Laid up bass

[Rmarsh]

Originally Posted by seadogg

Went out the past couple mornings. Found big schools of big fish laid up in a cove. I'm talking over 40 pounds. They reminded me of tarpon just sitting there on the surface. As I was drifting along I was spooking fish they were so numerous. Tried topwater and had a few follows. Tried subsurface and couldn't even get a look. Managed to land a few smaller fish to 20lbs but the big girls were smarter, following right to the boat. I thought my heart was gonna give out. Anybody ever see this type of thing before?

Casey: I was kayak fishing buzzards bay a few years ago and experienced something a lot like that.
Found myself in the middle of an acre of large stripers, so many that they where bumping into my kayak as I was throwing eels at them, bouncing it off their heads...no takes. They moved east towards the canal and were gone...at least I thought they were.

A little while later I hooked my largest striper ever, problem was I was using light tackle and couldn't subdue the brute. After about 30 minutes it was a standoff.
While holding the rod with one hand, I hand paddled the kayak closer to shore, and in ten feet of water I could see it.

Got the fish into the wash near shore, exited the kayak and pulled her in, but she spit the hook and was loose in the shallows. I ran to where she was and jumped on her but she literally slipped through my hands and swam away.
Still haunts me.