Brad Ferguson of Grand Cane lifted out of his net a huge bass he caught the night of May 29, looked the big female over, and wondered out loud something like this:
“What did she weigh with eggs?”
Ferguson, a 55-year-old former oil rig worker – he retired after suffering a broken neck – was fishing a boat dock in Toledo Bend’s mid-lake area around 11:15, pitching a Texas-rigged Zoom Ol Monster worm (South African Special color) on a Lew’s rod and KVD reel spooled with 30-pound braid.
He pitched back under a dock standing in about 8 feet of water, and he was pleased to feel a bass pick up his worm and start to swim off with it.
Then, the fun began.
“She was the first bite I had – it was the first time I’d fished this area at night – and when I first stuck her, she got hung up back under the docks, but then she came out of there,” Ferguson said. “I really got lucky. At first, I thought it might be a big catfish. She made four runs, stripping about 10 feet of line each time. I had her close to the boat three times, but I had a hard time holding the rod and grabbing my net.
“When she finally came up, oh boy, no matter how many big fish you’ve caught, when that big one comes up, you get nervous.”
Getting the fish weighed
Ferguson, who was fishing by himself because none of the fishing buddies he invited could go with him, got the big girl in the boat, then lifted her out of the net and began to be amazed. He had a hand-held set of Berkley scales in his boat, and the fish sunk the scales to 11.56 pounds.
“I caught a double-digit bass a couple of years ago, and I was in the boat when an 11-2 was caught, so I guessed her at 12 pounds when I picked her up,” he said. “I’d liked to have seen her with eggs a couple of months ago.”
Ferguson called a couple of buddies in another boat across the cove from him, then headed over and let them see his monster. One of them, Bernard Frudge, helped him call around and find a set of scales that was open so he could get the fish weighed for the Toledo Bend Lunker Bass Program, and when they found someone at Holly Park Marina, Frudge agreed to drive Ferguson’s boat there – he knew better where the marina was located.
“I put her back in the livewell, put some stuff in there to calm her down, and turned the aerator on to constant, and we ran there; it took about 15 minutes,” he said. “She was in great condition; her tail was all healed up. When they weighed and measured her, I got to put her back myself.”
At the marina, Ferguson’s fish was weighed on certified scales at 11.55 pounds, measured at 25 ¼ inches long and 19 ¾ inches in girth. In March, with a belly full of eggs, she might have gone 21 inches in girth and pushed 13 pounds, Ferguson figured.
Back at it again
Ferguson’s fish qualified for the Toledo Bend Lunker Bass Program, which will provide him with a free replica mount. His fish was the 60th and last to be registered for the 2025-2026 season.
His huge fish wasn’t apparently enough for Ferguson. He and Frudge returned to the area they were fishing, Frudge got back in the boat where he’d originally been fishing, and Ferguson headed back to his area, scouting for an upcoming Toledo Bend Bass Club tournament. He quickly caught another big fish, a 7-pounder, and later that evening, he lost another one at the boat he guessed at 7 pounds.
Ferguson said when the water temperature passes through the 80-degree mark, he usually moves his efforts after dark.
“Ninety percent of the time when it’s hot, I fish at night,” he said. “When the water is hot, 80, it’s tough. It was 85 that night.”
