BY MIKE STEVENS
SAN DIEGO— It’s no secret that bass fishing at Barrett Lake tends to rate at various levels of “epic” for most of the season, and because of that, it takes a significant occurrence earn a headline. A double-digit largemouth historically does the trick, even more so when one is bagged by an 8-year-old.
After some relatively slow fishing by Barrett standards, Shawn Santos and his son, Theo, decided to fish around the docks when the magic happened.
“Theo picked up this fish, which I estimate was at least 25 inches, on a Wacky-rigged Senko,” said Shawn Santos. “I fit my entire hand in the fish’s mouth to grab the hook, and my hands didn’t touch the sides. It was the biggest bass I’ve ever seen, and Theo caught it soup to nuts with the only help from me getting it out of the water.”
The big largemouth tipped the scale at 11.96 pounds, a fish of a lifetime with decades of fishing to go for that young angler.
“Theo routinely catches 10 to 20 fish per outing, but never anything close to this size. He absolutely loves fishing, and his passion pays off with big results!”
As for the rest of the day, the elder Santos said they started in the Pine Arm and saw a lot of boils early, but there were only a few small biters. Then they started to move around a bit to track down cooperative bass.
“We went over to Becky’s Cove where we caught a couple standard-sized fish deep by tree that sits in the middle, then we picked up a buddy at the dock and motored to Hauser,” said Shawn Santos. “We only saw one boat down there the entire time. The water was completely still, zero activity, sun beating down, and we only picked up one decent fish on a Roboworm. We Fished Pigs and the cove between Pigs and the dock and picked up some feisty baby bass and big bluegill. Everything seemed to be hanging out in deeper water. The lake is visibly lower after being drawn down, and what seemed like an algae bloom had a significant impact on clarity the water was a light neon green color.”
Barrett Reservoir is open Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays from May through September, and fishing is available by reservation only. The lake is closed on the first Wednesday of every month. For more info and to make a reservation, visit sandiego.gov/reservoirs-lakes/barrett-reservoir