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Treylog
Minnow
Username: Treylog
Post Number: 6
Registered: 8-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 9:17 am: | 
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Posted today on Dallas Morning News.
Fork guide comes up big at night
09:36 PM CDT on Wednesday, August 25, 2004
By RAY SASSER / The Dallas Morning News
It was pitch dark when Randy Oldfield felt the subtle bite and set the hook. Veteran night fishermen develop inflated senses to compensate for their lack of vision. Oldfield, a Lake Fork fishing guide, instantly knew that he'd hooked a big bass.
"I couldn't move the fish at first and I felt the bass shake her head, trying to get rid of the hook," Oldfield said. "I told Keith Fuller [his fishing partner] that it was a big fish. She didn't fight particularly hard. When I had the fish on the surface where I could sort of see her in the boat lights, I was stunned at how long she was."
Oldfield doesn't keep a landing net in his boat. He reached into the dark water and grabbed the big bass by the lower lip. Fuller, a serious bass fisherman from Plano, had once caught a 14 1/2-pounder in Florida, and he immediately pronounced Oldfield's catch much bigger. Oldfield had previously caught a 15-pound, 3-ounce bass from Lake Fork and knew this one was bigger.
The guide's first thought was that it was a state record. He had two sets of digital scales in his boat, and the bass weighed 15 pounds, 11 ounces on both scales. That computes to 15.69 pounds, a far cry from the 18.18-pound Texas record, but bass fishermen can easily sympathize with a fellow angler's optimism.
Despite having caught more big bass than just about anybody in Texas, Oldfield concedes he was shaken by the catch. Fishing mostly at night, he and his clients have landed 17 Lake Fork bass bigger than 10 pounds since June. In 1996, Oldfield twice broke the Lake Cypress Springs bass mark, with fish weighing 13 pounds, 5 ounces and 13 pounds, 11 ounces.
"I really got shook by the 15-pounder, and Keith thought it was funny," Oldfield said. "Keith has fished with me a lot, and he's never seen me shook before. When I stop being excited by a fish like that, I'll stop fishing and do something else."
Oldfield didn't have a measuring tape in his boat. He measured the bass by cutting a length of monofilament fishing line the same length as the fish and another section of line the same length as its girth. The bass was 27 ½ inches long by 22 inches around.
Assuming the handheld scales were accurate, Oldfield's bass would have tied for 26th on the list of all-time biggest largemouth bass reported in Texas. It would have tied for third-biggest bass ever reported during the summer.
Since the fish did not approach the state-record mark, Oldfield opted to release it rather than transport the big bass to a marina to be weighed on certified scales.
"I was afraid the fish would die if we put it in the livewell," the catch-and-release advocate said. "I tried to hold a big fish for a photographer earlier this summer and the fish died. I didn't want to take a chance on killing a 15-pounder just to get my name on the top-50 list."
For the record, the fish bit a jig with a pork trailer in about 14 feet of water. The spot was on the outside edge of a hydrilla bed around submerged trees that are not visible to anglers. Oldfield, however, knew the structure was there.
Night owls like Oldfield work the midnight shift in the belief that they catch bigger bass in the dark. Most summers, night fishing is also a means of escaping the blistering daytime sun.
"I've had several nights when I got cold out there," he said. "The water temperature in August is usually in the low 90s. Right now, the water temperature at Lake Fork ranges from 79 to 83 degrees. It's an unusual summer."
Oldfield doesn't think the cooler summer gets credit for his success. His biggest bass on most nights is 8 or 9 pounds, and one night produced two 11-pounders.
"I think Lake Fork has an exceptional year class of fish that have matured, and that's why we're catching so many good fish," he said.
Trey Logsdon
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Picou
Bluegill
Username: Picou
Post Number: 251
Registered: 8-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 9:27 am: |
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Thanks for posting that Trey... What a hoss... I use to fish Fork at night a lot during the summer but it got too crowded and I haven't done it in 5 years or so. Looks like it is time to take it back up again. I have had many fish break me off at night and caught up to an 8 pounder out there at night. I cannot imagine catching a 15 at night. Talk about heart pounding...
Thank you Lord for my family and the waters I get to fish
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Fishinaggie88
Minnow
Username: Fishinaggie88
Post Number: 87
Registered: 8-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 9:31 am: |
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WOW!!!
Love to fish and hunt.
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Chicken
Minnow
Username: Chicken
Post Number: 83
Registered: 8-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 11:40 am: |
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Nice!
"I'm tellin ya, there aint no such thang as bein too drunk to fish!"-Dale Moser
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Barnaclebill
Minnow
Username: Barnaclebill
Post Number: 50
Registered: 8-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 7:59 pm: |
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Man,, I'd have to clean my pants if I caught something like that,,, Thanks Trey
Born to fish-Forced to work
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Javelin
Minnow
Username: Javelin
Post Number: 27
Registered: 8-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 8:45 pm: |
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Man that would really shake me up. I kinda think he is an idiot for releasing it though. I am not a big fan of the "don't kill the big fish" thing. I would have at least taken it to the minner bucket and called TPW to see if they wanted it, cause they have said they take SOME sharelunkers outside of the SL dates |
Picou
Bluegill
Username: Picou
Post Number: 254
Registered: 8-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 9:40 pm: |
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15.69 pounds in the summer... If this is a true story, there probably is a new state record swimming around the lake when full of eggs.
Just one more reason to be out there more in January before the crowds hit. 
Thank you Lord for my family and the waters I get to fish
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Barnaclebill
Minnow
Username: Barnaclebill
Post Number: 60
Registered: 8-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, August 28, 2004 - 12:53 am: |
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Amen, Mike
Born to fish-Forced to work
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Picou
Bluegill
Username: Picou
Post Number: 265
Registered: 8-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, August 29, 2004 - 10:37 pm: |
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You going to drive up and fish with me?
Thank you Lord for my family and the waters I get to fish
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Barnaclebill
Minnow
Username: Barnaclebill
Post Number: 70
Registered: 8-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 30, 2004 - 5:32 pm: |
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That's an idea,,, I'll have to work around my schedule.. I work shift work. We can discuss it if you'd like. You WERE talking to me, right??
(Message edited by barnaclebill on August 30, 2004)
Born to fish-Forced to work
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Picou
Bluegill
Username: Picou
Post Number: 271
Registered: 8-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 30, 2004 - 6:34 pm: |
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I thought I already responded to this one Mike (must have forgot to hit post), but yes I am referring to you. Looking forward to fishing with you. It will be after deer season, but we will make it happen if you are willing to come up here.
Thank you Lord for my family and the waters I get to fish
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Barnaclebill
Minnow
Username: Barnaclebill
Post Number: 72
Registered: 8-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 30, 2004 - 7:55 pm: |
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My old truck knows the way North,, we'll keep in touch.
home (361) 547-5561
cell (361) 815-3492
Give me a holler!!
Born to fish-Forced to work
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