Blue Balls Lagoon Lunker
So I headed out on this hot summer day around 4:00 pm since I got out of work a little earlier than expected. I hit Maspy Solo style looking to continue a streak of consecutive months with 5 plus pounders. I started on the side of the lake with the deepest water for the first hour and caught nothing but a mild sun burn. I moved my way past the beach to some curly weeds in the water and caught 3 bass on a weighted tube during the next half hour- nothing over a pound and half but I was happy to get some action..
I decided to go into what I call Blue Balls Lagoon because it has always looked like Larryville but I have yet to catch anything other than big pickeral in there...... that was all about to change. The area was on the recieving end of a large fallen tree, plenty of shade and about 100 feet in diameter- this perfect circle of a cove looked ideal to hold a monster on this hot day and every day for that matter. My first cast I got stuck on a branch and had to take the canoe into the middle to get free. About 6 casts go by without any activity. I threw a cast in the shallows and got a solid strike but couldn't land the fish. I fished this small area for another 10 minutes without another strike until I landed.....a log! I was stuck on the tree structure and cut the line with agitation. I swiveled up another rubber worm wacky style and stayed in the cove with persistance. I pitched my worm about 25 feet from the boat and let it "soak" as Chuck (the Landlord) would say. Finally I felt a substantial twitch in my line and then set the fish, gametime! I was standing up in the canoe watching my line dart to the right, I knew it was a great fish but had plenty of work left to get it in the boat. The fish was now on the bottom about 8 feet below the surface as I felt it and my line hitting structure on the bottom. I fought the fish firmly to bring it near the surface and realized it was BIG! In the process my line snagged a tree branch on the bottom so now I had to lift both the fish and branch to the boat. I saw the beast and without hesitation netted it with my free hand. Two kids chugging beers witnessed the whole thing and when they saw the fish shared some words that I can't post- haha! I slowly took the fish back home to document my catch with photo's and took measurements. Just over 22 inches long and weighed in at 5 pounds 12 ounces. An extremely rewarding catch as I was thrilled to finish out August with a Lunker and to continue the streak. I'm glad I don't have Blue Balls in that Lagoon anymore!