Michael Woods Jr. from Many, La. wanted to pre-fish for a bass tournament on Lake Sam Rayburn on Tuesday, Nov. 17, but after idling around in the fog for a while, he decided to put his bass boat back on the trailer and headed to Toledo Bend.

He put in at a ramp off Rt. 21 next to Keith’s Toledo Bend Tackle in Hemphill, Texas, and ran to an offshore hump in Carrice Creek, where his second cast with a jig turned into a 10.25-pound largemouth, the second-largest bass of his life.

“I started at Rayburn, pre-fishing for a tournament, but it was so foggy, I left,” he said. “I idled around for abCarriceout 30 minutes. Then I came back to Toledo Bend, put in, pulled up to my first spot, and caught her on the second cast.”

Woods was fishing a 3/4-ounce, black/blue Denny Brauer structure jig with a Rage Craw trailer, dragging it through some wood and brush, when the fish made her move about 10 minutes before 8 o’clock.

“She thumped it, real hard — about pulled the rod out of my hands,” Woods said. “It took a little while to get her up. She was heavy. I didn’t have to fight her for that long, but she put up a good fight.

“When she first hit, I knew she was heavy, maybe a 5- or 6-pounder. It felt like she had me in some brush, but when I got her up a ways, I realized she didn’t have me in brush, and I figured she was a 7- or an 8-. When I finally got her in the net, I figured an 11 or 12. They just look so huge.”

Woods’ big fish was 25 inches long, with a 19-inch girth. 

Photo courtesy Michael Woods Jr.