Arnold’s 10.65-pound bass leads the latest crop of Toledo Bend Lunker Bass Program entries
The last week has been crazy on Toledo Bend, with six bass weighing more than 10 pounds being entered into the lake’s Lunker Bass Program.
One of those fish weighed a whopping 11.67 pounds — that story can be read here.
The 10-pound crop of fish was led off by a stud that pushed the scales to 10.65 pounds — and the angler who caught it didn’t have a clue what was swimming in his livewell.
Lafayette’s Eric Arnold was fishing the Skeeter Bass Champs event Feb. 17 when the huge bass swallowed his 5/8-ounce Talon football jig. After he landed the fish, he quickly put it in the livewell and went back to fishing.
“You’ve got to get the bait back out there and catch another one to try and win $20,000,” Arnold said.
So it wasn’t until he was on the weigh-in stage that he realized just how big it was.
“I thought I had an 8-, 8 1/2-pounder,” Arnold said. “My mind was blown.”
The lunker came out of Patroon, and was caught in 6 feet of water.
“We weren’t catching anything deep,” Arnold said. “We moved to the shallows in a bunch of stumps.”
Unfortunately, the anglers decided to move back out deep, so they only caught two other fish. Their total weight for the day was 15.8 pounds.
Arnold’s big bass was the 20th fish entered into the Toledo Bend Lunker Bass Program during the 2017-18 season, according to the Toledo Bend Lake Association. He weighed the bass in at Keith’s Toledo Bend Tackle.
Details on the other 10-pounders entered since Feb. 16 are:
• Monty Wright of DeBerry, Texas: 10.1 pounds, caught Feb. 20, weighed in at Toledo Town and Tackle
• Kyle Stutes of Scott: 10.4 pounds, caught Feb. 16, weighted in at Toledo Town and Tackle
•Taylor Hulsey of Orange, Texas: 10.07 pounds, caught Feb. 17, weighed in at Toledo Town and Tackle
• Tyler Enloe of Baston, Texas: 10 pounds, Feb. 17, weighted in at Fin and Feather
