Veteran FLW Tour pro J.T. Kenney caught his biggest bass ever on Friday while fishing at Lake Kissimmee. He'll never know precisely what it weighed, however, because the batteries in his hand-held scale were dead and he released the fish after taking a few pictures and a video.
"All I know is it was a monster – I'd say 12 1/2 or maybe 13 pounds," he said. "I've caught 10s before and this one was a good big bigger. It manhandled me for the first part of the fight, but I finally got her turned. It's funny with a fish that big in the grass ... it doesn't get hung up in the grass, it gets a big wad of hydrilla on it but it has enough power that it just flaps its tail and busts right out.
"It was an awesome experience just seeing a fish that big. I had so much respect for it that I didn't want to take it to shore to get an official weight."
He caught the bruiser on a Gambler Fat Ace in 5 to 6 feet of water around scattered hydrilla. The remainder of his gear consisted of a 7 1/2-foota medium-heavy Halo Twilight Series rod, Bass Pro Shops Pro Qualifier reel, 17-pound Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon line, a 3/8-ounce Reins Tungsten weight and 5/0 Lazer TroKar hook.
