Hebert hooked his lunker by flipping a black-red Zoom Speed Craw into buck brush
Looking at the weather forecast for last Wednesday, Gonzales’ Brenen Hebert made a wise decision to move up his trip to Toledo Bend by one day.
“I decided it was best to use another day of vacation and go a day early because Tuesday looked to be the best day we would have out there,” the 42-year-old angler said.
Leaving Gonzales at 2 that morning, the angler and his fishing partner, Anthony Nicholas, motored straight to the Indian Mounds upon arriving at Toledo Bend.
They punched hay grass and flipped buck brush most of their time on the water that day.
“We caught 12 keepers, with a 5.5-pound kicker before getting forced out by the weather at noon,” Hebert said.
Once the first set of storms went through, the anglers returned to the area.
Hebert stayed busy flipping a red-black Zoom Speed Craw in shallow buck brush in 2 feet of water. The lure was pegged to 65-pound PowerPro with a ½-ounce tungsten weight used for flipping and punching. His line was spooled to a Quantum PT Tour reel on a medium-heavy 7-foot Duckett rod.
“I had just a little tug in the buck brush in 3 feet of water,” Hebert said. “When I jerked, the fish made a run to the boat and I pulled her out to the left.”
The net was already in the water when the big fish made a run under the boat.
“I eased her up and she was netted,” he said. “It all happened in about 15 seconds.
“I never realized how big she was until I had her in the boat.”
Hebert placed the big bass in the livewell after weighing the fish and taking pictures. Before he weighed it, he figured it was a double-digit fish — he had landed a 10.10-pound lunker at Toledo Bend in 1998.
The anglers fished another 10 minutes, and Hebert caught a 3-pounder before Mother Nature officially put an end to the trip.
“The lightning started popping, and we had 14 keepers so we decided to head on in,” he said.
Hebert arrived at Toledo Town and Tackle for an official weight of the fish for the Toledo Bend Lunker Bass Program.
Hebert’s big bass officially weighed 11.27 pounds, and was tagged and then released. It was lunker No. 90 for the 2015-16 Toledo Bend Lunker Bass Program season.
Hebert will receive a replica of his fish courtesy of the Toledo Bend Lake Association in May.
Click here to see even more lunker largemouth bass caught this year on Toledo Bend.
