March was a very good month for Florence angler Ray Porter, who managed to do something very few fishermen will ever be able to accomplish – catch no one but two 14-pound bass.
The first catch came March 13 while fishing one of his regular haunts, Natchez State Park Lake.
“We were working (one of the islands), and I’ve caught a lot of fish around that island,” Porter said.
He and buddy Brice Boykin of Florence had been using spinner baits, lizards and worms, and Porter threw his lizard against the bank of the island and felt a strike.
“I think she was on a bed because she was right on the bank,” Porter explained.
He set the hook, and that’s when he knew the fish was more than just another bass.
“When she hit, I knew that was business,” Porter laughed.
The angler fought the bass to the boat, where Boykin netted it.
The bass weighed in at 14 pounds, 4 ounces.
Soon afterward, Boykin landed his own trophy – a 12-pounder – to make the trip even more memorable.
Porter and Boykin celebrated, but Natchez Lake is known for big fish – it’s the reservoir that produced the current 18.15-pound state record in 1992.
The catch obviously marked his biggest fish, but he soon was looking for other waters to fish.
“I usually fish down south, mainly Natchez and Calling Panther, but all fish (in the south) had gone on the beds,” said Porter, who said he prefers not to target lakes during the peak of the spawn.
So March 27 found Porter on Lake Neshoba, this time spending the day with brother-in-law Justin Gorden. It was the first time he had ever been on that reservoir.
The two were doing pretty much the same thing as Porter did on his fateful Natchez Lake trip – working spinner baits, worms and lizards.
“We were in a deep creek where it Y’s,” Porter said. “We were throwing right across that creek.”
The wind blew the boat closer to the bank than the angler really wanted, but that turned out to be a lucky break.
Porter tossed his lizard into about 4 feet of water, a fish moved.
“It was just a massive swirl, a whirlpool-like deal,” he said. “She must have missed (the lizard), so I just waited.”
A split-second later, the fish was back.
“She just grabbed (the lizard) and almost took the rod out of my hand,” Porter said.
The bass was soon ripping drag, but Porter didn’t think he had anything other than a nice fish on his line.
“I was using a new reel, and I was thinking, ‘Something’s wrong with this reel,’” he said. “I usually fish with the drag tightened down, but it was just ripping drag.”
Even when the fish was in the boat, the pair didn’t quite figure things out.
“I didn’t think she was that big,” Porter said. “I was thinking, ‘Lightning can’t strike twice.’”
However, the fish weighed in at 14 pounds even.
Porter was philosophical about the catch, noting that he fishes the state lakes precisely because they provide the opportunity to land trophy bass.
“That’s where the big fish are,” Porter said.f
He credited the work of Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks officials do in creating great fishing lakes.
“They’ll take a lake, drain it and then restock it,” Porter said. “I like to hit those lakes about six years after they reopen a lake.
“They do a jam-up job because there’s always a fresh lake.”
His two 14-pounders are proof of the effectiveness of this management strategy.
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