"BIG" SURPRISE IN THE CREEK TODAY

Well its after 2am and I cant sleep after the kind of day I had today. I got started late afternoon looking for some Sandbass in my usual spots but it was kinda slow compared to how it had been for the last week or so. I hit 4 of my usual spots but only managed about 20-25 fish so I set out to fish some new water. It didnt take long to find me a new honey hole!

After I made a few casts in my new spot I noticed some really big fish kept following my lure back to the bank but I was having a hard time identifying them. At first I thought they were Carp but then I got a good enough look at one of them and realized they may be giant Hybrids. I made some adjustments and a few casts later I hooked up with what is most likely the biggest Hybrid I have ever caught anywhere. After a 15 minute battle on a ultra lite spinning rod and 6 pound line I was able to land the fish against all odds. The fish was over 24" long.

I pretty much never keep Hybrids and never keep trophy class fish but this fish was flat wore out and near death by the time I landed it. I put it on the stringer in hopes that it would recover but it never did so I had no choice but to bring it home. Since I was going to be cleaning one fish I decided to add a few more to the stringer and have a fish fry for Easter.

I also hooked 3 other Hybrids nearly as big as that one but they kept breaking the hooks on my lure. I simply wasnt set up to go after fish this size because I had no idea the body of water these fish were coming from even had Hybrids.

As if that wasnt good enough I also ended up catching well over 100 Sandbass in this same spot. I have never seen one spot so loaded with fish in over 25 years of creek fishing. It was insane! I wasnt planning on going fishing in the morning but todays events changed my mind and 5am cant get here soon enough!! Hopefully I will have another epic fishing report for yall later today.

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!!!!

These 2 fish were cut off from the main creek after the flood so I relocated them back to the creek.


Thats a 24" measuring board that fish is laying on.






Looks closely and you can see one of my broken hooks in this fishes mouth. Didnt even notice it until I was leaving.

Great write up....

Hope today is even better....

Never go bear hunting with a switch.

What county did you catch these in? Pretty sure I saw you at Walmart yesterday in the hunting section in Mineral Wells

Thanks for sharing. When I was a kid my brother and I would walk up village creek catching sand bass. One day we were fishing above some rapids when I noticed two fish struggling to make it pass some rocks. I ran out into the water and put my hands around the biggest of the two and threw it up onto the bank. My hands would not fit around the fish it was so big. We took the big fish to the market up on the highway and had it weighed. 4 lbs 6 oz, not a state record but I bet it was for Lake Arlington!

Wow.. great day for sure.

👍

Those fish don't stand a chance

Nice fish

Heck of a catch.

Impressive

That’s a fun day

Wrecked them again today. Will try to post pics later. Got bunch of fish to clean for now.

Tremendous day that had to be fun! Can't wait to see today's pictures!

This was the north DFW area. Never been to the MW Wallymart in my life. Not sure why God felt the need to clone someone as awesome as me.

You really think this world can handle two JCB’s? I’m not so sure

Awesome couple days fishing, congrats bud!

👍👍👍

All I can say is can I come with you please?

I’ve never even come close to these kind of hauls in a river let alone creek on rod and reel. I’ve had some good days running jugs but this is on a whole different level!

How do you tell the white bass apart from the hybrid stripers, I caught what I think was both a few weeks ago and they look real similar but the white bass seem to have a smaller mouth?

Nice mess of fish.

They can be tricky when they are both under 12". The easiest way to tell is a Hybrid will almost always have multiple broken stripes. Sometimes you can see this on Sandbass in which case you will have to look at the tooth patches on the tounge. A Sandbass will have one tooth patch near the back of the tongue. A Hybrid and Striper will have two tooth patches near the rear of the tongue with maybe a 1/16" gap between the two. A Hybrid will almost always have a deeper body than a Sandbass of the same length as well. I am not for certain but I think Game Wardens usually go by the tooth patch method in the field which to me is the hardest way for me to tell. 99% of the time I dont even need to look at the tooth patches. If I am ever in a situation where I do feel the need to look at tooth patches I will just toss them back because it aint worth the chance of being wrong. Once you catch enough of both species you can usually tell what you have on the line before you ever see it. A Hybrid pound for pound is the hardest fighting fish in fresh water period! Some would argue Bluegill are but I disagree. If you put a 12" Hybrid on my line and a 12" Sandbass I bet you I can tell you which is which 99% of the time. Same thing with Drum and Crappie. I catch alot of Drum when Crappie fishing and I can tell you which is which before I ever see it. Its all in the way they fight.

Bottom line is if you aint sure what it is its best to put it back. Mis-identification of Hybrids and Sandbass probably account for more tickets than all other species combined.

Wish I had gotten that question before I cleaned them and I would have took pictures of the tooth patches. Real life pictures are far better than the diagrams you see online.

I just knew it but I was wrong.

Wow congrats! You definitely have the talent and skills.

You should start a guide service, no joke.