The Baker Big Bass Bonanza.......

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Mike Bess on March 22, 2010 at 4:57pm

We broke 3 rods, the lids off of both rod lockers, and he punted the electronics off of the bow of my boat- then he caught the fish. Yes, you could say all hell broke loose.

Jon Sessler said:

When you say "all hell broke loose" is that right after Eric claimed "The Spot" as his own?

Mike Bess said:

That's more like it. Cool story. Erics 8.2 last year had similar twists as well. The difference was we both watched the fish eat his jig then all hell broke loose.

Permalink Reply by Eric DeLay on March 22, 2010 at 8:06pm

I figured you might have thought I was being a dick when you replied but I set aside my stunning good looks and winning personality for a brief second when I asked. It is safe to assume that all future posts are personal attacks on you though so you may resume defensiveness. Just playing man, I like you, am willing to stick up for my friends.

The 1/4 oz jig is interesting to me. It makes sense to use a slower jig this time of year but to be honest, being fairly new to jig fishing, I usually don't go lighter than 3/8. I am going to keep a 1/4 oz tied on more often now. Thanks for the tip.

My PB that I got on 4/17 of last year had a beat up tail also. I thought maybe it was just because she was living very shallow and making a lot of bottom contact (Bess style). I was talking to Ron on the phone when I saw her scoot out of her hiding spot and pounce on my jig. I set the hook but got my rod all the way behind my head doing it. After a couple seconds with no leverage I had no choice but to drop the tip and reel down. She promptly dove into cover so I just leaned back hard until she swam out. The rest was pretty easy, she did a lap around the boat and Mike beat her severly with the net until he was sure she wouldn't come off. Then he swung her in for me.

Even though your fish is almost a pound bigger I know how it feels to catch a giant. There is nothing like it. This year my goal is to get better at fishing jigs for LM, hoping with every cast to get a double digit fish.

Congratulations Russ.

Russ Baker said:

Bess,

I wasnt sure if he was being serious or not with all the past posts being so negative. So that is why I was trying to be funny.

But Phil was dead on caught the fish on the 1/4 oz black/blue jig and braid. In fact before the fish was caught I had told Phil we had stuck a couple of 5-6 lbers on this spot in the past. The rod I have used for the past 3-4 years is a 7-6" Ordella Salmon rod I had gotten cut down from 8 -1/2 feet to the 7-6" length. I found this length and power to be perfect for my pitching, I cant tell you at the moment what the power rating is on it because when I buy a rod its all based on feel not on a number stensiled to the rod.

When I pitched the jig in the water I just happened to turn and look at Phil to say something too him and out of the corner of my left eye I noticed my line jumped 6 feet to the left. It was an instant reaction to just slam the hook home.

When the fish turned I was thinking like 6-7 lbs no big deal but Phil was thinking like 10+ I said we will see. She turned left/right/left/right then on the last pass I said holy crap get the fffn net. Phil scooped her up and grabbed her mouth and said %4&%$ which I wont repeat this fish has got to be 10+ and I started shaking like a drop shot worm and started freaking myself.

It took me like 5 minutes to pull the jig from the top of her jaw since my hooked had buried so far in her mouth.

I can tell you this that when I saw the fish bleeding from her tail I was quite surprised. I'm not an expert on spawning fish but this fish was pretty close to doing her thing if not doing it allready.

I think that we all have this preconcieved thinking that all fish spawn in higher temped waters than 47 degrees, I have since learned that is not the case.

Permalink Reply by Russ Baker on March 22, 2010 at 8:38pm

Eric,

Like you I rarely fish a 1/4 oz jig in fact it was a first for me as I always fish 3/8 & 1/2 oz jigs exclusively. The only reason I had switched was that I had several people tell me that the jig should fall slower this time of year and thought I should try something different. The two fish I missed on saturday during the evnt also hit a 1/4 oz jig but didnot hook them up when I set the hook.

I get into ruts sometimes by using what I have always caught fish on the 3/8 & 1/2 oz jigs but forced myself to listen to new ideas given to me by other anglers and glad I listened.

Eric you are also right about the excitement factor it was absolutely cool to stick a fish of that size especially in this state.

Eric Im not sure about the good looks though.

Thanks for the positive post

Eric DeLay said:

I figured you might have thought I was being a dick when you replied but I set aside my stunning good looks and winning personality for a brief second when I asked. It is safe to assume that all future posts are personal attacks on you though so you may resume defensiveness. Just playing man, I like you, am willing to stick up for my friends.

The 1/4 oz jig is interesting to me. It makes sense to use a slower jig this time of year but to be honest, being fairly new to jig fishing, I usually don't go lighter than 3/8. I am going to keep a 1/4 oz tied on more often now. Thanks for the tip.

My PB that I got on 4/17 of last year had a beat up tail also. I thought maybe it was just because she was living very shallow and making a lot of bottom contact (Bess style). I was talking to Ron on the phone when I saw her scoot out of her hiding spot and pounce on my jig. I set the hook but got my rod all the way behind my head doing it. After a couple seconds with no leverage I had no choice but to drop the tip and reel down. She promptly dove into cover so I just leaned back hard until she swam out. The rest was pretty easy, she did a lap around the boat and Mike beat her severly with the net until he was sure she wouldn't come off. Then he swung her in for me.

Even though your fish is almost a pound bigger I know how it feels to catch a giant. There is nothing like it. This year my goal is to get better at fishing jigs for LM, hoping with every cast to get a double digit fish.

Congratulations Russ.

Russ Baker said:

Bess,

I wasnt sure if he was being serious or not with all the past posts being so negative. So that is why I was trying to be funny.

But Phil was dead on caught the fish on the 1/4 oz black/blue jig and braid. In fact before the fish was caught I had told Phil we had stuck a couple of 5-6 lbers on this spot in the past. The rod I have used for the past 3-4 years is a 7-6" Ordella Salmon rod I had gotten cut down from 8 -1/2 feet to the 7-6" length. I found this length and power to be perfect for my pitching, I cant tell you at the moment what the power rating is on it because when I buy a rod its all based on feel not on a number stensiled to the rod.

When I pitched the jig in the water I just happened to turn and look at Phil to say something too him and out of the corner of my left eye I noticed my line jumped 6 feet to the left. It was an instant reaction to just slam the hook home.

When the fish turned I was thinking like 6-7 lbs no big deal but Phil was thinking like 10+ I said we will see. She turned left/right/left/right then on the last pass I said holy crap get the fffn net. Phil scooped her up and grabbed her mouth and said %4&%$ which I wont repeat this fish has got to be 10+ and I started shaking like a drop shot worm and started freaking myself.

It took me like 5 minutes to pull the jig from the top of her jaw since my hooked had buried so far in her mouth.

I can tell you this that when I saw the fish bleeding from her tail I was quite surprised. I'm not an expert on spawning fish but this fish was pretty close to doing her thing if not doing it allready.

I think that we all have this preconcieved thinking that all fish spawn in higher temped waters than 47 degrees, I have since learned that is not the case.

Permalink Reply by Mike Stahlman on March 23, 2010 at 7:45am

Nice fish Russell the Love Muscle:)





Mike Bess said:

I don't think Eric was asking you to be a smart ass Russ. We would all like to know how it all happened.

Russ Baker said:

Eric,

I caught the giant with my 7-2" Loomis spinning rod medium light action flipping a lipless crankbait to a log with 10lb test. My lined moved sideways and the fight was on.

How is that Mr Delay is that detailed enough?

Eric DeLay said:

Russ,
Did I miss it or was there a post about how you caught that giant?
I'd like to hear a detailed account about how you caught it. What was going through your head when you saw how big it was? Was there any drama? When I caught that 8-2 last year she actually wrapped me up on something and I leaned back real hard until she came out.

Permalink Reply by Misanthrope on March 24, 2010 at 10:27am

I think Mike meant to say "Russell, you are my love muscle"

Mike Stahlman said:

Nice fish Russell the Love Muscle:)





Mike Bess said:

I don't think Eric was asking you to be a smart ass Russ. We would all like to know how it all happened.

Russ Baker said:

Eric,

I caught the giant with my 7-2" Loomis spinning rod medium light action flipping a lipless crankbait to a log with 10lb test. My lined moved sideways and the fight was on.

How is that Mr Delay is that detailed enough?

Eric DeLay said:

Russ,
Did I miss it or was there a post about how you caught that giant?
I'd like to hear a detailed account about how you caught it. What was going through your head when you saw how big it was? Was there any drama? When I caught that 8-2 last year she actually wrapped me up on something and I leaned back real hard until she came out.

Permalink Reply by Jeff Grimes on February 25, 2016 at 8:15pm

What ever happened to Misanthrope?

Permalink Reply by Josh Potter on February 26, 2016 at 8:54pm

He went to rehab but never recovered.

Permalink Reply by Jeff Fancher on February 29, 2016 at 1:25pm

Nice fish!!

Permalink Reply by Ben Hanes on March 1, 2016 at 8:26am

For those who haven't noticed, this post was originally from 2010...Baker nor Echternkamp recently caught a huge fish (unless it was some other fish, LOL or the same one caught again 6 years later!).

I have asked the same questions about Misanthrope and Eric Delay.  It's like some mystery where they both disappeared to.

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