Would you threat getting a ticket to land one of many largest bass you’ve ever caught in your final solid of the day? So would present bass professional Matty Wong. A number of years again (and earlier than he went professional), the Elite Sequence angler was fishing a lake in Southern California with a buddy. They have been approaching closing time, because the privately-owned reservoir has strict guidelines requiring all boats to be off the water by 5 p.m.
Round 4:45 p.m., with quarter-hour to spare, the 2 fishermen have been approached by a sheriff’s boat. An officer obtained on the bullhorn to remind them the lake can be closing quickly, however Wong selected to make one remaining solid with a glide bait and hooked an 8- to 10-pound largemouth. Then he landed the bass proper in entrance of the cops.
“I’m simply being the punk fisherman and I’m like, ‘Nicely, I could make on extra solid.’ And 1 / 4 means via the retrieve, it completely slack-lines,” Wong says of the odd chew, which was brought on by a bass hitting the bait whereas swimming straight at him. “It was the final solid that each fisherman goals of. Once you make only one extra solid and you already know you gotta go, and then you definately hook an enormous.”
The entire episode was caught on video, and Wong uploaded the footage to his YouTube channel in January 2021. He additionally posted an abbreviated reel that went viral on social media; The TikTok video alone has practically 2 million views.
After his buddy nets the bass, Wong loses it, shouting: “OH MY GOD! IS THAT MY 10?!” Then the regulation enforcement officer, nonetheless talking via the bullhorn, doles out a traditional buzz-killer of a line: “OK, you need your ticket now or later?”
At this level, the reel ends. However Wong tells Out of doors Life there’s a bit extra to the story.
“Instantly after that, I nervously laughed. After which [the cop with the bullhorn] goes, ‘How large is it?’ And I mentioned, ‘I don’t have a scale. Do you?’”
They didn’t, however Wong held up the fish anyhow. And after seeing the bass, the officers gave him a thumbs up and left with out writing him a ticket or perhaps a warning. Wong and his buddy then snapped a fast image, launched the bass, and headed for the ramp, the place they pulled the boat out simply earlier than 5 p.m.
Learn Subsequent: Glide Baits for Bass: How you can Catch a Big on a Glider
In hindsight, Wong says that although he needed the bass to go 10 kilos, he thinks it was extra like 8 or 9. Nonetheless, it was “fairly darn shut” to his private greatest largemouth on the time, and the very best solution to cap off a gradual winter’s day.
As for the “regulation” he risked breaking, Wong says there are related guidelines and time constraints on different lakes within the space. Most of those are owned and operated by hydroelectric energy firms, which have their very own legal responsibility considerations. The closures additionally assist hold boaters in compliance with state-mandated invasive species rules (together with obligatory boat inspections) for Quagga mussels and different invasives. And so they’re a ache within the ass for bass anglers attempting to fish the magic hour — particularly at sure occasions of the yr when it doesn’t get darkish till after 8 p.m.
Does Wong perceive and respect these guidelines? In fact, he does. He’s a law-abiding citizen. However was it value risking a ticket to catch that big bass on the buzzer?
“100%.”