30 Minutes Later...

My name is Mike Spaulding and Im 25 years old from Dundee, MI. While fishing a club bass tournament on lake St. Clair on fathers day I caught the fish of a lifetime. I was using a 6' 6" medium action rod with 8 lb test line. I had a 4 inch coffee tube tied on a 1/4 oz jig head, fishing in about 14 feet of water. I was a little after 10am and sat down on a boat seat to get a drink and my line went tight as if i snagged a weed or was caught on a rock. At first I didn't think it was a fish until I reeled in a little and my partner got the net, both of us thinking I had a nice smallmouth. Feel seconds later the entire fish jumped out of the water and my partner just dropped the net saying that thing will not fit in this. The line took off screaming out of my reel and I knew I was in for a battle. It took about 15 minutes to get the fish to the boat and after 1 2 and 3 attempts to get him in the boat and another 10 minutes of fighting, we were finally able to net him and get him in the boat. What a great feeling it was to catch that fish. By far biggest fish Iv ever caught. My legs were still shacking with adrenaline 15 minutes after we released it.