Texas bass guide Austin Miles took out a shopper on Feb. 16 for a day of fishing at Purtis Creek State Park Lake. They began round 7:30 a.m. after launching Miles’ boat at a public ramp.
“It was about 45 levels and partly cloudy that morning, however by mid-day the temperature rose into the 70s with a lightweight wind,” Miles tells Out of doors Life. “We have been utilizing Alabama rigs with 6-inch smooth plastic lures and caught some smaller bass that morning. My shopper caught a 6-pounder and 7-pounder, and I acquired one about 5.5-pounds.”
Miles says it was a “respectable morning” of fishing that acquired a complete lot higher within the afternoon. By 2 p.m., the water temperature had risen to round 55 levels. They have been specializing in flooded timber within the lake, and Miles was utilizing his forward-facing sonar to seek out fish.
“I noticed a bass on my sonar close to a fallen tree with limbs,” says the 31-year-old information from Forney. “There have been 4 or 5 bass within the tree, hanging 4 ft down in about 10 ft of water.”
One of many fish Miles marked was greater than the remainder, so he advised his shopper to forged to it. The angler made three casts to the suspended fish, and the fish would observe his lure however wouldn’t strike.
“On his third forged the bass pulled off the tree a bit so I made a forged to it with a Megabass 110 jerkbait to see if it might hit a unique lure,” says Miles. “I actually needed my shopper to catch that fish, which I knew was at the very least a 10-pounder. However when it got here for my lure, there was no solution to pull it away quick sufficient.”
The bass slammed Miles’ bait, and the bass combat of his life started.
“The fish got here up high and shook its head, and I knew it was over 12 kilos. We have been surrounded by bushes and stumps, numerous timber, however I acquired it near the boat and my angler acquired the web below the fish and lifted it out of the lake.”
However the bass was inflexible and laid throughout the whole hoop of the web. Its head was on one aspect of the ring with its tail on the alternative aspect.
“It laid there for a second actual stiff,” Miles mentioned. “Nevertheless it lastly relaxed and folded over into the web mesh so we may convey it aboard.”
The anglers shortly used a Bubba scale that confirmed the bigmouth weighing 15.89 kilos. Then they put it within the boat’s aerated livewell and referred to as the Texas ShareLunker hotline to report their catch.
“They despatched a workforce straight away to the lake to gather the bass for spawning of their Athens fish hatchery,” Miles mentioned. “My subsequent name was to my spouse Mary, and I advised her to drop every part, get our three youngsters, and convey them to the lake to see the bass I had.”
Miles’ household arrived in time to see his outsized largemouth formally weighed at 16.04-pounds. It’s the 27th heaviest bass ever caught and recorded in Texas, in addition to a pending lake report, in accordance with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
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For donating his 16.04-pounder to the state’s ShareLunker program, Miles will obtain a free reproduction mount of his bass. He’ll even be notified by the company when the bass will likely be returned to the lake so he can get pleasure from releasing his fish of a lifetime.
“I’m retiring the lure I used to catch that bass, and I’m going to place it with the mount someplace in my home,” he says. “If that’s okay with my spouse.”
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