Edwards catches personal best bass Sunday on Toledo Bend
Brian Edwards knew the possibility existed for a great Toledo Bend bass when he ventured out with his father on a trip last Sunday, March 2.
What he didn’t know was he’d have a personal best 10-plus pounder in the livewell within an hour of fishing that morning.
“I had been telling my father and brother all year that I was due for a big fish,” the 35-year-old angler from Dry Prong said.
The Edwards family has a camp on Toledo Bend, and he and his father left from there to launch near the Indian Mounds.
They weren’t in a big hurry, and hit the water about 10 a.m.
“Sunday wasn’t a bad day,” he said. “It was foggy early, but we were experiencing some decent weather.”
In the Indian Mounds section of the lake, Edwards and his father, Cecil, were working points using jigs and plastic lizards.
Edwards had a watermelon/red Sasquatch grass jig with a Speed Craw trailer tied onto 20-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon. This set-up was spooled onto a Quantum Tour Edition reel attached to a 7- foot Falcon rod.
“The points we were fishing had hydrilla, and we basically were moving from point to point,” he said. “We were working depths ranging from 5- to 15-feet.”
At about 10:45, Edwards cast out and let the jig soak a little.
“When I went to pick up the line, it was heavy and I thought I was in some grass,” he said. “Then I felt a small tug and I knew it was a fish so I set the hook.”
According to the angler, the fight was on and the fish immediately started pulling drag.
“The fish was moving slow, but she was putting some pressure and really getting after it,” he said.“She wrapped herself in some hydrilla and I was afraid I was going to lose her.
“Not seeing her yet, I thought then maybe a 4- or 5-pounder, but I never thought it would be a ten. I finally got her up to the boat and she was definitely wrapped in grass. I lipped her and as she came out the water, she got bigger and bigger.”
Getting her onto the deck, Edwards had to remove grass to unhook the fish.
“My father said that the bass was certainly 10 pounds when he looked at it,” Edwards said.
His handheld scale confirmed his dad’s suspicions.
“The scale read 10.4 pounds,” he said. “So we decided to take her to T-Town later for an official weight with the Lunker Bass Program.”
Edwards placed the bass in the livewell, applied some Rejuvenate and put his aerator on.
“We continued to fish until 2, but that big bass was always in the back of my mind,” he said. “Dad and I kept watch over her constantly.”
The anglers wound up with 4 more bass – two keepers and a couple of throw-backs.
They were off the lake by 2:30, and arrived at Toledo Town and Tackle where the big bass tipped the scales at 10.1 pounds, making Edwards eligible for a free replica through the Toledo Bend Lunker Bass Program.
“She was full of eggs,” Edwards said. “And her length was measured at 24 inches.
“I watched as they tagged her and place the bass in the holding tank.”
For more information regarding the Toledo Bend Lunker Program, visit their Facebook page by clicking here.
