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Matt Williams -
DOUBLE CATCH — Fishing guide Justin Shelton of Mabank and his clients were catching crappie, white bass and hybrids on Richland Chambers when this big largemouth bass gobbled up a white bass that has eaten his crappie jig. Shelton managed to land the whopper on six pound monofilament line and a spinning rod. Submitted photos -
PERSONAL RECORD — Shelton’s largemouth dwarfed the 13-inch white bass. He estimated its weight at around 10 pounds — a personal best. -
BIG GULP — It took some doing, but Shelton managed to work the white bass out the largemouth’s throat. The guide released the largemouth and tossed the smaller white bass on ice.
RC white bass guide recounts surprise battle with personal best largemouth
One of fishing’s greatest mysteries is never knowing when or if the big one might come calling. It usually happens when you least expect it.
Justin Shelton of Mabank knows all about those big fish surprises.
Shelton, 25, runs a full-time service called Creekside Outfitters on Richland Chambers and Cedar Creek reservoirs. He was fishing with two clients on the morning of January 20 at Richland Chambers when he got a big bite that caught him way off guard.
The anglers were fishing near shore at the time and the action had been pretty steady. They had a mixed bag of crappie, white bass and hybrids in the box when Shelton decided to nose his boat towards a dock in about five feet of water. He shot his hand-tied jig beneath the dock, hoping there might be some crappie hanging around the maze of pilings and crossmembers.
Dock shooting is a speciality tactic popular with crappie fishermen. It allows for delivering the jig at a really low angle, parallel to the water, with enough velocity that it will sail far beneath a dock or whatever you’re aiming at.
The technique is best performed with spinning gear and fairly light line. Sheldon’s reel was spooled with six-pound test Mr. Crappie Hi-Viz monofilament.
The angler hadn’t retrieved the 1/8-ounce jig very far when he felt the thump of a bite. The rod loaded up and the line snapped when it sawed against a piece of metal.
The angler quickly tied on another jig, shot it to the same spot and got another bite. What looked to be a 1 1/2-pound white bass swirled the surface, then darted behind an underwater piling.
“There wasn’t much of a fight at first,” Shelton said. “I was just holding the fish there, then all of the sudden it started pulling a lot harder.”
Sheldon kept tension on the fish and inched his boat closer to the dock. That’s when he saw a heavyweight largemouth bass finning around with the tail of a smaller fish sticking out of its mouth. He eventually wrangled the bass into the landing net. It had more than a mouthful.
“At first I thought it was the tail of a big shad hanging out of its mouth, but it had eaten my white bass,” Shelton said. “It’s head was wedged so deep in its throat I had to use pliers to move its fins around and work it free. My crappie jig was still in the white bass’ mouth.”
Shelton says the white bass was about 13 inches long. He didn’t weigh the largemouth before releasing it, but estimates it was close to 10 pounds — easily his personal best. “It was my first largemouth of 2023 and it’s going to be hard to beat,” Shelton said.
It’s a fish-eat-fish world out there, and Shelton isn’t the first angler to live it.
In November 2009, Walter “Junior” Thomas reeled in what may be the biggest Texas bass ever reported caught in such a manner. The fish weighed 15.69 pounds on digital scales.
Some readers may recall the heart-breaking story behind Thomas’ bass. He was fishing for crappie at Lake Fork when he hooked a crappie on 1/16-ounce jig rigged on a 4 1/2-foot ultralight spinning rod matched with eight-pound line. Thomas was reeling the crappie to the boat when a big bass grabbed it and took off.
The same thing happens to countless crappie anglers at Lake Fork each year, often when fishing around bridge crossings. Most of the battles are lost, but Thomas eventually won this one and landed both fish. The bass wasn’t even hooked.
'Once they grab these crappie they don't want to let go,' Thomas said. 'Sometimes they'll spit it out, but this one didn't. She wanted it bad.'
Thomas’ bass would have ranked among the Top 50 heaviest bass ever reported in Texas at the time had it been fooled by a lure or minnow instead of a crappie.
It also would have won him some big money in the Lake Fork Bonanza. The annual promotion was run by the Lake Fork Area Chamber of Commerce between 200811. It offered $10,000 cash rewards and tackle packages for Top 50 fish caught by preregistered anglers.
Interestingly, Thomas was already aware the catch was not eligible for entry when he made it. The angler had inadvertently caught two fish over 10 pounds the same way the month before. Both were released. Thinking there was a chance he might catch a bigger one, he contacted TPWD's law enforcement headquarters ahead of time to find out more.
He was told that when a crappie eats a jig and a big bass eats the crappie, the crappie is considered the bait that enticed the bass to bite. State law prohibits use of any game fish such as crappie, white bass, yellow bass, largemouth bass and various catfish species for bait.
Aware of the legal twists before he caught the 15.69 pounder, he released it after taking a couple of photos. He said knowing the fish was worth $10,000 made it especially tough.
— Matt Williams is a freelance writer based in Nacogdoches. He can be reached by email, mattwillwrite4u@ yahoo.com.