(Editor's note: This is part 1 of a 2-part story.)
You BassFans who fish frequently, what was the most memorable bite you've gotten in 2009? Did you land it, or did it come unbuttoned? Did it help you win or place in a tournament, or was it just a new addition to a large collection of fishing memories?
Even recreational anglers usually have a relatively easy time answering that first question. Ask it of those who fish for a living and you're likely to get a real quick response. Out of hundreds of bites over the course of a tournament season, there's almost always one that stands out above the rest.
Most of those fish ended up in the pro's livewell. Some, however, did not, and thus the memory is not a particularly pleasant one,
We asked several pros from both major tours to recall their most memorable bite of the 2009 campaign. Their answers appear below.
Stephen Browning
"My first fish at Fort Madison (the Mississippi River Bassmaster Elite Series in Iowa). I was coming off three horrible tournaments and I caught about a 4 1/4-pounder, and it was just kind of what I needed to have a great tournament and get back into Classic contention.
"It was my second or third cast of the morning with a Koppers Live Target Crawfish Hatch crankbait, and I knew that in that tournament, that big bite would go a long ways for me. It was just one of those fish that I had to have."
Jacob Powroznik
"At Kentucky Lake, there was one rock that I'd caught like a 6-pounder off of 2 days in a row in practice. Then I went back on the first day of the tournament and didn't get a bite. With about 10 minutes to go (on day 2), I ran back there in desperation and caught that same fish.
"I know it was the same one because it still had the worm hook in its mouth that I'd had to cut off on the third day of practice."
Denny Brauer
"The first day at Amistad we'd had a big weather change and all that and the shallows dropped quite a bit in my area, and I totally flamed out. I had one 3-pounder and my day was coming apart, and I made a little move and pitched a Strike King Rage Craw to what was really not a very good target and got one that was 8 1/2 pounds.
"It was really just a clump of flooded weeds, but when that big fish came charging out of that bush, it was pretty awesome. It salvaged that day and got the year started on a pretty good note, and it ended up being my biggest fish of the year."
Dion Hibdon made the Top 10 at the Eufaula Eastern FLW Series with a brute he caught late on day 3.
Dion Hibdon
"There was one at Eufaula, when dad won the (Eastern FLW Series) tournament. I was kind of left out in the blue – there wasn't but a few good spots and I didn't catch them the first day, so I pretty much just left dad alone.
"On the third day I was basically just junk-fishing, trying to find more stuff for him. There was a point I'd seen in the morning and there'd been a boat on it, but I was in the last flight coming in and it was wide-open, so I pulled up on it and told my co-angler, 'This place is perfect.'''
"On my second cast with a Lucky Craft RC 2.5, I caught a 7-pounder that got me into the Top 10, and dad caught two big ones there the final day to win the tournament. It was a pretty good find."
Alton Jones
"Day 2 at the Classic was a real cold day and I found two fish on a bed. One was a 4-pound male that I caught, and I'm guessing the female was around 10 pounds. I messed with her for a few minutes and she was unresponsive, so I left my (Yum) Dinger in the nest and went to start rigging up something that was more finesse.
"I had my head in the storage compartment when I heard something up front, and I looked up in time to see my rod going over the side of the boat. I grabbed the handle and set the hook really good, but between me and the fish was a laydown that was about as big around as a pool cue and it had a split on the end that was closest to her. My line went straight up that split.
"I was fishing 50-pound braid and I had to decide weather to keep pulling hard and try to break the stick, or give line and try to go around and pull it out. I made the call to keep pulling and that stick turned out to be a little stronger than I'd thought. I had her pinned up against it for awhile, but I just couldn't get to her and she ended up coming off.
"That fish would've put me in contention, anyway. It would've changed the complexion of the Classic for me."
Jami Fralick
"At Guntersville the first day, I lost one that was between 7 and 8 pounds right at the boat, and then on my next cast I caught one that was 6 1/2. It was on a 3/4-ounce (XCalibur) One Knocker, ghost minnow.
Jami Fralick lost a 7-plus-pounder at Guntersville when he underestimated its size.
"The thing about those fish is they were kind of lethargic in the post-spawn and you'd hook them and they'd just swim to the boat. Unless they rolled, you couldn't tell if it was a 3-pounder or a 7-pounder. I'd been throwing back 4s, and that one I lost, I didn't realize it was a lot bigger than that when I went to swing it in."
David Dudley
"For me it wasn't one fish, but the five I had to throw back and Kentucky Lake when I came in late. It was my error – I had the time wrong.
"I had about 14 pounds in the livewell, and as I was letting them go I knew I was throwing away (a berth in the Forrest Wood Cup). It cost me making that championship."
Tim Horton
"I had a bed-fish at Smith Mountain that was about a 6-pounder, and when I set the hook, the reel came out of the seat on the rod. I tried to pull (the fish) in by hand, but it got off right at the boat.
"I had that fish hooked one more time with about 10 minutes left in the day, but it got off again."
Jeff Kriet
"On the third day at Lake Amistad I had like 19 pounds. That was a pretty good sack, but I felt like I needed one 6-pound fish to put me in the Top-12 cut. I looked down at my watch and told my (co-angler), 'Man, we've got to go,' and I was going to make one last cast.
"I made one with an Osprey swimbait, and there was a fish about 8 or 9 pounds that I could see following it. It hit it six or seven times, but it never got it. I was looking at him eye to eye right there, 5 feet from the boat, when he finally eased off. That cost me the Top 12 and I ended up finishing 20th."
– End of part 1 (of 2) –
