Amedee catches lunker on a C-rigged lizard in the 1215 area
Leon Amedee was a man on a mission.
For the last couple of years, the 66-year-old angler from Plaquemine eagerly read the Internet hoopla surrounding all the 10-pound-plus bass taken on Toledo Bend – and decided he wanted in on the action.
With that in mind, he scheduled a week’s stay on the Bend last week hoping to capitalize on the March full moon to land the bass of a lifetime.
On his very first day on the water, Monday, March 2, he launched alone near the 1215 area on a foggy, cold, overcast morning to make it happen.
“I started out fishing the side of an island in the area,” Amedee said.
He was using a Carolina-rigged Bass Crack Midnight Madness 6-inch lizard with a 1-ounce weight, featuring a large bead configured near the weight to knock on the retrieve.
Amedee was fishing with a 7-foot Boy Duckett medium rod and an Abu Revo STX reel spooled with Suffix 50-pound braid.
At about 1:15 p.m., the angler was fishing in 14 feet of water in an area that held old structure and two stumps 15 feet apart.
“I felt her take it,” Amedee said. “When the line tightened up, I set the hook. She was pulling hard and I was hoping she was 10 pounds.”
The fish came in without much of a fight, he said. The big bass was hooked well, and he netted her easily.
Amedee delivered the lunker to Toledo Town and Tackle for weigh-in on a certified scale and potential entry into the Toledo Bend Lunker Bass Program.
The big bass tipped the scales at 11.89 pounds, easily qualifying Amedee for a free replica mount since the fish weighed at least 10 pounds and was tagged and released back into Toledo Bend waters.
His bass was lunker entry No. 31 for the 2014-15 season.
So persistence paid off – it was Amedee’s fourth fishing trip to Toledo Bend since September.
“It was tough the rest of the week,” he said. “I caught three bass Tuesday and two Wednesday.
“I didn’t fish Thursday with the front blowing in, and I caught just one Friday after the front.”
The angler caught three more fish Saturday, totaling 11 bass in five days.
“And I fished hard those days, beginning at 8:30 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon,” he said.
“Those fish are still not shallow – they’re still way out for now.”
