05-03-2004, 04:25 AM
I was fishing in a local pond for carp the other day, all by myself. I had corn on one hook and a nightcrawler on the other. The carp had been biting both. I cast in my ultralight, which had corn on it and propped it on a "Y" stick, with the bail open. Then I proceeded to go to an area that I hadn't fished before because of the trees on the bank, and the dead cattails in the water.
I cast my night crawler out and set down my rod. About 5 feet from shore, was someones bobber floating in the water. It had been there a while and I was starting to think maybe I shouldn't be trying to fish here. I looked up and saw that my bobber was moving a little. Nothing major, just subtle like. I let this go on for a few minutes and then decided to bring it in and maybe move it over some. I was afraid maybe a snapping turtle was checking out the worm. When I picked up the rod, I said to myself, ahhh, just set the hook and see if it sets. Sure enough, it set into something heavy that did not want to come to shore. I played it slow and every now and then say the water swirl. I was sure it was another turtle because of how it was moving so slowly in. Every now and then I would feel a violent vibration. Finally, my captive came to the surface and showed me it's side. WHen I saw that green stripe, I couldn't believe that I had hooked a nice sized Largemouth Bass. The bad thing was that it was headed right towards the dead cattails. And sure enough, it got tangled up and I couldn't untangle it. Every now and then it would show me that side stripe by floating to the top.
Well I couldn't just leave the fish there, so I ran to my truck and put on my wading boots. I also grabbed my net. When I got back to the pond, I rolled up my pant legs and waded in to the fish. As I got closer, the fish panicked and tried to escape. but I managed to untangle it and bring it to shore for pictures.
It was a 17 inch largemouth bass. I put it back in the pond after the photo shoot, and it swam happily away.
![[Image: 018714.jpg]](http://www.myfishingpictures.com/img/018714.jpg)
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I cast my night crawler out and set down my rod. About 5 feet from shore, was someones bobber floating in the water. It had been there a while and I was starting to think maybe I shouldn't be trying to fish here. I looked up and saw that my bobber was moving a little. Nothing major, just subtle like. I let this go on for a few minutes and then decided to bring it in and maybe move it over some. I was afraid maybe a snapping turtle was checking out the worm. When I picked up the rod, I said to myself, ahhh, just set the hook and see if it sets. Sure enough, it set into something heavy that did not want to come to shore. I played it slow and every now and then say the water swirl. I was sure it was another turtle because of how it was moving so slowly in. Every now and then I would feel a violent vibration. Finally, my captive came to the surface and showed me it's side. WHen I saw that green stripe, I couldn't believe that I had hooked a nice sized Largemouth Bass. The bad thing was that it was headed right towards the dead cattails. And sure enough, it got tangled up and I couldn't untangle it. Every now and then it would show me that side stripe by floating to the top.
Well I couldn't just leave the fish there, so I ran to my truck and put on my wading boots. I also grabbed my net. When I got back to the pond, I rolled up my pant legs and waded in to the fish. As I got closer, the fish panicked and tried to escape. but I managed to untangle it and bring it to shore for pictures.
It was a 17 inch largemouth bass. I put it back in the pond after the photo shoot, and it swam happily away.
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