by Bob Johansen, September 27, 2006
A LARGEMOUTH LEGEND – OR FISHING TALE
Ol' Wanda was one of the biggest largemouth bass in all of Lake Washington. Nearly 14 years old, she was huge for a northwest bass, and weighed a little over 11 pounds. She had a ponderous pot belly and a cavernous mouth. From her protruding lower jaw, a few old bass lures hung in various states of disrepair -- mute testimony to the battles she had fought and won.
Ol' Wanda lived in a prestigious neighborhood near Hunt's Point. From her home, under a large log extending out from the shoreline, she had everything she needed to live in comfort. It was a perfect place to ambush a minnow or small fish for an easy meal. The nearby rock rip-rap provided excellent hunting grounds for sculpin and crayfish. Sometimes a frog, snake or a baby duck provided an additional treat when they swam overhead.
One sunny day, as she rested in the shade of her old log, she heard a splash just a few feet away. As she finned out to investigate, she saw a shiny object wiggling and darting through the clear water. It looked like a little crippled fish and she thought it would make an easy meal.
With her huge mouth wide open, she gave a mighty thrust of her tail and caught it in her powerful jaws. Instantly, her head snapped sideways as the enemy above set the hook.
She opened her mouth and shook her head vigorously in a futile attempt to be free from this thing, that just moments before, had looked so tempting. Failing to rid herself of this tenacious pest, she charged back down under her old log only to be pulled back out by some unseen force. Her next maneuver was to charge to the surface in a flying, twisting head shaking leap that had proved so successful on a couple previous encounters.
This also failed and she could feel her strength beginning to wane. She was loosing her first battle. As she lay in the water, near a boat, she felt something grasp her lower jaw and hoist her high in the air.
"Hey Bob, take a look at this beauty," she heard her captor say.
"Whow Mike," Bob said, "That's a real wall hanger. Ya going to keep her and have her mounted?"
"Naw, not unless she's heavy enough to be a new Washington State record. I'll give her a little rest in the live well while I get my scale and camera ready."
Ol' Wanda liked the fresh, cool, highly oxygenated water in the live well. Her gill plates pumped, sending fresh oxygen and renewed vigor into her tired body. Within moments, she felt relaxed, not realizing she was feeling the effects of a tranquilizing drug called "Catch and Release" that had been added to the live well water. The drug, a powdered formula, when added to live well water, calms and tranquilizes the fish, helps heal wounds caused by hooks or handling and protects fish from shock, fungus and infection.
Ol' Wanda's captor was an experienced bass angler, dedicated to successful catch and release. His fish were always handled gently with wet hands and most fish were grasped only by the lower jaw. Nets were seldom used. He also knew that handling a large, heavy fish was not the same as handling smaller bass. He still grabs a large bass by the lower lip but he also uses his other hand to support some of the weight by holding the fish just behind the anal fin during brief photo sessions.
Fatal injuries can be caused by rolling the lower jaw back too far in an attempt to immobilize a heavy bass. The tendons that make the lower jaw work are sometimes damaged to the extent that the fish cannot close its mouth. When this occurs, of course the fish is doomed.
After a few minutes, Ol' Wanda saw the live well lid open, and once again she was hoisted into the air.
"O.K. Bob, shoot her," she heard the now familiar voice say. The camera clicked. Next, she was hung gently, by the lower jaw, on her captor's scale.
"How much does she weigh Mike?" Bob asked
"Just a sec, till she stops wiggling. Ah, there it is, 11 pounds - 7 ounces, just 2 ounces shy of the state record. I'll release her -- maybe we can catch her again."
Ol' Wanda was now glad she had missed that three ounce bluegill just a few minutes before she was caught. Three more ounces and she would not only have been a state record, but probably a stuffed "wall-hanger" as well.
"See ya later ol' gal," her captor said as he gently placed her back into the water. Slowly Ol' Wanda finned her way back down under her favorite old log, vowing to look her food over a little more carefully in the future.
Authors note: Many Washington State bass anglers seem to be intimidated by the shear size of lake Washington. They simply don't know where to start. It does take some time exploring to locate the better largemouth areas, but for the persistent angler the rewards can be very satisfying. One approach is to pick a section of the lake and fish it like it was a smaller lake. I'm quite sure, that out in the huge, sprawling, urban lake, a few "state records," both largemouth and smallmouth will be finning the shallows next spring looking for spawning sites.