Massive fish caught during Good Ole Boys Bass Club tournament
The weather was miserable leading up to Sunday’s Good Ole Boys Bass Club tournament on Cane River, with a cold front moving dropping the temps from 67 to 44 degrees that morning.
But that huge change didn’t stop a 13-pound bass from swallowing Jeremy Treadway’s jig.
“We were hugging and high-fiving,” the Centerpoint angler said of the aftermath of the catch. “People on both sides (of the lake) heard us.”
The catch came at 10 a.m., after a tough morning bite.
“We only had two fish in the boat,” Treadway said. “We only got those two bites.”
He and buddy Michael Simmons of Deville had been throwing spinnerbaits and swim baits, but they switched to jigs when they reached a stretch of cattails.
“We were thinking about crossing the lake,” Treadway said.
While looking across the old river and discussing their plans, the pair of anglers decided to fish another short stretch of cattails just past an oak tree before making their move.
That proved a wise decision.
“It was just enough (cattails) to fish,” Treadway said.
After the jig settled, the fish pounced on it — but the angler didn’t feel a thing.
“My lure was about 5 yards from the reeds, and I looked up and the line was swimming,” Treadway said.
He set the hook hard, and the fish quickly headed for deep water before turning toward the boat’s motor.
“I thought I had a trash fish or something,” Treadway said.
So he put some pressure on the fish, and finally pulled it up to where it was visible.
“I saw it was a bass, and we freaked out,” Treadway said. “We saw her side profile, and you could see she was huge.”
The fish made another hard run, and that’s when Treadway began to worry because his reel’s drag wasn’t letting the fish have any line.
“I think that braid had dug into the spool, so the drag wasn’t budging,” he said. “I had my hand in the water, giving her all I could.”
Fortunately, the fish quickly tired and came to the side of the boat, where Simmons was waiting with the net.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go smoothly because Simmons slipped as he knelt just in front of the console to net the monstrous bass.
“He got the fish in the net fine, but couldn’t pick her up,” Treadway said. “He thought he was going to fall in, so I grabbed him by the waist.”
Finally, Treadway worked his way up to the net, got both hands on the bass and heaved it aboard.
That’s when the celebration erupted.
“They could hear us a mile away,” Simmons said.
Treadway’s first call, after catching his breath a bit, was to his father.
“I told him (it weighed) 12 pounds,” he said.
After snapping a few photos, Treadway carefully placed the bass in the livewell on the opposite side of the two fish caught earlier — which Simmons said was a good idea.
“I was scared she was going to eat those other two fish,” Simmons chuckled.
The team still had a few hours to fish before the 2 p.m. weigh-in, but their day was pretty much shot.
“I wasn’t worth a crap the rest of the day,” Treadway said with a laugh. “I didn’t catch another fish — didn’t get another bite.”
Amazingly, the kicker didn’t give Treadway and Simmons the win.
“Somebody caught 20 pounds and won the tournament,” Treadway said, “We had 16 pounds, and took second place.
“But (the lunker bass) sort of stole (the winning team’s) glory.”
The fish was logged at 13.033 pounds, and was released back into the lake.
