The Largemouth Bass Boondoggle

This e-zine does not typically talk about freshwater fishing.I feel compelled to write about this early evening fishing trip that took place back in the summer of 1982. I went fishing with a friend, Mr. X

We placed his 12 foot, aluminum canoe on the roof of my 1966 Chevy Bel Air. We tied it down as best as we could and off we went. Aside from the shifting on the roof of the canoe, our journey to the Lake Quonnipaugin Guilford, Connecticut was smooth.

We got the canoe in the water and it seemed like a good spot to fish. We were using ultralight tackle because, let’s face it, nobody catches big largemouth bass in Connecticut. Ultralight tackle was a calculated risk that was not a risk at all, or so we thought.

We fished with a surface lure, the Rapala.A small swimmer. Because it was so warm and calm out, we thought the fish would be caught on the surface and we needed some excitement.

Together we caught 3 or 4 Largemouth Bass that were not very big. Again, that was expected because we are in Connecticut,not Florida where they actually have Largemouth Bass catching contests. There was some activity on the surface. Fish were rising to catch the fly’s.

We continue to fish, but the Lunker, Largemouth Bass that we were seeking appeared to be eluding us. The daylight was escaping us and we did not have much time left. We continued. I took a final cast and the Lunkehit my lure. He was splashing and fighting. I was able
to get it close to the side of the canoe.

Neither of us had much leverage because the canoe forced us to sit down for the duration. That is abot as much respect for me to give Mr. Xfor that fishing trip. I got the fish to the side of the boat and was hoping that he would grab it by its very large mouth, just like the pros. Instead, hoping to not get bitten by a toothless, giant fish, he tried to pull the line intdoes gradeso the boat. The very large largemouth bass shook his body and he was gone.

A new fishing story was born about the one that got away. Plus, I get to ridicule this boy for the rest of his life. That’s good enough for me.

Definitely not a
Connecticut fish