Bois d’Arc impoundment represents the freshest aquatic expanse in the Texan landscape. This expansive 19,000-acre water body has been accessible for angling activities merely since April of the current year. Nevertheless, it exhibits promising indicators of evolving into a premier destination within the Lone Star State for capturing substantial largemouth bass specimens. Towards the conclusion of July, a youthful enthusiast, accompanied by a seasoned guide, successfully landed a 10-pound bass, establishing an elevated benchmark for the nascent junior lake record.
Renowned Texan bass fishing authority, Jason Conn, indicates that he and his cohort of three individuals commenced their expedition on that particular day, July 31, at approximately 7 a.m.
“Mike Burpo and his two grandsons, namely Caden, aged 11, and Blake, aged 8, were participating in the fishing endeavor alongside myself,” elucidates Conn to Outdoor Life. “We promptly encountered noteworthy bass specimens during that specific morning. The impoundment boasts an ample population of bass ranging from 4 to 6 pounds, thereby affording the youths a delightful experience in fish acquisition.”
However, around the midday juncture, the sun attained its zenith, accompanied by elevated ambient temperatures. Lacking any appreciable wind velocity, Conn discerned a gradual onset of restlessness among the youthful participants.
“We were actively engaging a submerged arboreal perimeter, encountering a momentary deceleration in angling activity. Consequently, I proposed a relocation of approximately 50 yards away from the timbered region to partake in aquatic immersion,” recounts Conn, aged 45, who has maintained a professional fishing guidance occupation for more than a decade. “The youths enthusiastically embraced the notion, prompting a brief repositioning of the vessel, followed by a collective immersion into the impoundment.”
Subsequent to their rejuvenation and re-entry into the vessel, they forthwith recommenced angling along a gradient adjacent to the inundated arboreal perimeter, positioned at an approximate depth of 12 feet. Caden, a resident of Lannius, employed a revolving configuration equipped with a 30-pound braided line, complemented by a 17-pound fluorocarbon leader.
“The reaction says it all!” says Conn, who netted the fish. Photo courtesy Jason Conn
“Expeditiously, Caden secured a bass specimen utilizing a 6-inch watermelon-red worm affixed to a ¼-ounce Shaky Head jig,” remarked Conn. “Fortunately, the ensnared bass deviated from the arboreal vicinity, advancing toward our vessel. Caden executed the retrieval commendably, enabling me to secure it within the net, accompanied by the exclamations, laughter, and jubilations of his sibling and grandparent.”
Burpo documented Caden’s maneuver in bringing the bass towards Conn’s awaiting net, conveying the elation befitting any paternal grandparent. Within the visual documentation, he asserts that the bass surpasses 9 pounds, approximating a weight of 10 pounds.
Conn possessed a certified weighing apparatus onboard. (The impoundment imposes size constraints, mandating the consistent carriage of the scale for documentation of client captures.) Upon positioning Caden’s fish upon the scale, it registered a weight of 10.06 pounds, sufficient for establishing a junior waterbody record. Subsequent to the acquisition of photographic documentation, the fish was released back into the impoundment.
While the formal ratification of Caden’s record by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department remains pending, Conn affirms the submission of all requisite documentation, anticipating forthcoming approval. Conn presently holds the extant all-ages waterbody record for largemouth bass within Bois d’Arc.
He conveys that the novel impoundment evokes recollections of the esteemed Lake Fork Reservoir proximal to Dallas, attributable to the prevalence of submerged timber. Furthermore, it exhibits a profuse proliferation of Florida-strain behemoths, strategically introduced by TPWD during the impoundment’s inundation phase.
“The impoundment abounds with forage fish, upon which the bass voraciously prey,” asserts Conn, who additionally lays claim to the state’s 8th largest bass, a 17.03-pound specimen from O.H. Ivie. “The Bois d’Arc record stands at 10.63 pounds, with contemporary fish attaining approximately 11 pounds. Nevertheless, I maintain a steadfast conviction that extraordinary specimens will emerge from Bois d’Arc in the ensuing years.”
