Spent Saturday at my local pond with my 6' TFO Signature fly/spin rod spooled with .005" 3# Sunline. Spent most of my time casting a small crankbait from Trout Magnet. Landed a good number of bass like the one below. Twice I hooked into much bigger largemouth (2-3#) and both times the lure was thrown when the fish were within 10'. Oh the heartache.
Results with the crankbait fell off so I switched to a Berkley Atomic Tube suspended about 2' under a trout magnet float. The tubes drew a lot of takes but it took me a while to get the hooksets right. Then I started catching yellow perch, pumpkinseeds and more small LMB.
Then came the big moment. The float dipped, I set the hook and right away felt the weight of the fish. I knew that landing this one was going to take patience and proper use of the rod to protect the line. To make things worse, I was on a bank between two overhanging bushes, the lake was full of weeds and I didn't have my net. But I kept my head and a minute or two later lipped this 19" monster. A personal best on XUL.
Later I'd hook another big one but it made a sudden run and snapped my line. I wonder if it wasn't a little frayed because the break really surprised me.