my mark illuminated by my flashlight. Not being as proficient as the pros, on my third cast I end up getting my worm hung up in the bushes, behind the bed, about 12 inches off the water. After being unsuccessful in unsnagging it, I have no choice but to wade over and remove it. Sure enough, when I get within six feet, a wake forms on the surface and a fish swims away from the bed...smh. Well, at least that confirms there was a beast in there after all! A YouTube video that I watched in the past showed how when fish were forced off their bed, they would return within an average of 5 minutes. I decided to hang around and pursue this guy.

Round #2:
After hitting the mark on my second attempt, I get a strike and watch my line trail off to the right...game on! But, when trying to set the hook, my line snaps, wth?! Well, this is getting way too exciting to give up so soon and I've got 5 minutes to re-rig right? No problem, lol!

Round #3:
The third try produces another hit, but again, when I try to set the hook my line SNAPS again. What's going on?! I can't help but to question my fisherman's knot that I used to secure the hook and the pound test that I'm using, but I've been doing it this way for too long...??? Is it a turtle possibly that's taking my bait? I've never seen any snapping turtles out at this place, only painted turtles and they don't get that big. The only thing I could think of doing differently was to try a Palomar knot. Well, as I'm reeling in my slack line I sense friction, and when I look down at the reel, I notice I've a backlash. Things go from bad to worse for when I remove the drag cap from the reel, in order to untangle the mess, I drop the cap into the water! I spend the next 10 minutes with my arm underwater, above my elbow, doing a grid search and come up empty-handed...:huh:

Back on shore, it's now about 8:30 p.m. and, my phone starts to buzz in my pocket. I suspect it's my wife ready to pick me up, but I am still not ready to admit defeat, so I decide not to answer it, lol! I have an extra pole, so I remove the Rapala from my Ugly Stick, thread another hook and Bass Pro speckled, watermelon green worm, and quietly head back into the dark water. The phone continues to buzz...:razz:

Round #4: When it rains it pours...

I cast past the bed this time but, as I drag the worm back over it, I get another tangle in the reel, unbelievable. I have to break the line with my teeth and start over again. After securing the pole down in my boot, next my ankle, I start wrapping the line, still out in the water, around my left hand. That's when I realized THE HAWG WAS AT THE END OF MY LINE! I am not kidding, the darn fish took my bait while I was fiddling with my backlash! I got about three jerks out of him before he spit the hook out and got away...craziest thing ever
.

Round #5:
I'm having a tough time getting a feel for this soft Ugly Stick and it takes me about five tries to drop the worm this time but sure enough, when I do, and right on schedule, the TOAD strikes again! I let her run with it a bit this time, again to my right, so I swing hard to my left...FISH ON!

Historically, the larger bass out of this place are what I call wussies, for they just don't put up a fight, relatively speaking. Even the near seven pounder I landed just rolled under the water a few times before coming to a rest against a log.

This baby CAME ALIVE though! Leaping out of the water a few times, thrashing, splashing, the whole nine yards, "PLEASE line don't break, PLEASE stay on the hook!" I pleaded. I got increasingly nervous when I got her up to my boots and she continued to fight as I tried to lip her. Thank God everything held together. I knew I had a good one!

Do you believe my phone continued to buzz the entire time?! :nuts: When I walked on shore with the fish in my hand to weigh it and take pictures, I heard the familiar voice of my 11 year old calling my name, "Dad, Dad!" My wife had been circling the pond in her white Lexus RX 350 which I saw on at the beginning of my last attempt. She must have spotted my flashlight, for she showed up on the correct side where I was, hahaha! I called to my son and had him come down and help me weigh and release it. What an ending!
 
#27 · (Edited)
Truth,
Good story. Smaller bass usually fight better, more than a wet boot like the bigger ones. I think the big ones tend to use only their weight against the pull of the line. I've noticed anything over 5lb will do this. It's a slower, but more dogged, fight. Like a heavyweight fighter. The smaller ones will run and splash and all that. Also during the spawn like right now, the big egg layers will be sluggish. All their energy is going into making babies, not fighting.

Work,
Grad from Stockton in 2001, so I lived Lake Fred and Pam for 4 years between classes. There were huge spawners in Fred. A few would sit by the spillway along the walking path going back to the apts. Not sure about anymore, though, as this was ~ 20 years ago.

They put the reservoir bass in Heritage and in some local borrow pits around Absecon and EHT/Galloway. I wasn't on the stocking truck but that's the story I was told at the time by my sources. Like I said I didn't really believe it until I started seeing the huge bass in Heritage that weren't there before. I always heard stories of people sneaking in to fish the reservoirs and getting state record + bass. But it was illegal so it was all hush hush and hearsay.
 
#28 · (Edited)
As anal as I am, I've reread my story at least 10 times and made punctuation and grammatical corrections. I read it again just now and realized I left out another crazy part of the story...check it out, and no, Im not making this stuff up, lol!

There must have been "Round #5" because, there was one attempt after I dropped the drag cap into the water, where when I casted past the bed but, as I was dragging the worm back over it, I got another tangle in the reel and had to break the line with my teeth and start over again. After securing the pole down in my boot next to my ankle, I start hand reeling the line still out in the water. That's when I realized THE HAWG WAS AT THE END OF MY LINE! I am not kidding the darn fish had taken my bait while I was fiddling with my backlash! I got about three jerks out of him before he spit the hook out and got away...craziest thing ever. Im going to copy and paste this to the story, lol!
 
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#29 ·
We all have crazy fish stories. Most of them are true. I had to handline a carp because a buddies reel broke. I have other stories that anyone who wasn't there would not believe. Fishing is such a calm sport until something goes wrong. Those scenarios can cause a lot of laughs, a lot of profanity and some good stories.
 
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