12 Pound Bass caught at Puddingstone Reservoir

This is an odd story that took place over 2 days. The first day I started fishing early in the morning in a familiar cove at Puddingstone lake. I didn’t plan on throwing a spinnerbait but it was already tied on so I started throwing it. I begin catching 2-pound bass on every third or fourth cast, the fishing was great, I just kept moving and fishing throughout the small cove covering every inch of water. I finally hooked into a bigger fish about 4 pounds after a short fight the bass went air born and throw the hook. I was very disappointed and did not get another bite for awhile. I switched to a small 4.5-inch worm and started catching several small fish before the bite died again.

I begin looking through the small waist held tackle bag that I had and decided to throw a Cultiva Jerk bait with Owner hooks, I think these baits have been discontinued or have gone out of business because I haven’t seen them in years. They have worked great for me in the past. After a few cast on an 8-pound test and a Curado bait caster, I hook into a  large fish she made a couple of very hard runs that had me moving up and down the bank to keep up with the big bass. After a couple of strong runs, the bass rolled over on its side and I drag it in. The bass was huge and hard to hold up with one hand for a photo. There was not another person in sight that could help with a photo. I was able to get the fish on a Rapala hand-held scale and get a weight, it ranged from the high elevens to the low twelves. I did the best I could for photos and weight then safely release the fish back into the lake. After catching my personal best I couldn’t wait to get home to start bragging.

The second day I went to the same spot bright and early in the morning and started throwing the same spinner bait and 4.5 inch worm but after an hour I didn’t get one bite so I started walking the shoreline to the other side of the lake where I caught a couple of small bass on the worm. After a couple hours I decided to walk back but before going to the car I decided to try the cove one more time. I tied on a Lucky Craft Pointer 78 and started throwing it around the cove. I was almost done when I got bit after setting the hook the fight was on suddenly I’m getting a Deja Vu feeling and after seeing the bass I knew it was another big fish again the fish gave me a couple of big runs before rolling over and I was able to drag it in. Again I put it on the scale and it was the same weight as the day before. is it possible that I caught the same bass two days in a roll, in the same cove on two different jerk baits? WOW!

This time, I was more fortunate there was a family picnicking nearby and I asked if they could take a picture, they were glad to but were very surprised that I released the bass to fight another day. I wish I could describe the excitement that I felt at that moment. I have only caught one other bass over 10 pounds and that was an 11 1/2 pounder out of Diamond Valley Lake.