Article & photo courtesy of Louisiana Sportsman & Dan Kibler
Jordan Hollingsworth might have to add some more walls to his camp on Toledo Bend Reservoir for all the bass he and his brother, Caleb, have had mounted by the Toledo Bend Lunker Bass Program.
Hollingsworth added a third fish that qualified for the program to his resume on June 9, a 10.16-pound bass that followed a 10.27 he caught on Feb. 4 and a 10.73 he caught on May 5, 2018. His brother caught a 10.93 this past March 4. The brothers have three of the replica mounts of those fish on the wall already, and Jordan will get the fourth when the TBLP’s 2022-23 season ends next spring.
“Well, I did it again,” said Hollingsworth, who is thrilled with his third double-digit Toledo Bend fish, but still wonders about its size.
“She looked bigger than any bass I’d ever caught, and the first one was almost 11,” he said. “I called my brother, actually Face-Timed him, and he said, ‘Oh my Lord, that’s huge.’
“All I had in the boat was a set of Boga Grip scales, but they’ve always been accurate. They showed her at a little over 11 (pounds). I took her to Fin & Feather, they put on the scales and got 10.16. I thought she looked bigger.
“Then, they measured her. She was 27 ¼ inches long and 20 ½ inches in girth.”
In comparison, Hollingsworth’s 10.27-pound fish from February was 26 ½ inches long and 19 ½ inches in girth.
“I don’t know. All I know is that she was a big, big fish,” he said.
School of bass
Hollingsworth found the fish in a school of 15 to 20 fish around the mouth of Housen Creek. He had started around lunchtime near his camp on the southern end of Toledo Bend and worked his way up the lake. It was about 6:30 when he found the school.
“I was graphing, looking for a new school of fish, and I saw some,” he said. “I turned around and put the boat on Spot-Loc. I made a cast with a big worm and caught one, then caught another on the next case, and on the third cast, I caught another. So I picked up a big crankbait and caught one on the next cast. Then, I made a few more casts but didn’t get a bite. I picked up a rod with a big, big swimbait tied on, threw it and let it go all the way to the bottom, and I started bringing it in. That’s when she hit.
“This time of year, the fish are so alive. She started right up, out of the water, and when I saw her, I said, ‘Oh, Lord.’ She ran around the boat a little, and I ran around. I fell down one time. I got the net, and she jumped by the boat and I scooped her up. Her last jump was right in the net.”
Hollingsworth said the school of bass was on a creek-channel drop in about 30 feet of water. He was fishing with an 8-foot Shimano baitcasting rod and a Daiwa Tatula reel spooled with 25-pound fluorocarbon. The swimbait, impaled on an 8/0 Owner Beast swimbait hook, was in a natural shad color.