Lake Poway, April 24

Took off work for the day to do some spring fishing. Got to the lake when it opened at 6:00 am, got the boat and off I went.

Weather was over cast and a little in the cool side. Started off fishing the shallows with a spinnerbait and was able hooked in to a couple, but nothing big. When the sun finally came out, decided to do some sight fishing and able to catch a few smaller male. Did really see any females, but did see a lot fry's swimming around so I figured it was in between spawn. The wind picked up and made it hard to sight fish let alone hold the boat in place. I then decided to anchor up and fish the rock pile, turned out to be a good decision. Switched to drop shot with Roboworm in bold bluegill color and just slayed them with some decent size bass.

After a couple of hours fishing that same rock pile, decided to call it a day. Ended up with 22 bass, with the biggest one at about 4 pounds. Here are some photos. Last fish was the biggest one, very long but skinny, figure it's a post spawn.

Massive Great White Caught at the Sea of Cortez

A great white shark nearly 20 feet long and weighing 2,000 pounds was reportedly hooked by commercial fishermen in the Sea of Cortez in northwestern Mexico.

The massive catch, according to local reports by Milenio News, would be one of the longest great white sharks ever recorded if verified at a length 19.8 feet, or 6 meters.

The shark, which was dead when it was brought to the surface, was netted by fishermen named Guadalupe and Baltazar, according to reports.

"We were amazed and immediately realized that we had a huge, dead, great white shark, and then we thought 'what are we going to do?'" Guadalupe told Pisces Sportfishing in Cabo San Lucas.

The fishermen towed the shark's carcass 2 miles to the beach while aboard their 22-foot-long ship. Dozens of people then helped drag the animal onto the sand, reports say.

Fishing Poway Lake...Prespawn

Took the day off from work and shot out to Poway Lake for a day of fishing. Got there around 6:00 am, a little cold and windy.

Looking to start fishing the rockpiles by the logboom, but there were a couple of boat already park there. So, I decided to hit up Hidden Bay for some structure fishing and to hopefully get out of the wind. Got there to find that I have the whole place to myself, meaning there were no other boats in there and there were no shore anglers.

Fished Hidden Bay for 3 hours and managed to catch 6 mostly on a dropshot. Caught a couple of early spawners sightfishing. There were a few fish on beds, but definitely still early for spawning. But in a couple of weeks during the next full moon, should be full blown spawn. Decide to leave Hidden Bay and brave the wind to head back to the rockpile, since the other boats had left. Caught a couple more there, then decided to leave cause I had enough of this wind. Since the rental boatsonly had trolling motors, it's very difficult to move around in a windy day like today.

Total fish count: 8 fish, biggest one at about 4 1/2 lbs.
Lures: Roboworm in Aaron's Magic color fished on a dropshot.
           Yum Money Craw in white, texas rigged.

New Arkansas largemouth bass record set....

Almost 36 years to the day, Arkansas’s largemouth bass state record has finally been broken. On Tuesday, Paul Crowder of Forrest City set the new record on Lake Dunn near Wynne. Crowder’s lunker weighed 16 pounds, 5 ounces, breaking the old record by just a single ounce.

Aaron Mardis of Memphis had held the state record since March 2, 1976. Mardis’ 16-4 fish was caught on Mallard Lake near Manilla in Mississippi County.

Crowder broke the record on the afternoon of Feb. 28 using a plastic 6-inch Mann’s jelly worm with a bullet sinker and plastic rattle in tequila sunrise. He was using an Enigma rod and reel combo purchased from Bass Pro Shops. Crowder caught the fish on Trilene 14-pound-test line. Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Fisheries Biologist Lee Holt certified the fish on a certified scale at Hayes Market in Wynne.

The fish measured 26 1/2 inches in length and was 22 3/4 inches in girth. Crowder said that he had been fishing all day for catfish without any luck.

The 80-acre lake is located in Village Creek State Park in Cross County. The AGFC is going to test the fish to see what genetic strain of bass it is, whether if is a pure northern strain of if it has Florida bass genes.

Kayaker lands record yellowtail off La Jolla...

Kurt Hoffman celebrated the recent lunar eclipse in a really big and memorable way.

Hoffman, an avid waterman who fishes from his kayak, landed what is believed to be the heaviest yellowtail ever caught by a kayak angler. His 55-pound yellowtail that he caught off La Jolla tops the 50.65-pound yellowtail landed by kayak angler Larry Laumann in November of 2005. Hoffman was fishing from his Hobie peddle kayak.

Hoffman said he was about to call it a day around 8 a.m. when he noticed a fellow kayak angler he had launched with at 4 a.m. The angler was fighting a fish, so Hoffman slid by. He had used his glow light to land 10 or so squid for bait, but he used them up on sand bass and calicos. He picked up a few more squid baits from the other kayaker and sent one down.

Hoffman said the yellowtail caps off an incredible fishing year for him from his kayak and his Boston Whaler. He and his son, Lucas, caught big yellowtail, white seabass and a 120-pound thresher shark from their Whaler.

Hoffman said he fished infrequently, but his trips were productive and produced 20 white seabass, including a 63-pounder, and 19 yellowtail that included the 55-pounder. He also caught and released black seabass, including one that he hooked the same day he landed the record yellowtail.

Paul Lebowitz, an editor with Kayak Angler Magazine, said he believes Hoffman’s catch is the best ever by a kayaker for yellowtail.

Hoffman checked with John Campbell, an International Game Fish Association representative who runs the annual Yellowtail Derby, and Campbell told him the largest yellowtail on record in the Yellowtail Derby was a 53-pounder.

Hoffman believes that this catch is a testament to the fact that the fisheries are very healthy and the current regulations are working very well to protect our great local resources.