Mokena man's 'big one' fish did not get away

Many anglers wait a long time for that annual fishing trip to the Northwoods or down south. These trips are planned well in advance. Tackle and gear is checked once, maybe twice, and several trips to the tackle shop insure that they have all that is needed to "get the big one."

One Lincoln-Way angler, Bill Anderson of Mokena, had long waited for this year's spring trip to Lake of the Ozarks, and it was without a doubt a dream come true.

Anderson has been fishing for a long time and not only enjoys wetting a line, he also makes sure that he has a camera in the boat at all times. The reason is that he enjoys sharing his successes and experiences on the water with others. He'll take photos of fish that are caught, birds that are flying in the sky or animals just walking along the banks. Scenic shots that he takes help viewers understand why we love to be outdoors.

To share his photos, Anderson created a Web site, www.CatchPhotoRelease.com. There, you can see all of his photos from his recent trip. But allow me to share with you what this year's trip was like for him.

In a recent e-mail that was received from Anderson, he told me all about his trip down south.

"I got my personal best largemouth last Friday at Lake of the Ozarks. It weighed in at 9 pounds, 5 ounces," he wrote.

Just last week, Anderson drove to Lake of the Ozarks with Mike Matlock of Wilmington. There, the two met up with Pat Mann, Bryon Carlson, and Mason Gierke. The five fished out of two boats. As the trip started out on their first afternoon, the dream began with some big fish.

"Our first afternoon on the water we all caught fish," Anderson said. "It was a nice mixed bag of bass and crappie."

What a way to start a trip. Too often we hear that we should have been there yesterday. Well, instead, for this group of anglers, it was wait until you see what tomorrow brings.

With an early 6 a.m. start on day two, the men headed out from the ramps and began to fish immediately. Within five minutes they were all fishing and Matlock had set the hook on an 8-pound largemouth bass.

The conditions that they had were clear blue skies and muddy water. Was this fish a fluke? Not at all. The day just got better.

Anderson was fishing with Carlson this morning and they kept moving from spot to spot. Everywhere they went they caught fish and all were quality fish. Maybe the bite was on because a storm was predicted to move through the area later in the day. Maybe the fish just moved up to the banks looking for clearer water.

As the day went on, the storm moved in. Anderson and Carlson headed for the docks to wait out the storm. They feared that a drop in temperature would have turned the fish off for the rest of the day, maybe for the rest of their trip. But when things settled down, they headed back out on the water, determined to catch more fish.

Right near the docks they started fishing again. Anderson was using a crankbait that worked well for him earlier in the day. With one cast, Anderson felt that the lure stopped dead in the water. Was it a snag on an old tree stump? No, there was something on the other end that wanted complete control.

Anderson thought it might have been a big gar, but instead it was a huge monster-sized largemouth bass. Taking no chances of loosing this fish, Carlson had the net in hand and scooped up the fish, making the fight short but still memorable for Anderson. The fish was poorly hooked and there probably would have been no second chance at this fish. Teamwork got this fish in the boat.

They put the fish on a scale and Anderson learned that he just caught his personal best largemouth bass. The big fish weighed in at 9 pounds, 5 ounces.

That night a cold front moved through the area and, as one could expect, it did slow down the fishing for the next day. The group did manage to still catch a good number of fish, but they were smaller and more selective on the bite. Anderson also managed to bring in a 10-pound rockfish, and those who fished for crappie did catch limits of nice-sized slabs.

Dream trips like this don't come often. What a great feeling it is to live a dream like this. But like all good things, they do have to come to an end. Anderson's dream trip came to an end with his trip back to Lincoln-Way, starting with a flat tire. And, as he said, "but that's another story."

Thanks for sharing your adventures on the water with us, Bill. Congrats on catching that big bass. I'll bet that you're now making plans for another trip to Lake of the Ozarks for next year.

Oh, and if you might be wondering what happened with Anderson's big fish, let's not forget that his Web site is CatchPhotoRelease.com.

Thanks for reading my articles every week.

If you want to share some comments, reports or photos, please send them to iloutdoors@comcast.net or mail them to Illinois Outdoors, P.O. Box 713, New Lenox, IL. 60451. Don't forget to visit my Web sites, www.illinoisoutdoors.com and www.fishinglineradio.com.