[Skifish1]

Fished south pool 6-7:30 from Kayak. Plan was take a left from dock and head towards dam using bright crankbaits tossed at shore and SLOW retrieve.

First bite was a fin-less rock fish. Certainly was a first. Thought it was a turtle at first as it would get stuck, it would roll, it would slide on the bottom. First line caught rock for me.

Now the painful part of the tale....still using the said crankbait in area in front of spillway hooked up with a big lumbering fish. Immediate thoughts were a big walleye but as the water boiled and swirled had that oh crap feeling was another mutant channel cat straining the crap out of my light rod. Got it near the boat and to my surprise it was a bass. Couldn't believe it no athleticism with this fish and took a 2nd look when against the kayak and yep it's a bass. Grabbed the lip and she gave a kick and she slipped out of my grip so pulled the rod up again to grab her lip and lure separated from the line. This ones going to haunt me for a long time. I don't even care to speculate on weight or length but I could have stuck a 16" softball in her mouth. No doubt would have been a PB for Busse and likely would challenge the pig I caught back in the 1970s as my all time best. Anyways...she was hooked on outside of mouth with rear treble (sole hook I believe)..I sure hope she shakes it off.

Side note: Last week I shore fished south pool and had a nice chat with a nice well tackle equipped Asian gentleman along the south shore. He told me a story about a guy catching a big bass and both them walking to his car where he had a scale to weigh the fish (and his true intention to get the guy to release it). He said he weighed the bass at 9.5lbs and the guy wouldn't release. Of course I thought to myself there isn't no 9.5lb bass in Busse woods, Cook county, or Illinois for that matter. However, based on the bass I lost today I can tell you there is a very big lumbering bass in South pool.

I believe my line came untied. It was twisted at the end after the lure came free. I tied another crank it on it hastily and tugged like hell and pulled the next lure off. I cut and retied and yanked again but added a couple more twists to the clincher. I will be testing all knots going forward. yes I'm an amateur.

 

[nbBasshunter]

man..too bad about your lost fish.

 

[bluegill]

Sorry about the fish you've lost... LMB close to 9 lb sounds like one hefty monster for sure :shock:

Palomar knot has amazing strength!! The only gripe about it is that unless you are using a braid, the main line gets little "wiggly" when applying tension. I've heard about spitting on the knot first but it doesn't seem to work for me though.

 

[Capten]

Man, a picture of something that big would be a joy to see coming out of Busse. Feel your lost on that one.

But, there always the next time

 

[Moosert78]

Can you put a boat in the water in Busse? I have a 60hp mercury to. Can I run that?

 

[Busse Jim]

electric only, cant have a gas motor even on the boat

 

[IFishIL]

Try tying a palomar and putting a dab of superglue on the knot. That's a good way to ensure that it doesn't slip or break.

 

[Busse Jim]

thats one hell of a catch, 5-6lbs easy :lol:
and if it was a 9lb+ bass i might keep it too! for a mount

 

[Cast4anyting]

Try the Jimmy Houston knot, but double the line like what you do with the Palomar.

This guy called it something else, but its the same as the JM knot.

 

[Bustacap45]

I feel your lost. My best Bass 6.5 Lbs.----27-1/2 Walleye----- 22Lbs. Carp -----12 Lbs Cat All in the South Pool... And I hear all the time there are no fish in there. You put your time in and you can get them. I try to get out there every weekend even when I know it's gonna suck, you still can get lucky and pick one off....

 

[Skifish1]

Thanks for all the advice on knots I may try the polamer at home. Probably the biggest thing I need is to bring along some crappy walgreens reading glasses as its a struggle to tie with these 50 year old eyes. Actually thinking of bringing my hiking headlamp and wear it in the evenings. I really didnt want to speculate on size or weight of the big old girl as I just get pissed at myself then but yes i would have put it up around six if I had to guess. Just never thought that with Busse fishing pressure fish that size wouldn't be out of the lake already. If someone gets this girl please post a pic.

 

[walkerweb2]

I know there's something big in the south pool...2 years ago I was fishing from the boat along the ridge that runs down the middle using a berkley swimbait..something hit it hard and ran, I had 16lb fireline that just kept spinning off..cranked my drag all the way to slow it and finally it just broke..no idea what it was, but I've caught prob a half dozen 18" bass outta there and it was def bigger than that..

 

[cletedius]

Congrats on hooking up on the big fish. Definitely an accomplishment on such heavily pressured water(or any water, for that matter).
After closely looking at your photo, and reading your observation that the knot appeared to untie, couldn't help but notice what I think may have been your demise to landing the brute. Correct me if I'm wrong, but were you tied directly to the split ring on the front of the crank? If so, I think therein lies the problem. That split-ring is a pretty thick diameter, overall. A knot that will snug-up tight and seat properly when tied to a thinner diameter hook, snap, or tiny split ring, will have a much greater probability of slipping, and will not seat itself properly when tied to a thicker diameter heavy gauge hook, or bigger size split-ring, regardless of the knot you choose(except a loop knot, for obvious reasons), especially when tied on line under a 20lb mono diameter. My suggestion, lose the split ring, and use an appropriate sized crankbait snap instead, or, tie to a snap, and clip it to the split ring. The much thinner diameter of the wire on the snap, will allow your knot to seat properly and prevent it from untying under pressure.
I learned this most recently when yellowtail fishing in the keys over the last couple years. Using smallish jigs with 10-12lb fluoro, is pretty much the standard presentation. After some time, I decided to try the circle hook jigs, which use a much larger ,stouter hook(#1 vs 3/0). The larger 3/0 circle hook jigs are made from a much thicker steel. After losing a number of larger fish, I noticed, as you did, that it appeared my knot was coming untied, whether I used a palomer, clinch, trilene, or several others. This was due to having to have the knot snug up tight around a much thicker hook eye(which was probably a very similair diameter to the split-ring on the front of your lure).
Adding extra hardware like a snap is not an option when fishing for finicky yellowtail, so my solution was to switch from my usual clinch knot, to an improved clinch knot, but instead of going 1 time through the eye, i would put it through the eye 3 times, and then tie an improved clinch, and that solved my problem. In your case, i'd be willing to bet tying straight to a snap, instead of the bigger diameter split-ring would solve the problem for you.

 

[Skifish1]

Thanks for some more good advice. More often than not I tend to use ball bearing snap swivels on cranks for quick change out but more recently I tie direct since was getting some treble hang-ups on the swivel. Next time at tackle shop I will get some stand-alone snaps and give this a try. About 4-5 cast before I hooked up with the big girl was when I pegged the stupid rock. I had to drag it hard to the point where it really tested the 8lb flouro I was using so that may have contributed also but I do think this was a tie issue and not a break off.

 

[cletedius]

Thanks for some more good advice. More often than not I tend to use ball bearing snap swivels on cranks for quick change out but more recently I tie direct since was getting some treble hang-ups on the swivel. Next time at tackle shop I will get some stand-alone snaps and give this a try. About 4-5 cast before I hooked up with the big girl was when I pegged the stupid rock. I had to drag it hard to the point where it really tested the 8lb flouro I was using so that may have contributed also but I do think this was a tie issue and not a break off.

Glad to do it, and, hopefully it helps.
When you tell me it was 8lb fluoro tied around that split ring, I have no doubt thats exactly what happened to you. Choose a small enough snap. so that it is not physically possible for the front treble to reach it, and you will alleviate the tangling issue, as well. Also, believe it or not, the slight extra weight that a snap-swivel adds vs a plain snap, will have an affect on how your crank runs and its buoyancy. I would suggest saving the snap-swivels for spoons, spinners and other baits that spin 360 on the retrieve, and stick to plain snaps on baits that dont(i.e. crankbaits).
good luck