Hello all you fellow fishing fans out there. I’m an avid fisherman and have been fishing consistently for over 30 years. I’m not a fisherman that is only after one particular type of fish, but I do have a special interest in hybrid bass fishing. I remember going fishing for the first time when I was around 5 years old. I was “hooked” on the sport from that day forward. But, my real passion for fishing started when I turned 13 years of age. I fished for anything that would bite; the size or quality didn’t matter to me. I just loved fishing! Today I would like to share with you a story that I experienced back in 2003 while on a hybrid bass fishing trip to a local lake in my area of Eastern Tennessee.
The fishing trip was in early May. It was late at night. During this time of year in my area, hybrid bass fishing is in full force and you can catch them on a variety of baits and lures. This was a trip in which I actually fished from the bank and not from a boat. My fishing buddy was supposed to have met me that night on the bank but didn’t show up. Boy, did he ever miss a night of hybrid bass fishing.☺ This time of year around our local lakes, there are alewives (baitfish) normally mating at night. This mating period can last from 2-4 weeks and results in a feeding frenzy for hybrid bass. The lake that that I was fishing is known for its rockfish and hybrid bass fishing.
I arrived at the fishing spot around 10:30 PM and there were signs of baitfish activity. I arrived at the spot with my 3 open-faced Shakespeare rod and reels. I had a Cordell Redfin (blue-chrome color) lure tied on one rod. I had another Redfin (rainbow trout pattern) tied on my 2nd rod. The 3rd and final rod had a Rebel Pop-R tied on the end. These are all topwater lures and work great for hybrid bass feeding on these alewives at night. I chose rod #1 with the blue/chrome Redfin as my initial weapon.
The area of the lake I was fishing was near the dam area and particularly close to a designated swimming area. There are buoys and markers for the swimmers and the water is relatively shallow until you get more than 30 yards out from the bank. This type of water is a prime area for breeding baitfish and a great target area for these hybrid bass because they can run the baitfish into very shallow water for an even easier meal. It’s not hard to catch these fish in the first place when there are so many baitfish for them to feed upon. The hybrid bass are chasing the baitfish to the surface and just about any topwater lure resembling anything close to these baitfish is good enough.
Once the time hit about 11:00 PM the alewives were out in full force. You could hear the baitfish spatting the water but you could also hear the bigger splashing from the hybrid bass chomping on these tasty critters. I began casting to where most of the splashing and noise was coming from. It wasn’t long before I had my first decent sized hybrid bass on the end of my line. Let me just say something about hybrid bass. Once you have one of these on the end of you line you have a fight on your hands no matter what the size. They are pound-for-pound the strongest freshwater fish. If you handle one after a catch you will notice that too. They are strong fish.
The first catch was around 4 pounds. BTW, I only fish for sport on just about all freshwater fish. I always catch and release my fish unless I’m out looking for a meal every once in a while. I released this first one and a short time later I hooked into another one. This one was slightly bigger. In about 15 minutes I had two pretty nice bass. The night started heading towards midnight and by this time the noise from the feeding frenzy was incredible. The surface of the water sounded like fireworks going off due to the action from these hybrid bass feeding on these baitfish. Shortly after midnight, I was in for a battle with these fish.
I was hooking into one of these babies almost every cast. Most of these fish were in the 4-6 pound range. I caught about 8 during a one hour stretch. All were caught on the same rod and reel. All on the same Redfin blue/chrome topwater plug. I was just so excited from all the action. What I failed to do was check my line where you tie your lure on. Catching these hybrids can cause your line to become frayed at the end because of their violent fighting and small thin sharp teeth. I don’t know if you want to call them teeth in a sense like shark teeth but they’re just really fine teeth on the bottom lip. They can really mess up the line. I found that out the hard way because I got too excited and just forgot about checking it. I normally wouldn’t have done that too.
I paid for my mistake because the very next fish I hooked broke my line and my only blue/chrome colored Redfin was lost. I then went to my 2nd rod and reel for casting. This time not as much luck even though the action was still going on from the surface. After about 15 minutes, I then went to my 3rd rod and reel for casting. I had a couple pulls at the Pop-R lure but nothing that was hooked. Now, we’re getting towards the 1:00 AM time-frame. The action was starting to slow down from the surface. Both the alewives and hybrid bass action was beginning to fade a little. I knew I had another topwater lure in my tacklebox that I could try but didn’t know if I had enough time to fool with it. This lure is called a “Zara Spook” and I tied it on my 1st rod and reel to see what might happen.
While I was putting the lure on my line, off to the left of me there was just a loud and exploding noise coming from the surface of the water. It was almost like this one area had now turned into the feeding frenzy but not where I had been casting. I immediately went over to where the action was but all I could hear was an occasional blast on the water but this was one huge exploding noise and not just some little tiny fish. I cast my Zara Spook in the vicinity to where the splashing had been happening. I got about 3 twitches on my reel and I heard what sounded like a bomb hitting the water. At first, I thought the noise was away from my lure but it didn’t take long for me to realize that I was wrong.
My arm just suddenly pulled down at a fast rate. I knew what I had on the end of my line wasn’t the size of the previous fish. I fought this fish for a long time. He went left. He went right. He went basically wherever he wanted. He pulled off yards and yards of my line. I had the drag set perfectly because if I’d had it set any tighter I would have lost another fish. After about 8-10 minutes, I finally landed this fish. I couldn’t tell how big this fish actually was in the water but I knew he was big just by the fight he put up. I always keep a weighing device in my possession. I knew the fish had to be over 10 pounds but I didn’t know he was this big. My scales read 15lbs. and 14oz. but I thought it was wrong. I mean this was a huge fish but this fish was nearly 16 pounds going by my scales.
I was shaking and sweating like I had played a full game of basketball. Sweat was pouring down my face and I was just in total shock at the size of this fish. I had caught some big hybrid bass before in my life but nowhere near this size. My previous biggest hybrid bass was just under 10 pounds. This one was nearly 6 pounds bigger. To confirm that my scales weren’t wrong, there was another angler that had come to investigate my catch. He had a scale of his own and sure enough his scales matched my results. He too was shocked at the size of this fish. He told me that it was very unusual to see this size hybrid caught from this area, but due to the feeding frenzy many sizes were possible on this night.
I didn’t think my heart would ever stop pounding that night. I called my wife in the middle of the night to tell her what happened. She wasn’t too pleased but I had to do it. I also called my friend that couldn’t make the trip. I could tell he wasn’t too happy on the other end of the line either. Once I explained to him what happened, he got quiet fast. He couldn’t believe that he’d missed an opportunity like this. I didn’t rub it in too much! ☺
Ever since that one night, I haven’t even come close to hooking another hybrid bass of that size. I just love fishing for these strong fish and maybe one day I’ll hook into another one of this size but then again maybe not. I don’t mind though because this was one night that I will never forget and an opportunity that I’m glad to have experienced.
Tony Bowen is a freelance writer. He is currently a resident writer for Online Schools which researches areas of higher learning, education and accredited online schools. In his spare time, he enjoys writing, fishing, hunting, sports, and video games.
