A five pound largemouth bass caught by Scott Stormann. Photo by Josh Rouse. On April 22, 2012, I headed up to the State Lake north of Topeka with my buddy Scott Stormann, who is also the bassist of Echo Lake, to catch some fish.
I've been friends with Scott since junior high and we've been fishing together for several years. It seems like every time we go up to the State Lake, Scott lands a huge bass. A lot of people complain about the State Lake, but the truth is that it's got some nice-sized fish in it, which is exactly what we found out on this trip.
Scott had been fishing at another spot right before I got there. It was around 7 p.m. and we were hoping to do a little bass fishing while the sun was still up and then switch to catfish once it got dark. No sooner had I gotten all my tackle and rods out and started baiting my hook than I hear a huge splash and Scott's fight begins with this MONSTER fish. I dropped the hook I was baiting (my right hand still covered in blood from the chicken liver) and picked up my video camera with my clean hand. As I ran over and began filming, we could tell right away that this fish was huge. Scott battled the brute and finally managed to reel it in and get a hand in its mouth. We took a few photos and weighed and measured it. The largemouth came in at just over 5 pounds and was a little over 20 inches long. Scott said it was the biggest bass he'd ever caught and I couldn't help from laughing... so much for this lake having no big fish! What happened next though floored me.
I've been friends with Scott since junior high and we've been fishing together for several years. It seems like every time we go up to the State Lake, Scott lands a huge bass. A lot of people complain about the State Lake, but the truth is that it's got some nice-sized fish in it, which is exactly what we found out on this trip.
Scott had been fishing at another spot right before I got there. It was around 7 p.m. and we were hoping to do a little bass fishing while the sun was still up and then switch to catfish once it got dark. No sooner had I gotten all my tackle and rods out and started baiting my hook than I hear a huge splash and Scott's fight begins with this MONSTER fish. I dropped the hook I was baiting (my right hand still covered in blood from the chicken liver) and picked up my video camera with my clean hand. As I ran over and began filming, we could tell right away that this fish was huge. Scott battled the brute and finally managed to reel it in and get a hand in its mouth. We took a few photos and weighed and measured it. The largemouth came in at just over 5 pounds and was a little over 20 inches long. Scott said it was the biggest bass he'd ever caught and I couldn't help from laughing... so much for this lake having no big fish! What happened next though floored me.
Scott's second bass, which weighed in just a shade under five pounds. Photo by Josh Rouse.
After we took a few photos of his epic largemouth and tossed it back in, I went back and continued baiting my hook. I finally got my line in the water when all of a sudden, he had another fish on! I grabbed my video camera again and ran over, thinking surely this fishing would be a scrappy one pounder that we'd become accustomed to seeing in this lake. Wrong again!
My mouth dropped as he pulled his second fish ashore. It looked almost as big as the first one. At first, I thought it was maybe three or four pounds, but when he picked it up I realized it was much bigger than it looked in the water. We weighed it in and sure enough it came in just a smidgen under 5 pounds, maybe an ounce or two less. Bewildered, we took more photos and laughed about the success we were having at that spot. Soon, I caught a bass of my own... a scrawny one pounder. It seemed as though Scott had scared the big ones away.
If you liked the music from the video above, be sure to download Echo Lake's album 3445 B on iTunes!
My mouth dropped as he pulled his second fish ashore. It looked almost as big as the first one. At first, I thought it was maybe three or four pounds, but when he picked it up I realized it was much bigger than it looked in the water. We weighed it in and sure enough it came in just a smidgen under 5 pounds, maybe an ounce or two less. Bewildered, we took more photos and laughed about the success we were having at that spot. Soon, I caught a bass of my own... a scrawny one pounder. It seemed as though Scott had scared the big ones away.
If you liked the music from the video above, be sure to download Echo Lake's album 3445 B on iTunes!
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