Keith Lusher 02.23.24
There’s something to be said about having confidence in a fishing spot. For Chris Basey of Covington, LA, there’s no spot that he has more confidence in than the one where he caught his biggest bass when he was a teen. “It was a neighborhood canal where I would always catch bass,” Basey said. “I caught hundreds of bass in that canal.” Not only did he catch hundreds of bass, but he also caught what was the biggest bass of his childhood years: a 5.3-pound largemouth bass. Basey was 16 years old when he caught this fish. “I still remember that fish. I was using a Chug-Bug on the surface and he came up and crushed it,” he said. Basey caught the fish at the mouth of a small cut that flowed out into the main canal.
On a recent trip back to the canal, Basey decided to head back to his favorite fishing spot where he caught that big bass over 25 years ago. Basey started throwing a Chug-Bug but wasn’t having much luck. “I knew the water was too cold for a Chug-Bug but I just had to try it,” Basey said. He dug around in his tackle box and pulled out a Keitech Swimbait. The plastic was attached to a jighead with a silver under-spin blade. The 44-year-old started casting the lure parallel to the shoreline. Basey made a few casts and then was distracted by a flock of red-wing blackbirds erupting in flight from the marsh. That’s when his line came to an abrupt stop. The surprised angler short-swung the rod to set the hook and connected with the fish. Basey had flashbacks of the time when he caught his big bass as a kid but it didn’t take long to see that it wasn’t a bass. “That fish broke the surface right when I set the hook and right away I knew it was a big red,” Basey said. The redfish made a hard run and Basey braced for a long battle. “I knew I had 10-pound test on my reel so I was going to have to let him wear himself out,” he said. He fought the fish for five minutes. “He was too big to boat-flip so I knew I had to get my net somehow,” the nervous angler said. Basey lifted his rod to take the slack out of the line and shuffled down to the compartment where he kept his net. After taking it out, he managed to unfold the collapsible net all while keeping the fish hooked.
He then extended the handle by giving it a big jerk. “That thing popped right out when I jerked it,” he said. Basey lifted the giant redfish, ran the net underneath, and then lifted it over the gunwale. The fish measured 31 inches and was Basey’s largest redfish he had ever caught. “I’ve had some really great memories fishing this spot and now I’ve got another one to add to my collection,” he said.
