Canadian Fisherman In Texas

Bass'ed on a true story...

When I was much younger, my dad took my brother and I on a fishing trip to Lake Fork, Texas. That lake is known for having record sized Largemouth Bass that get up to nearly 20 lbs! I grew up in Nebraska where a huge bass gets up to about 5 lbs. So, it was a step up in fishing possibilities.

We spent the first couple days not catching much. The tackle we were using was the classic lures that should work for bass. But it wasn’t working too well. In fact, I hadn’t caught anything.

On maybe the third day we were taking the boat out of the lake and met two fisherman from Canada. We could tell they were from up north because they had more of a “walleye boat” than a “bass boat”.

After introductions we asked how they did. They had caught a ton of fish. Probably a dozen or more. This was surprising since we had only caught one or two that day.

So we asked what they were using. “Same as we use up north. Bobber and minnows. Drop the bobber next to a stump and if there is a bass there, they will take it.”

Nobody else was using that rig that we could tell, but the Canadians caught way more fish, so it was worth a shot. Also, I’ve caught tons of bass on that rig before, so it made sense to try it.

The next morning we went to the bait shop and got minnows. Hilariously, the people at the bait shop tried to sell me on the exact lure I had used the last couple days to catch zero fish. I declined.

That morning we got in the boat, rigged up our poles with bobbers, hooks, and minnows. Then my dad drove the boat over to a spot full of downed timber (the whole lake is basically a flooded forest full of submerged timber and other structure).

On the very first cast I dropped the bobber right next to a stump that was no more than 15 feet away. The bobber disappeared right away. It pretty much sank straight down.

Fish on!!!

I set the hook and felt the weight of the fish right away. It was a big one. The drag wasn’t set right so the reel made a high pitched whine as the fish tried to swim away. I adjusted the drag and started to fight the fish. My dad and brother grabbed the net and were shouting instructions like “keep the rod up!” and all of that.

I was winding in and the fish swam back toward the boat a bit. It came near the surface and I got to see it. It was the biggest bass we had seen. The day before my dad caught an 8.5 pound bass, and this looked a bit bigger.

The fish fought hard. We went back and forth a few times and then…

It snapped the line!

I didn’t get the fish. It got away. It was easily the biggest bass I’ve ever had on the line and I didn’t get it into the boat.

Oh well, I hope someone else got to enjoy fighting that fish at some point. It was exhilarating.

Years later, my parents went back to Lake Fork and my mom caught a huge bass that was maybe 9 or 10 lbs. So a little bit bigger than the trophy bass my dad caught. That time they went straight to bobbers and minnows. No need to try any thing else. Do what works.

Now, what’s funny about this to me is very few bass fisherman will take their boat out, rig up a bobber and minnow rig and cast that around. It works, but it’s just not what they do. If you ever get into bass fishing you’ll find out that they get into all manner of lures, artificial worms, and so many things like that. Of corse, those things work too.

I just find it interesting that something so simple and effective as bobber fishing is so effective, yet completely underrated by “serious fisherman”. Especially for trophy bass fishing.

And for that, I am grateful to the two Canadians I met in Texas. I only knew them for a few minutes, but their advice turned around that fishing trip.

-Brian