Logan Hearn of New Albany launched his boat on Davis Lake and turned on his LiveScope. He started looking for fish, but not just any fish, Hearn was looking for huge fish. Specifically, he was looking for bait balls which might have some lunker bass hanging nearby.
About midmorning, Hearn located some baitfish and started fishing around the bait. The day was alternating from cloudy to sunny as the morning gradually warmed up, but he was not getting any bites, nor had he located any big fish to that point.
Around 11 a.m., Hearn located another bait ball in about 10 to 11 feet of water.
“I cast out a Crush City Freeloader and let it drop down to the shad balls,” Hearn said. “When I got to the baitfish I jigged the lure slightly.”
Wham! A lunker bass attacked the imitation shad and dove for the depths. Hearn whipped his rod back and drove the steel jig hook deep into the jaws of the fish. The fish put on a fight but left the surprise to the very end.
“I thought I had a good 5 or 6 pounder,” Hearn said. “But when that fish got near the boat I knew I had something special.”
The massive bass wallowed wildly on the surface, but he was no match for this avid angler and Hearn quickly netted him.
The bass turned out to be the bass of a lifetime, an 11-pound, 4-ounce monster! Hearn then decided to see what the lake record was and found out that Jeff Foster had caught a 17-pound bass in 2013 from Davis, which is the second largest bass ever recorded in Mississippi.
Hearn’s lunker bass was caught on Dec. 9 with a water surface temperature of 53 to 54 degrees.
What he used
Hearn’s equipment consisted of a Lew’s Speed Spool filled with 17-pound fluorocarbon line and fished on a 6-10 Hank Parker Lew’s rod.
On the day of the catch, Hearn said that there was only him and one other boat on the lake.
“Normally I’ll find bait and look for suspended bass, and if the bass is large enough I’ll spend some time fishing for them, “ Hearn said. “I like to start out with an A-rig and then downsize my lure if I’m not getting any bites.”
Typically, Hearn watches his LiveScope and if the fish doesn’t look aggressive or strike he’ll move on and find another bait ball and more active or bigger bass.
“If I find the bait or fish I’ll throw past them and swim it by them and shake it or jerk it to entice a strike,” Hearn said. “If they don’t strike after three or four casts I’ll move on.”
On a typical day, Hearn may catch between one and four bass, but he’s fishing specifically for those large bass. If he gets bit it will usually be a large one.
If you are looking for the bass of a lifetime, then look no further than your nearest Mississippi state lake.
Hearn specifically fishes our state-managed lakes, like Davis Lake and Trace State Park Lake, which have some large bass in them.
Davis Lake Recreation Area is open year-round unless weather conditions require the area to be closed. Davis Lake is a fee area. The fee station is located just beyond the entrance gate. There is a camp host on duty.
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