BY MIKE STEVENS
A Central California “teener” largemouth bass finished off the 2025 freshwater season with a bang, and the detail with which the kayak angler takes into consideration when chasing trophy fish is something to behold.
“To set the scene, the Central Valley has been in a fog blanket for weeks,” kayak angler Max Lee told Western Outdoor News. “I spent all of my Thanksgiving and weekends prior on the water looking for that one bite on an extremely pressured lake. The conditions on the day of my successful catch were in my favor, after multiple weeks of dense fog. The sun was able to burn off a layer of the fog and peak out for the first time in weeks.”
That “successful catch” was a 16-pound, 1-ounce behemoth of a bucketmouth that fell for a 6-inch swimbait, and it sounds like Lee takes every element from pre-cast to catch to a surgical level of seriousness.
“The fish took advantage (of the nicer conditions) and started floating and sunbathing,” said Lee. “Any time the LiveScope beam would touch a bigger-than-average fish they would swim away. Before I had to target “ghost fish” that were in transition and constantly moving, but the fish were stationary and much easier to target. I had to make a 130-foot cast on a fish that was roughly 15 feet down and 115 feet out. Presentation was the most critical part in getting my bite, things such as line vibration, splash noise, casting accuracy and the rate of fall on the lure had to be spot on. The lure was a 6-inch minnow-style bait with a Primal Tackle Hi Roller Head in 3/16 ounce. My bite happened at the end of my cast within the first 10 feet after she locked onto my minnow.”
Some local anglers checking out the photos online were able to determine which lake this went down at, but Lee requested WON not publish the exact location.
